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Ground Posing

Lesson 14 from: Unique Posing for Weddings

Doug Gordon

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Lesson Info

14. Ground Posing

Next Lesson: Posing Q&A

Lesson Info

Ground Posing

so again we're going to keep our same lighting pattern I'm very fortunate because I'm inside a studio with great light but nothing changes looking for constant light I'm always working that's why that torch lights so important to me can I have my beautiful bride and handsome groom back uh I've had to change and adjust my lynch's right now I'm working with a twenty four to seventy that's just based on space I gotta be honest with you I almost never use it I have it for situations like this I would probably use a fourteen to twenty for which I may switch to it one point but I don't want to get all of the top of this inn and have to crop leader so twenty forty seventy seems like the appropriate lands again I'm going to work at a wide open aperture so the first pose is kind of a warm up suppose it's one that people really love this is a post that has so much personality to it it could be done for multiple things what you haven't realized yet at is that these poses aren't just for wedding s...

tuff for every type of photography so what I'm gonna ask you to do a handsome groom I'm gonna ask you to lay down flat here on your belly with your head going that way on your belly big boy now okay you're not surfing put your arms up underneath good can you slide back to me with this west side all the way back cristina can I ask you to come over here and I want you to lay right on top of your husband like he's a surfboard okay now again this is all about light I want always light into the face now you're going to give him a hug here beautiful is that a good post for her with our arms up see people because what becomes meeting her arms now let's take a look I want to bring her up I want your head up to hiss all the way okay now you would think this is an easy post but people still find ways to mess it up okay so we're gonna bring it in here turn your head to them over their formulas turn the head over this way slide a boat but I want your heads together can you get up a little bit higher now is this a good pose for just brides and grooms what about if you get a screaming flower girl what if you get a screaming ring bear where would be the best place to put them what about throwing them right on top of us you want fifty pounds flower girl that's a big wild girl isn't it okay now that works because they're happy is this a great family post of course it is so let's take a look right here let's say for instance that I'm the bigger brother but obviously you don't want to keep piling people up this high and I'ma plus I subject what I would do is bring them around behind and we name forward and cropped we're here so you don't see the stress of the body and all that stuff that's going on so I'm leaning forward to make sure they're on the same plane now this is one where I'm going to let him know grass um I worried about a rental tuxedo or suit getting dirty no but I want to make sure I'm lighting into the face looking at me turn your head to me handsome a little bit can you slide up a little bit gorgeous on him I want you a little bit higher don't make that face like you're not happy about I'll come over there good just like that looking at me heads together turn your head just a little bit to me handsome is that better you now you understand good looking all right there you're doing terrific so I'm getting a little bit of light you're looking right at me stay there and I'll tell you when I'm set looking here somebody get ready top chin up a little bit beautiful smiling nice and happy you are doing wonderful keep your eyes open stacy they're happy don't move now let me ask you something you look at the image come up that's a pretty great images innit now am I worried about getting the couch and obviously I wouldn't be doing this in front of a couch and the fact is I will crop it you won't even see it but the point is it's a nice relaxed image of them now watch how we change it up we're going to ask you to push yourself up beautiful and you're going to roll over on your back handsome okay now this is one you have to be very careful with your going away right on top again this is an image if you take it the wrong way I promise you the parents will never buy it okay so not trying to be funny you don't want to take a full length image off this you want to keep it nice and tight you want to make it presentable for the family wrap your arms up around his head now bring your cheeks together and no even though I'm having a fun pose I'm still going to make it about the correct posing techniques so he's gonna bring his hand in here why to cover the arm looking at me turn your head we're sort of good looking right here she's laying on top of you you can't be happier than this smiling teeth excellent take a look it's the same thing we spoke about it and look at how beautiful and soft fun post with the missing it so now I got them warmed up I got them used to being on the ground so you can roll off for a second gonna roll on your side there you hop up one second handsome good you're going to come forward a little bit to make the key here is as much as I can I want to try to keep them away from the back when can I ask you to lay on your right elbow beautiful you were going to come right behind her you were gonna lay on your right hand if you don't know what this is this is called spooning go back to high school and you can figure it out in a hurry come in nice and close but lay on your right hand no I want him on his hands so he could be higher we're gonna bring her hand around his head where does he need to go with his hand covered the bicep don't be afraid you can say it looking right there now look at each other now we gotta watch her necklace because we obviously I don't want it hanging off too much okay and I don't know that doesn't look good does it okay so we may have to hang it and if we are then I'm going to bring the veil and to help cover it up now the reason I wanted to hire is so that he could win over on the same plane look at each other lean in close perfect profile just like that and leaning and close now depending on a bride this is where you may start to get sexy with it I'm just going to lift up your dress just a little bit show a little bit of ankle needs we're in this like for just a tad and set up you okay with that all right I just want to touch your legs I've been waiting all day good so now I need to come down lower okay because depending on a couple if it's a plus sized couple I'm probably not going to work with a low a camera angle what I'm gonna do this probably work with higher one to minimize them correct so now you're looking at each other excellent you're doing absolutely wonderful you're leaning and family close you're doing terrific stare right there nice and happy wonderful smiling leaning close to a wonderful relax first image now watch how easy the second image comes into place go in you're going to give a kiss nice soft press close your eyes close your eyes you're doing terrific told it notice straight camera angle for both of them look at how simple this is so now uh perfect what happened no nope nope nope nope nope the image the exposure was locked on the first one and I went until docket again and what did I d'oh I press the button and I unlocked it and then when I went up to the