Want to say to your photographers ‘NO POSING PLEASE’ then read on……..

I bet I’m right in saying you’re one of them. Most of our clients don’t feel like supermodels in front of a camera. Bombshell. In fact, We are constantly being told that “I don’t like having my picture taken” when people first contact us enquiring about their wedding photography.

Here’s the big dilemma for so many of our couples – photography is a BIG priority on your list. You want all those romantic, unique, authentic stylish moments captured, yet you hate the thought of spending time in front of the camera.  

Well please stop worrying. It’s our job to hush those worries. It’s completely normal to feel nervous. If you choose your photographer carefully, these worries will disappear.

So you want beautiful images but hate posed photographs? 

Don’t we all! The word ‘Posed’ has become such a dirty word in the wedding photography industry, where every other photographer talks about how they work in a documentary style. Words like ‘natural’ and ‘candid’ are thrown around in an attempt to ease the worries of couples landing on our websites. I hate seeing these words ‘natural’ and ‘candid’ being used by photographers when they don’t actually know what it means to impress their potential clients when scouting for work.  

When the word posed is used people tend to run for the hills screaming. You’d hear the word and imagine some stiff, awkward, and horrendously cheesy image of the couple peering at each other around a tree.

Don’t start running just yet! Posed photographers on your wedding day can be one of the most satisfying times of the day that you will never forget. For myself and Bridget especially we love this part of your day, it allows us to do what we do best, and have spent years learning to capture those images we strive to shoot, the photos that you will cherish for years to come and hang on your wall or put in that frame you got as a wedding present next to your bed.  These moments make up the story of your wedding day that we just love to tell. We know this is why couples book us time and time again.

As artists, we LOVE capturing beautiful portraits and we don’t feel like we have fully done our job well unless we can deliver a handful of truly unique, stunning, and beautiful images of our newlywed couple.

Posing is not being awkward, not being cheesy, not making you do something stupid or unnatural, it’s about making the photos look completely un-posed…but again a lot of photographers (not us) will reel you in with false pretenses about their photography say it is only ‘natural’ and ‘candid’ where in fact on the day you will be asked to pose! 

That to you might sound deep and meaningful but trust us it’s true. Good posing is very hard to achieve! It has taken us years to master the skills required, and we are still learning day by day, it involves the couple working with us, letting us make them feel relaxed around us and in front of the camera, getting them to interact with each other naturally, and more importantly to have fun and show their real personalities.  It’s then our job to choose the best location, the perfect lighting and the right settings on our camera, our job is not always easy!

But we are always striving to improve our posing skills so our couples feel less like they are being posed, that is one of our main goals.

On a wedding day, we like to blend in and we don’t like stealing our couples away from their guests for too long – but we do need time to capture those magical photos. We also pre-agree our timings before the big day so as not to interfere or upset the running of the day. Most of our couples agree it’s lovely to get away from everyone for a short while, just to spend some time together in the madness of your wedding day.

From the moment we arrive with you, we try to make you feel relaxed and less anxious about being in front of the Canon (we do mean our camera and not actually a cannon!). We do believe that on the day we have to be on our best behavior and professional but now and again you might hear us cracking a few terrible jokes or having a non-serious fight, Bridget always wins! We believe that it’s a must to enjoy our job and enjoy it with the wedding party if everyone is having fun and the wonderful picture opportunities flow.

Back to posing, we all know some people are more natural in front of the camera than others, this is life, and whilst we do everything we can to make our couples relaxed, sometimes a little tipple before we whisk you off helps, but not too much! The heat will get to you.

If you are still very worried about the couple shoots on your wedding day here are a few of our little tips.

1. Be honest with us your photographers– Is there something about yourself that you don’t like? Tell us. We all hate something about ourselves and telling us makes us aware while photographing you. We love to think that you get your photos back and say to yourself “Cor I look goooood!
2. Stop giving a shit. Harsh but true. Stop worrying about how you look on camera. Trust us when you look back at your wedding photos in years to come you’ll see laughter and happiness and true enjoyment. And maybe even youth, LOL.
3. Maybe have an engagement session with us if you are in Cyprus before your big day. This isn’t something we regularly get to do due to the thousands of miles between us but it can be very beneficial to couples who are worried about their camera shyness. The engagement shoots normally take around 60 – 90 minutes – much longer than your portraits on your wedding day but they are a great way to have a little trial run for the big day. For us, it’s an opportunity to see how you interact with each other in front of the camera and it works very well for us in getting to know our couples so on the day the awkwardness is out of the window.
4. Drink plenty of water. I know we said to have a stiff drink to calm your nerves but remember Cyprus summers can be hot, and when we say hot we mean HOT! So make sure you both drink enough water during the day to help you stay hydrated. Nothing worse than feeling ill during the day.
5. Finally…..trust. Trust that your photographer (and hopefully that’s us) wants to make you look and feel your best. We want to give you memories that you’ll LOVE and CHERISH for the rest of your life and remember we are here to help you out along the way of this exciting journey.

It’s not just a job for us it’s a passion so if you think we are the perfect fit please feel free to get in touch.

Lee & Bridget x

Lee Squirrell Photography // Award-Winning Photographers 2020