Lessons

Lesson Info

Shoot: How to Shoot Tall and Short Couples

We are going to be focusing on how to shoot a tall and short couple. I actually have spoken, I actually kind of made a reference to this on social media and a girl corrected me and she had said that they're not a tall and short couple, they're a high low couple. And I was like I agree. So this lesson is changed from how to shoot a short tall to how to shoot a high low. However you call it, this can sometimes be a disconcerting aspect to what we do as photographers. Generally speaking I don't really know if it's a science but people seem to be attracted to people who maybe might be the same height or there was a scientific study that couples are naturally, people are more naturally attracted to another person if they share the same letter of the start of the first name. Yeah. Jasmine, Jay-D, boom. Science. (audience laughs) no but legitimately that was the study. So I've been asked quite often, the blog has become a mix. My blog has become a mix of photography resources, personal lifest...

yle posts and sharing my photos and photographers will sometimes ask questions and I can write about them. Now people have asked well how do you shoot a tall or short couple? And I've kind of for over nine, 10 years have stayed away from that topic because the last thing that I want any of my perspective clients to think is that I shoot a couple different based on their physical appearance. My brain has become I, what you come to me is what you get. And I hope that it stands the test of time. It's what you come to me is what you get. If you're tall, short, black, brown, Haitian, Croatian, Asian. If you have a check book and will pay me, I will shoot you and you will come out looking like a division of my brand. But recently I wanted to get into this topic because I do know that it's a pressure point for a lot of people. So let's talk about what that looks like. But before I get to that, this shoot I want to kind of just lay the groundwork. We shot in Laguna Beach which is about 10 minutes from my home. Brittney was five foot two inches. Tony was six feet. And it was an overcast day and the thing that I really want to really focus on is that my goal is not to make my clients the same height. That is not the goal when I go into a shoot of shooting clients of different heights. And the focus is always to be on love. It is not on physical appearance. It is not on differences. It is not on color. It is on love. So know that I, once I have those things, the thing that I want is I don't, what I'm showing today is not what a traditional portfolio would exclusively look like. I will have my portfolio reflect height differences to dramatic degrees and then throughout the shoot, I will also mix so that what the client gets as an end result reflects truly a mix of how they are hopefully naturally. Because the last thing I want to do is to have a couple come to me and what they walk away with are photos just of all of the same height and doesn't really reflect the type of photos that they take naturally. So I want to walk through what we're gonna be focusing on in this particular session. Now, if you, by this point in a previous lesson, you have seen me shoot the not dream engagement session. Taylor, I have it written down. Taylor was six four, six five, and Samantha is five one. So what you saw me do in that shoot which I was not articulating was going to be the same thing that I'm doing in this shoot but in this shoot I will be articulating. So you will be able to see the pattern of what I do and then ultimately you can see the galleries and compare. You will see similarities and you will see differences based on that height difference. So the height difference between Tony and Brittney was about 10 inches. The height difference between Samantha and Taylor was 14 inches. So we're gonna see how I did that. Now especially considering that I am mm, short. I was gonna try to think of a clever name of saying it. I'm fun sized. But when somebody is six four, six five, it is a little intimidating to me because I don't ever want to be shooting up at him in such a distinct and strategic way. But what we're gonna see that is you're gonna see how I've created patterns. The patterns are going to unfold themselves as we go through this video footage and then hopefully at the end I'm gonna give you a cheat sheet of what I did along the way. So we're gonna show the video right about now. Hello and welcome to Laguna Beach. Today I am very excited because we are going to be having a photo shoot and I may seem a little bit nervous too because the groom is almost six feet tall and the bride is a little bit on the petite side and she's standing at five two. So I'm gonna be talking about the techniques that I would use and employ to kind of minimize the 10 inch difference between the couple. So I'm gonna be showing a few of my favorite things to do, poses. Now the thing to remember is that I'm not going to shoot my couple too differently than how I shoot any other couple because they've