Posing tips for pregnant brides - any ideas?

[JonathanRyan]

I have a very small wedding to shoot tomorrow - just bride & groom and 2 witnesses at a registry office. It has all been arranged in a bit of a rush so I haven't had a chance to meet the bride but I found out yesterday that she is "quite" pregnant. Having very few people there gives me some options for really nice portraits of the B&G. Any ideas for some creative portraits? Any webl links I can trawl for inspiration?

Looking out of the window it will most likely be cold and drizzling....

[David_A_Smith]

Are you really sure she want's to hide her pregnancy?
I had a girl ring me a number of times over a 2 year period asking about prices and packages etc. Said she loved the work I did for a friend of hers and would let me know when they set a date. About the 8th call she told me she was " Finally" pregnant and now they could get married! I was wondering if there was some doubt everything was in working order? This couple had been together a fair while and were more than open about her being pregnant so who knows the reason behind delaying the wedding when they quite clearly could have been married a while in advance?

As far as these sort of things go, I have given up trying to hide things like this. She got herself in that situation, it will be obvious to everyone so why try to put on a facade? I also find trying to hide things only makes for awkward, un natural looking shots that only highlight what everyone will soon know. Trying to hide something only makes for gossip material. Better to be open about what you can't hide I reckon! :0)
All I would do is to get a few good 1/4 length shots which I would normally do anyway and leave it at that.

Unless your asked, it is possibly a mistake to presume she wants to hide her condition.

[JonathanRyan]

David, thanks for the reply - I realise I haven't made myself clear.

At the moment I don't know whether they want to hide the pregnancy or not (and stupidly I've left it too late to ask). What I had in mind was to go along prepared with two sets of posing ideas. One of these would be similar to what I'd do for a heavier bride and aim to disguise her shape a little. The other (which I'd much rather shoot) would if anything accentuate her condition. Choice on the day would obviously be with the clients but I'd like to be prepared for the options.

I'd love to do some beautiful portraits for the couple that made no attempt to hide the pregnancy - it sounds like you have some experience of this. Any inspiration online?

[KrystalRadlinski]

Hi Jonathon,

I photographed a bride at about 5 months just a few weeks back.

To minimize the pregnancy and focus the attention on the brides expression and the day itself I did a lot of high angle photography. Usually just a foot or two above my subject with a medium portrait lens 24-70. The perspective alone compensates for much of the tummy.

If she plans on having a bouquet, (even a small one), you can use that to cover, along with the hand and arm to minimize the waist-line. Another tip is to use the groom as a partial block by doing poses in which she is just slightly behind the groom.

One more tip I got from the fantastic Hanson Fong is to have the bride bend forward from the waist toward the camera, it also hides the size of the tummy by using perspective/scale.

To emphasize... well all you need to do is do a 2/3, 3/4 or profile shot without obstruction. Or for real emphasis shoot from low angle or use the couple's hands to bring attention to the area.

Best of luck!

[Tom_Meyer]

Hire some old guy to brandish a shotgun in the background of every shot?... t

[JonathanRyan]

Thanks guys.

Tom - didn't mention but I'm in the UK. Shotguns on a busy street would probably be inadvisible - do you know where I can get an "Old guy with a shotgun" template for Photoshop? [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]