The best sincere photos seem to capture those magical moments in between posed shots when it seems like magic happens from your clients.
Understanding posing versus genuine photos.
Let me start by explaining what the difference is between posed photos and genuine photos to begin with. Posing being your model positioning her body in such a way that portrays a nice angle for the camera’s view and making sure to look into the camera. Genuine moments are those where the model is reacting to what is happening around the camera such as a laugh or a smile coming from the model’s face. These may not be the pictures you hang on your wall, but the ones you smile at everyday!
How you can help your subject forget about the camera.
Sometimes your subject can begin to forget about the camera as she becomes comfortable with how you are as a person. Sometimes it is too much for the subject to be aware of how she looks behind the camera whether it be her stiff posing or her struggling to maintain her poseShe would then subconsciously forget about the camera, helping you get those beautiful sincere shots everyone seems to always want!
Three main ways you can help your subject forget about the camera are
building confidence, using the right tools, and being the right kind of person.
How you can keep shooting after the posed shot.
The dreaded boring in between moment just might end up being your best shot! One of the biggest mistakes I see photographers make all the time is putting their cameras down after they have gotten the posed shot. The subject is most likely happy they got the posed picture so they are going to relax more giving you those sincere shots everyone seems to want. Say for instance you told the family to face the camera for your pictures and after you got your family portrait the family was able to relax and enjoy being together. This is a perfect time to get your shots of the family interacting with one another. Rather than putting the camera down you should’ve kept it up to capture any moment you thought was special so you would not miss that magic! Magic can happen anytime in fact, when someone is tying their tie or fixing their hair or when one person shares a joke with another or really enjoys the company of those around them you have to be ready so you don’t miss it! An awareness of the interaction between people will help you get those magical sincere shots before they’re gone forever.
Using prompts instead of giving posing instructions.
Posing and prompting are two very different, yet equally interchangeable techniques that you can use. When you are prompting your subject you are not asking them how to pose, but giving directions to do something or act in a manner to achieve a genuine moment. You want to keep interaction, so you could tell a couple to go around telling the love story or the funniest thing that happened to them on their vacation. You could tell brothers and sisters to talk to each other telling the funniest or saddest things that happened to them when they were growing up or parents to their kids. Prompts can lead you in the right direction to get your subject to act naturally so you can capture amazing sincere shots. You can even prompt your parents to be more interactive with their children rather than posing next to each other. Prompts can get you the directions your need, but make sure your subject is not stiff. This is where you can fail when capturing posed photos, but excel at getting a genuine moment.
How to capture real moments.
Sometimes the smaller things in life are what makes us who we are, the smaller things we do everyday with the people we love are what make us feel so happy. Holding hands gently, children leaning on their parents, the look between two people, or a smile that only lasts a fraction of a second! All these little things help us create the beautiful stories we love so much without having to pose at all. As a photographer it is important that we notice these little things in the faces, body language, interaction, and general comfort of our subject. A great shot isn’t created by big smiles or big emotions but can instead be created by those little things that cause the most beautiful and genuine photos because it comes from a real feeling.
How to anticipate and not wait for the moment.
Capturing a good sincere photo is about being prepared to capture the moment rather than waiting for the moment to happen. Rather than waiting to capture that moment it’s about being aware and trusting your gut instinct as to what is going to happen next. Rather than waiting to capture a funny story that one person is telling focus on the expressions of the people listening to that story and reacting to it. This can often times be bigger moments than the story teller! As a child runs to their parent to give them a big hug you can anticipate this moment and capture the hug before it even happens. If a couple is playing around you can anticipate their laughter and capture their facial expressions! Being able to capture those little moments helps you capture genuine emotions and expressions that only last a fraction of a second.
How to use continuous shooting when needed.
Human interaction can often times be very quick! A laugh, a hug, dancing, hands, winking, etc can all disappear in the blink of an eye if you’re not paying attention.
Using your camera’s continuous shooting can help you capture laughter, hugs, dancing, walking, or whatever the action may be. This will give you the best shots for continuously moving shots. But, simply shooting continuously will not get you a great shot. You need to be aware of what is happening so you can capture that genuine moment. Shooting continuously should be used when you anticipate a genuine reaction or interaction, rather than shooting continuously to capture hundreds of pictures hoping to find a great one. Being aware and patient is the key when it comes to capturing sincere and genuine photographs.