seen my portfolio in the past and they know what they want. So I want to keep it as close to the portfolio as possible but at the same time kind of giving them a variety of images. I'm not going to shoot it such a way that I highlight the difference between the height. The couple knows how tall and short they are. If my goal was only to ever to put them on the same plane of focus on the same height, that they would think that's not really us. So my goal in this shoot would be to shoot them just the way are but also at the same time add a few twists and turns to kind of level out their height in case they want that option at a later point in time. This is what I've done so far as I arrived. I was waiting for the couple and I've arrived to Laguna Beach and it's a little bit overcast. This is very normal for Orange County. So the day started off really bright and sunny and it kinda hit around 4 or 5 o'clock and the coastal fog is kind of setting in. So I know that my shoot time has been minimized. So I'm going to have to work faster and more efficaciously and I'm gonna talk to you a little bit how I do that. I'm gonna go in with a strategy. I know where I'm gonna start the shoot, I know where I'm gonna end the shoot, I know I want to hit the shoot right in the middle and then I'm just gonna have to fill in the gaps from there. So join me as I go along this ride and thanks for being here. So our amazing couple Tony and Brittney are here. It's a little bit cold so I'm gonna actually expedite the shoot to ensure that they stay enjoying the shoot from beginning to end. Where I'm at right now is against this rock like edifice. If the sun was shining bright and totally completely in the sky, I would still start them here. I'm gonna start the shoot the way that I start every single shoot. This is for me the best way that I've found that two bodies work together just by starting the shoot and getting them comfortable. After that my plan is to have them walk towards me to kind of create a relaxed cadence and then what I'm going to do is I'm going to lean Tony against a rock so that I can use this particular position to lower his body naturally and then I'm going to bring Brittney in nice and close and then we'll talk about shooting wide open mat. So it's the first three things I'm going to focus on and if this was an actual shoot on a wedding day that's exactly why I would do as well. So here we go. So I'm gonna bring your bodies in close to each other. Now every single time for the rest of this shoot, Tony you're gonna stick your feet in underneath this dress. Okay. Cool. Now you're gonna put your arms around Brittney's waist. Beautiful and because she's having, that's nice. Beautiful. Brittney I will take your bouquet. I'm gonna rest your bouquet right about here. You're gonna wanna get your left arm and drape it over his shoulder. How's that? So this bouquet's a little bit heavy. So right here it's competing with his head so what I want you to do is you can still keep it there but we're just gonna tilt it down a tiny bit. That's gorgeous. You're gonna relax this arm. You're gonna place your hand here and beautiful. Great, so I'm gonna back up a tiny bit. Brittney can I have you get on your tippy toes? That a girl. Good. Now you guys are gonna be looking at each other. Gorgeous and this is how we start every single shot. I'm gonna be shooting this at a 2.8 200 ISO 400th of a second. Once I get my settings right, this is exactly where I want to be. Can you guys bring your foreheads in nice and close? Gorgeous. Beautiful. A little closer. Touch your foreheads together, ah that's gorgeous. Beautiful. Hang out there one second. Beautiful. Now, Brittney can you look, can you peel your heads away? Brittney look at me. Give, relax that shoulder. Turn your face a little bit towards me, chin towards me. At a girl. Slight smile. Take a deep breath, relax that right shoulder. Ah, beautiful. Gorgeous. Tony can you lightly kiss your, Brittney. There we go. Thanks for reading my mind. That's gorgeous (laughs). Beautiful. Peel away from each other. Take a deep breath. Now, Brittney when he does that again I want you looking at the ground right in front of you. Thank you. (shutter clicking) Beautiful. I'm gonna come in a little bit closer. I'm going to stand on a rock and by me just standing on a natural edifice I'm gonna actually be at Tony's height and by me getting at Tony's height, I can shoot a little bit in a equal to equal masculine perspective and Brittney will still be minimized. You can come down on your feet. Poor thing. You're gonna have the worlds thickest calves. That's amazing. It's a workout. Good. Take a deep breath. Same thing. You guys are gonna be looking at each other and then Brittney I'm going to be coaching you into something but as I stepped in let me check my settings just once more. Yeah my light's great. Or exactly what I want it. Beautiful. Now tippy toes again Britt. There you go. Beautiful. Now with your right hands can you guide Tony's face into yours underneath his chin? Beautiful. Beautiful