white couch what happened look at the difference go and give a kiss again good hold it right there so that's why it's important to make sure that you got what you're looking for it again notice the framing now ideally works a lot better doesn't it now if you really want to make this work is that light still behind the window if that light is still back there can we turn that aren't that would be spectacular I'm sorry I should have told you that before now watch what you do here perfect thank you guys I want you to kick your head back all the way beautiful okay turn your head away from me gorgeous head back and profile hand around his head okay why are you looking at her like that work your magic good stay right there now that light may not be broad enough so it may just be a hot spot go for it kiss or not going close turn your head away from me a little bit beautiful excellent stay there I think it's going to be a hot spot more than anything else and I think I locked the exposure wrong again yeah hold on one second stay right there excellent stay there wonderful just like that and take a look I think it's not going to get his hot as I wanted to it's going to be more of a hotter it worked look it out nice that looks so you got a beautiful soft light there don't you I'm tilting now the question is why is he tilting to the right I'm tilting to the right because I want to be ableto angle them up by tilting to my right it's angling up amid a forty five degree angle now I'm going to ask our handsome groom to come out and I'm gonna ask my beautiful bride to roll over on her backside and you're gonna put both elbows down gorgeous now both elbows back and now you're going to slide out and I want you were gonna pull the dress up now this may not be for everybody you can come out handsome we're gonna bring one leg down one leg up okay just we want to show her beautiful purple bridal nails way want to show up for great shoes head back all the way no turn profile so watch what I do if I can and I'm in that spot I'm gonna look for a main light to come in right about behind here head back close your eyes is this a good image for a plus size subject would I not then the mouth completely take a look I'm plus size tell me this isn't sexy you're looking well too happy head back all the way you want me to give you another shot of that or you got a good head back beautiful now let's take a look you see the bail bunching up that's a problem I don't want it to bunch up with actually had a little bit gorgeous I wanted to come right in here head back now I don't want it to flare but I want to cover our arms now luckily she's very very okay so head back relax you're doing stunning stay right there absolutely wonderful hold on one second let me get what I want excellent stay there take a look look at how beautiful the lighters lookit it explode nice and soft and look at the angle of her body she looks hot doesn't she so watch what we do from here watch how changing angles can do great things now mind you this isn't the ideal shooting area slide out one second you bring your head back again head back turn your head towards me close your eyes we did this last night didn't way why is this ideal right now because this is the broad light hitting her this becomes the short light good don't bring your head back so much you know what I want you to can you sit up for me and spread your arms wide behind you and now when you head back spread your arms wider head back now excellent relax we're going to bring the veil down just a little bit wonderful close your eyes beautiful doing spectacular stay right there take a look look at the overhead look at the light honor look at how great she looks that's pretty good I feel so much better now that this monitors calibrated I was getting nervous before good spectacular now these are my favorite images these are the ones that people go absolutely nuts over they love them love them love them love them what are they were going to lay her flat on her back I'm gonna ask a groom to come in right here she's laying flat on her back with her head back okay I'm gonna pull the bailout and I want to make sure that her hair is underneath her noticed the way I handle her head handling had very softly and john yeah that worked out well I should slap her now shouldn't turn you have beautiful good good you got to go home with her good you're gonna lay down this is important watch where his on goes we're going to place his right arm underneath he's gonna lay off flat on his arm and put his nose right on her cheek good bring your head here and now watch what we do we're going to bring the veil up right in here because we want to cover the chest soften it up then we're gonna bring his hand here hard hand right here so now we're turning her head a little bit and we're going to adjust the light now is this a good image for a plus I subject it's a great image why because of my camera height so watch what we make of this again soft constant light I would do all of these with the torch and I'm gonna light where into her face so that means the lights here had back look at me beautiful well actually tilt your head a little bit to your right worse excellent chin up a little bit beautiful turn your head to him attack smiling gorgeous nice and happy teeth don't move take a look stay right there that's the first image pretty nice isn't it look at the catch right in the eyes look at the softness look at the beautiful bare skin white rug okay watch what we do you're gonna hop up for a second russ hop up you bring your hands to your shoulders let's get out good looking at may turn your head to me a little bit smiling beautiful hold on one second you're doing terrific take a look don't move now can I ask is jule you're still here julia could you grab thie eighty five millimeter one point four out of my bag this is a time when I use that now look at the image look to soften its not crazy about our expression you're going to bring your head back to me a little bit and close your eyes beautiful thank you so I'm just going to switch the reason I'm goingto one point four here is I want to accomplish something you saw me do this a little bit yesterday but now I'm going to be able to really thank you you can leave because I'm going to probably take it back in a second julia thank you okay head back a little bit close your eyes so I'm gonna go put your priority one point four okay so we turned that puppy down I don't know if we spoke about it but my eyes so in here has been eight hundred your head back a little bit excellent stay right there close your eyes a bit perfect so at one point four I'm focusing on the eyes and take a look at how everything else starts to soften that's pretty nice isn't it now what we're going to dio is we're going to come back up did I take the one of her over the top yes can you come right over here ross on what I want you to do is you're gonna lay with your body with your feet facing me this time put your left on flat underneath you yes sir slide down to me a little bit all the way down and put your left arm underneath you and lay on your side now put your nose right on no put on flat underneath nose underneath her chin this is crucial we have to hide his nose underneath the chin rest your head on a chest bring your hands around her head around his head good cause your eyes now why is a crucial that his nose is behind her chin it hides the nostrils close your eyes and stop smiling no smile close your eyes stretching out russ don't move take a look that