Making Your Couples Feel Comfortable During Portrait Sessions
You’re new to photography. A couple has decided to go with you to take their portraits. It’s your very first booking and you’re super thrilled. First of all, CONGRATS!! Booking your first portrait session can be a very exciting and rewarding opportunity for any new photographer looking to expand on their work. However, the couple you’ll be taking portraits for has never been photographed professionally and doesn’t know what to expect, but is also a bit nervous for many reasons you may or may not know of. If this is the case, you’ll want to follow these tips below to help keep your couple calm, and being themselves around you the entire time!
Tip #1: Break The Ice First
In the very beginning, when meeting up with your couple for their portrait session, you’ll want to be the first to try and find ways to break the ice however you can. What I mean by this, is coming up with ways to avoid any awkward silence or pauses that occur during the initial introduction between you and the couple. Most likely when you meet up with your couple, chances are you’ll have to walk to your first location to begin the session, so take this opportunity to try and have fun conversations that your couple can connect with you. One way to do this, is by playing Icebreakers. Come up with creative questions that the couple can answer together so that you don’t just target one specific person. As they answer your questions, you’ll learn a bit more about them, and you’ll even be able to try and create more conversations if you find out you all have something in common!
Tip # 2: Music
This is a method I learned from a more experienced photographer when I first started out. Everyone has their preferred taste in music, and by asking the couple what kind of music or artists they love listening to, you can easily tap into their personalities during their portrait session. I recommend using a small, attachable Bluetooth speaker that you can easily clip to your belt or camera bag, and have some playlists ready to go so that you can let the speaker do all the work for you. Another benefit to this method is when you’re getting ready to take more emotional based photos, you can ask the couple what song they plan to dance to on their wedding day, or what songs remind them of their relationship with each other. By doing this, you’ll be able to capture their true emotions, and believe me, those are the best photos!
Tip #3: Be Yourself
As simple as this may sound, there are many photographers who struggle with this. As photographers, we want to be able to deliver the best images possible, but in the end, it’s your personality that determines everything. You can have the best images around, but if the couple didn’t feel comfortable during their session with you, the chances of you getting recommended to others is going to be a struggle. What’s great about this profession is that we don’t have to act differently around others to take amazing pictures! While I still recommend staying professional in a business standpoint, be yourself 100% when you’re out taking the couple’s portraits. If you’re a bit of an introvert, I understand how this can be challenging, but don’t let this stop you from going out there! I grew up an introvert, but learned to be more social over the years by trying to stay involved with others. Now I’m not saying I’m now a complete extrovert, by any means, but I learned to get out of my comfort zone and learned more about myself that I never knew!
Tip#4: Go With The Flow
Whenever I’ve photographed or filmed a wedding, one of the first things I learned is that weddings never go as scheduled or planned. Things come up, and you have to be able to adapt and overcome those obstacles without any issues. The same applies here with portrait photography. You can easily plan out a session with your couple, you’ve broken the ice with them, played some music. Everything is going smoothly! But as you’re taking photos, it starts to rain, or the location you’re shooting at has people randomly walking behind your shots. When this happens, your couple will react however you do, so when something happens, do not show any concerns or panic. Any portrait session you do, you want to be aware that anything can happen. It is your responsibility to try and come up with alternative solutions when something happens. Not only that, make sure you’re able to react to unexpected scenarios in a calm, entertaining way to help your couple stay comfortable.
Final Thoughts
Not every couple you photograph is going to be uncomfortable during a photo session, however, it is important to try and be yourself and provide comfort in anyway your couple needs it. Portrait sessions are suppose to be fun and memorable, and if you’re able to achieve that, you will have more potential clients coming to you for photos, simply because that one couple you took portraits for had nothing but positive things to say about you! Remember, anything can happen during a portrait session, so make sure you’re able to handle anything that is thrown at you. Always put your couple first every time, and most importantly, have fun and keep taking photos!
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