it's... (laughs) Good. My fault, my fault. Oh no, no none of the cute stuff yet. Oh. Okay, sorry. Relax the hand. What you're going to do is you're gonna bring it up to his chin and then you're going to guide him in. Beautiful, but not yet. So put your hand down in the crest of his elbow. Beautiful. Take a deep breath. I'll count you down. I'm ready for you. Hand to chin, gorgeous. Forehead to forehead. Guide him in, guide him in, guide him in, guide him in, oh thank you. Beautiful. Awesome. Great. So now what I'm going to do is I'm going to minimize the amount of time that my bride actually has to walk. Tony I'm going to put you, your back here. Great. Now, Tony kind of came into like a crest of the rock. I actually want him at a peak of the rock. So I'm gonna move him because if he's at a crest his body's gonna be sunken in and I don't want that. Now what I'm gonna do is have you widen your feet a tiny bit. I'm having Tony widen his feet because from my angle I'm going to be cropping out his feet and by a man widening his feet it's going to bring his height down. By him widening his feet he's gonna shorten himself. I'm gonna put Brittney into his waist and I'm gonna shoot nice and tight. And I'm just talking down to a rock right now (laughs). I don't really know who I'm talking to (laughs). So Brittney come in this way. I'm gonna take your bouquet. Okay. Beautiful. Come in nice and close. Beautiful. Gorgeous. I'm not gonna be so concerned about always highlighting the height difference. What I really mostly just want to do is to yes get their height at their natural levels but at the same time I really just want to highlight both the natural height and then I'll have her stand on her tippy toes as well for one. My settings because nothing has changed in my lighting situation or scenario will still be the same. I'm at a 2.8 400th of a second 200 ISO. That is so stunning darling. Hang on. I'm going to get on a rock to give me a little bit more height. Now what I'm going to do is I'm going to have both of them looking at each other. (camera beeping) (shutter clicking) Beautiful. Now Tony can you look here? Nice. (camera beeping) (shutter clicking) Good. (camera beeping) (shutter clicking) And Britt can you get on your tippy toes? Nice. Now bring your torso into Tony's. There you go. (Camera beeping) (shutter clicking) Tony can you look towards the beach houses? Not, oh that's it right there. Oh my. Okay. Britt can you get up on your toes and then lean in for a light kiss on his cheek? (camera beeping) (shutter clicking) At a girl. Beautiful. Beautiful. Good. Let's see. I don't want your face in competition with the boutonniere. So see if you can get in. Come to the side a tiny bit. No no no this way. This way? Yeah. And then just, you don't have to get on your toes. Just bring your body in nice and close. There we go. That's beautiful. Thanks. Good. Beautiful. (camera beeping) (shutter clicking) Can you guys look at the beach houses? Okay I'm gonna give you a specific beach house. The second gray one. I want you just the same point, or you guys decide between yourselves which house you're looking at. (camera beeping) (shutter clicking) Good. (camera beeping) (shutter clicking) Good. Okay. Beautiful. Now what I'm gonna have you guys do, is I'm going to pin you. I'm gonna bring your dress and I'm gonna have you just back up towards me. Gorgeous. Gorgeous. You're gonna turn around this way. I'm sorry toward, beautiful. I'm gonna give this to you. I'm gonna pin you back again. Tony I'm gonna get you to the side of her. You're going to be facing that direction. You want my feet under? No, well that's good. That was good but no. I love it. Turn towards me. (Tony laughs) You're gonna put the bouquet in that hand. So you guys are gonna hold your hands here. Gorgeous. Now I'm going to have you, can I have you unbutton your jacket? And then you're going to put your ring hand in your pocket, but just your four fingers. Yes and so see how, all the time when I want your hand in your pocket see if you can have your coat just like that. Okay. Awesome. Beautiful. Holding hands. Beautiful. Great. And then, yeah. And then excuse me while I adjust this. That's great. (Jasmine sniffs) Cool. I'm gonna be shooting this at a F because of the height difference and they're going to be walking towards me. I'm no longer afforded that latitude of having my couple, shooting it a slightly wider open end in F205 to compensate. And I most likely do that by way of my shutter speed. So, my first guest is gonna be, yeah 250 to the second 200 ISO F 4. So now what I want you to do is to actually, Tony can you stick your hands a little bit deeper into your pocket? Yeah, good. Now Tony can you bring your ankles a tiny bit closer? Good. Now I want you to rest your weight in one hip or the other one near the, there we go. There we go. Nice. And I want you to do the same Brittney. Just you relax one, into one hip but, exactly. That kind of like falling into it is exactly what I want. Beautiful. So your eyes are gonna be here now looking at each