works doesn't now watch what we do here she's gonna open her eyes to mai staying right here you are doing spectacular turn your head a little bit to your husband smiling gorgeous nice and happy again one point four but it's my depth of field a shallow the answer's no why because I wasn't right on top of them now watch what we do here worse can you turn your head to me handsome lean in close turn your head a little to the right a little right now both of you looking at may this is I'd write but joyce attention that's what works okay so right here looking at may wonderful smiling guys nice and happy wonderful and look at how great that looks even better how much thought processes going into this am I thinking of my moving not really now turn your heads towards each other and I want you to open your mouths do the kiss before the kiss no you know good job you really got the walk down turn your heads towards each other open your mouth getting close turn your head to him beautiful turn you had more to him more more more more more more head back now good ross before you kissed you get a big smile on your face good head back close your eyes had back beautiful close your mouth up a little bit right now take a look royce doesn't have the perfect expression but it's pretty hot isn't it okay now question where did I focus you tell mae I focused on her left eye I let everything else start to go soft but that is a lot of personality to it doesn't it that's what it's about it's about that little information and making things work when they laid down it's about trying to make them look ah lot sexier a lot more appealing so watch what we do we're going to hop up for a second good now from here this is another one of my favorite you're going to sit right get up for one second and then what I'd like you to dio it is I want you to come right over here facing the window and I want you to spend and I want you to kneel down like you're praying to give kind of a fashion and glamour look good I want you to get down like you're almost prayed okay and I want you to bring your hands in front of you where would I do in an image like this I probably do it inside of whatever where the service wass and for a church or a temple or something giving them that look now again is it about light from the front it's not about that it's about hoops it's about the light that's hitting us from behind ultimately I want that background to do what bolo out I want that beautiful window to blow out so I'm going to get her head up in there and buy going down lower what am I eliminated the mess of the dress too close your eyes now where should I meet her on guys okay can I have that other lands I'm sorry thank you thank you very much again if I was inside of a church I probably worked with a fourteen two twenty four perfect so I'm gonna meet a running back exposed for her back this way I blow it out exactly what I'm looking for let's see I think I might have been a little fast worked beautifully didn't it now watch what we do here okay you see how the window blows out that makes it work doesn't it because a meeting but the fact is do I have all the details right in here I do too if you look can you show them all the details there I'm getting really upset about it you're killing me focus on a look you see what you did she said I had no details I didn't say I know a way for your detail that's what matters we get the detail now watch how we change and adjust this post what I want you to do is bring your hands up above you okay that's ok we're gonna bring the hands here and now look at the fingers they go up and now bring your head back head back all the way beautiful relax key here is you want to make sure that her top doesn't fall down make her uncomfortable had back close your eyes this is another favorite it gives it that fashion glamour look but again what am I seeing the back of her hands what do I need to say good close your eyes take a look axel beautiful stay there relax and take a look again shooting for the detail letting everything come around do I care about the bottom of her dress blowing out no I'm doing it intentionally because I want to get rid of all the dirt so I don't have to photo shop it there's no detail on that part anyway you're gonna hop up for a second beautiful again you're trying tow work to make them look sexier you're tryingto work to do something that haven't done before so what would that entail it's about using little areas and getting a little bit of personality so what we're going to do here is it just gonna move this for one second gonna slide this over a little bit and I'm gonna bring her into the corner you come right over here beautiful what I'd like you to dio you saw me do this yesterday with gretchen but now we're going to do it with heart and we're going to do it with the grimace well I want you to go and take a seat right on your backside beautiful the key is taking her and walking her and making her feel comfortable she's going to slide all the way into the wall okay we're gonna bring the veil around the front we're gonna lay her back I'm gonna put your legs right up on the wall okay gorgeous had all the way back again notice how I'm talking to her notice how I'm working with her dress I don't ever want her to think that I'm doing something inappropriate were out of line or make her self conscious in anyway so we're gonna tuck address in between her legs right here understand so we're going to try to cover it up I want to go to maybe depending on the individual what they're feeling addressed to write about beginning of thigh you're going to bring your heads back you head back all the way close your eyes and now from here her hands back so we're going to start with one of her remember I said yesterday it doesn't matter whether there are posse eyes or their average size or the small they only to feel the same way that's all that matters okay head back close your eyes take a look so now cropping is going to be important and wait to see how we add her husband head back beautiful good just like that head back a little bit perfect don't move one second I'm not finding what I want excellent stay there don't move let's take a look and see what we got stay right where you are beautiful okay look the light because I don't need to blow out the window anymore so it changes it can I have you in for a second good for us what you're going to dio is lay flat on your belly with your head on your arms going underneath the chin again like you did before almost slide your body back a little bit worse turn over to your right so let's do it we're gonna move him right dad now go into a chest again bring your hands around his head beautiful head back to may baltimore had back turn your head to your right good close your eyes now take a look how much of a choice do I really want to say do I want to see his whole body no but what I do want to make sure is that he's not getting in and making love to her bail okay I want to connect on cyrus head back a little bit gorgeous close good any questions from you guys you like you like it I'm sorry of course it works without a value just use his hands more but the bail does help head back a little bit take a look woops what did I do wrong spot got to hear it good head back oh tobacco just now we should be okay big difference isn't it on once we soften it up wait till you see what this becomes obviously not the ideal spot but it's still working for someone we want accomplish the whole idea is for you to look for different situation

