If you’re hanging around these parts, we’re going to assume that we have a few things in common. And that one of those things maaaaay be a love of bad jokes. We (ok, especially Ben because he’s officially allowed to tell dad jokes now) LOVE a pun. But have you ever told someone a joke that juuuuust didn’t land? They try to make you feel like it did, by giving you one of those oh-so-painful courtesy laughs, but in your heart you know they didn’t find it funny. Because no matter what, fake laughs just don’t feel genuine. They don’t feel natural. This brings us to our easiest tip for creating natural feeling images.
Part III: Don’t Fake It….Make It!
Puuuuuhhhleeeeeeze, whatever you do, don’t ask a couple to fake laugh. Actually make them do it! Not only will this associate an actual memory (and feeling!) with an image when they look back at it, but it will also come across a million times more natural and genuine in your work. Sometimes this can be as simple as sharing an actual well-timed joke, and sometimes it’s just a random comment that we know will get a chuckle. In last week’s adjusting example, when we asked the bride to move her hand to the groom’s bicep, we may have said something like “squeeze it like he was at the gym all morning!” It is little things like this that give a quick little smile or laugh that they actually MEAN. And while we think that not only photographs better, more importantly it also feels better to your couple. It creates a better experience. At the end of your time together they’ll be thinking “Wow! That was so much fun!” instead of “That was super weird how we had to keep laughing for no reason”. Which way would you rather be remembered?
Now one important thing to note, is that as with most things we do have an exception to this rule. Sometimes, we will ask for something disingenuous like this to happen, but it’s with the goal of shooting the reaction not the weird fake moment. For example, it’s not uncommon for us to get all of the bridesmaids together, and then for Sarah to say we’re all going to do a super fancy laugh like we’re at afternoon tea. When the girls all do this together, it feels silly. So naturally when they’re done they all laugh together f’real and click! We’ve got our shot.
Stay tuned for the next part in this series, coming to the blog next week! And if you need a recap you can find previous posts at the link below:
And as always we love when you inspire our upcoming education posts, so reach out on social media or through a comment below if there’s a topic you’d like to see up next! Happy shooting friends!
Love + Laughs,
Sarah & Ben