How to give people something to do.
Standing around and smiling can be difficult for certain people. Giving them something to do can often times be the easiest solution for both of you!
You can tell people to walk around, sit, adjust, look around, and talk to the next person.
Asking your subjects to complete a task does not have to be complicated or hard, it can simply be asking them to move or adjust their clothing which helps them forget about the camera and you can capture those genuine and sincere photographs.
How to be patient.
Sometimes you can not force a moment, you simply have to wait for it to happen. Instead of being the director all the time be patient and let your subjects be themselves and give you the moment you’re looking for.
Especially when working with weddings, families, event or parties it’s important to be patient and wait for the moment to present itself. You can get so caught up trying to get a moment, rather than waiting for it to happen on it’s own. Waiting for the moment can get you genuine and authentic shots from your subjects.
How not to interrupt the moment.
Once you notice a genuine moment happening do not interrupt it by giving more directions to your subjects.
If people are simply enjoying each others company it is best to leave them be and capture their fun and interaction. The same goes for subtle and genuine moments between two people. Sometimes you need to simply observe and capture the moment without interrupting it. As a photographer you don’t always have to be a director but rather let people be themselves and behave naturally while you capture the moment. Be as close as you need to be to capture the moment but not so close that they become self conscious. Once they get used to your presence you will find they subconsciously stop worrying about the camera and become more comfortable letting you capture the moment. This is when you will find some of your most genuine and authentic moments.
How to capture relationships between two or more people.
A great sincere shot can do more than just capture a moment, but rather it can capture a relationships! Taking a minute to observe relationships is a great way to capture real moments of people
Focusing on the relationships rather than the people themselves can help you get more authentic moments. Paying attention to the subtleties between people will help capture the moment before it is gone.
The relationship between people is seen in the way they behave around each other.
Simply focusing on people interacting with each other can help you capture authentic emotions and connection in your photographs.
Subtle things like laughter, hand holding, body language, and eye contact can all help you capture a story.
These things are important when capturing genuine photographs as they tell us more than the beauty of a face or a well posed body. They can help us capture more authentic emotions of connection in our photos, which can be incredibly special. It is important to keep these things in mind when taking sincere shots and capturing those authentic emotions.
This is especially important for capturing relationships in couples and families. The aim is to focus on their relationships and capture their interactions and connections. This is what makes a sincere, real photograph so special and memorable to the people who see it.
How to work with light.
When it comes to sincere photography there are certain technical skills that are needed just as much as knowing how to obtain genuine moments. Even though we focus on capturing genuine moments we still have to know how to capture them correctly. A sincere moment can occur anywhere at anytime so it is important to know how to work with lights in various settings to make sure you can capture those moments effectively.
Working with shutter speed and focus is important if you want to capture sincere movement. Knowing how to expose your photos correctly is just as important especially if you find yourself in low light situations. As with all photography, shutter speed plays an important role in capturing those natural sincere moments. Knowing these technical aspects will greatly improve your sincere photography.
How not to ruin sincere shots by over-editing
After a great shoot you might have hundreds of amazing shots, but how will you know which ones to keep? It can be easy to want to keep only the best shots with the most detail and the best composition
but there are some important factors to consider when choosing your sincere shots.
Picking the shots with better composition and details are important, but don’t forget to capture the emotions and feelings shown in each shot. When choosing your sincere shots think about what they show and what emotions they bring forth. Are they showing the personality of the subject? Are they capturing a genuine connection and emotions well? Are they capturing the feeling you had when taking the shot? Sometimes the best shots are the ones with less than desirable composition and facial expression but capture more emotions and feelings. A great photograph is more about what makes you feel than technical accuracy when it comes to sincere shots.
The beauty of things that happen between poses
Photography is not all about control and direction but sometimes you need to let people be themselves in order to get the best shots. Posing helps you get amazing pictures but it’s important to remember those special moments that occur in between poses. These can be the little things like the laugh after a pose or a look between two people or the special moment that occurs between people because they’re simply comfortable with each other
This is where sincere photography helps us, it helps us capture those little moments between people.