Class Materials

bonus material

Day 1 Slides
Flow Posing Guide
Bonus Video: Workflow: Doug Gordon Photoshop A
Bonus Video: Workflow: Doug Gordon Photoshop B
Bonus Video: Workflow: Doug Gordon Photoshop C
Bonus Video: Workflow: Doug Gordon Photoshop D

Ratings and Reviews

a Creativelive Student
 

I loved every minute of it! I watched and re-watched the Live show 3 times and now have the video version to burn into my mind. I don't get sick of watching it, I learn something new with each viewing. I have notes upon notes, inspirational quotes and I was truly inspired. I saw you live at your workshop and I wish we would of covered the business section a bit more in depthly because after watching you here on creativeLive I was floored! I can't wait to attend another one of your workshops because you are a wealth of knowledge, energetic and you inspire me to be better! I'm so glad I wasn't afraid to try even though I was terrified at first. Thank you, thank you, thank you for being such an amazing mentor!

a Creativelive Student
 

Doug is AMAZING! The way he teaches makes it fun and easy to understand. The way he poses his couples are so fast and easy to learn, I have taken my photography from mediocre, to world-class. I would love to meet him and thank him personally one day. Thank you Creativelive for introducing me to Doug, and thank you, Doug, for introducing me to CreativeLive! The best community for learning!!!

Adrian Farr
 

Doug has so much enthusiasm, it is beyond measurable. He is truly a fantastic motivator. He helps you understand the best ways to work with the light you have and shows you some very simple yet effective posing techniques. I highly recommend watching and buying this course if you want some great advice on improving your photography.

Student Work

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