other. (camera beeping) (shutter clicking) Beautiful. Now can you guys, you guys are hand to hand. Now I kind of want you just leaning in lightly for a kiss. (camera beeping) (shutter clicking) Thank you. Thank you. Beautiful. Now what I want you to do is, Brittney can you just bring your body in closer and then just rest your head. See that's what short girls can do. Good. Now I don't want you to just be like this. So Tony can I have you widen your legs a tiny bit. Nice. Distribute the weight a little bit more into one hip, there we go. Beautiful. Beautiful. Now instead of this you might come, bring it here. Chin to me. That a girl. Good. Beautiful. (camera beeping) (shutter clicking) Tony can I have you look out that way towards the ocean? Give me more of your profile. There you go. Thank you. Beautiful. (camera beeping) (shutter clicking) And then Brittney look up at Tony. (camera beeping) (shutter clicking) Ah, beautiful. Now what I want you guys to do is walk towards me. I understand there are rocks in front of you. You're gonna take your time. You're gonna start with your left foot, at a cadence of one, two, three. You're just looking at each other. You're not worried about me. I might call for you Brittney. I might call for you Tony. If in the case I call for Tony, Brittney I want you looking at Tony. If I call for Brittney, Tony I want you looking at Brittney. Cool. I threw a lot at you. Let's see, let's see how this goes (laughs). Okay. I'm going to change my F stop to a 2. because I'm not going to have both of them looking at my camera. So the idea of them, of both of their eyes being in focus is not as important as if say a classical portrait. So I'm going to compensate again. I drop my F stop to an F 2.8. My shutter speed's going to be at 400. I'm at 200 ISO. I'm gonna count you down in three, two, one. I want you starting with your left foot and hang on one sec. (sniffs) You guys are doing amazing. Thank you. I was back there and I was like I threw a lot at you and Tony just winked like, I got this (laughs). I was like you do. I trust you, you do (laughs). Okay, cool. Okay. Awesome. I'm gonna count you down in three, two, one. Left foot. Eye's at each other. Aw Tony I said you, I thought you had it homie. I thought you had it (laughs). Good. At a girl. Good, good, good, good. Eyes here, Brittney. Ah, I threw Tony for a loop. Okay, eye's here Tony. (laughs) Dude you talk the big game. I'm sorry, you talk a big game. Damn it. That was so freaking amazing though. That's exactly, exactly, exactly (laughs)-- You fail. No that's exactly what I want. Yeah. Okay I'm gonna turn to the camera and I'm gonna chat a little bit about what just happened. I probably would have my couples do that one more time to ensure that I have the photos that I wanted. But in this case because of my mad trash talking skills Tony laughed in a way that I really liked. Like he was laughing in like a real Tony way and I just met him. And Brittney was laughing at Tony which gave her a big big smile. I'll take it and we're gonna be moving on. Yes. Now-- That's relationships. Yeah (laughs). That's how it is all the time. The guy, the girls are supposed to laugh at the guy. What I'm going to do now is traditionally this is like a hot spot for photographers in Orange County. But luckily just do to the weather, which is a wind for us, we don't have too many people out here on the rocks. I'm going to take our bride and groom out on the rocks. I'm gonna be shooting kind of like a wide pano shot to give diversity to the portfolio as well as setting the scene. So my bride is barefoot. So I'm not gonna have her go too far out. I'm gonna be conscious of what she is wearing and how she's feeling. But until then we're gonna walk out here. So what actually happened was we just moved a few feet from where we were standing. But I'm going to crop the photo in such a way that it doesn't reveal that we didn't walk too far away from the original source of our shoot. But actually just a few feet which makes the clients comfortable but gives them diversity to their portfolio. Where we are standing is on a rocky area, but what I think to my mind is that rocks are a natural elevation source. So I'm going to choose a rock that's going to give my bride at minimum three inches. So I'm going to put my bride on an area that I think might be a tiny bit higher 'cause any height elevation will definitely be beneficial. But one thing that I notice is that there's a little tiny crest along the rocks. So I'm going to put the bride along the crest. So Brittney I'm gonna have you stand here. I'm going to bring, you're gonna face that way. I'm going to have her dress float this way because if wind picks it up that would be fantastic. And yes for photographers who are wondering if my brides will stand in the water at the ocean the answer is yes. And the answer is yes because I have a portfolio that actually showcases this type of thing. Ah! You look so good. Now what I'm going to do is I'm gonna put Tony a few steps behind the bride at this given point in time. So I'm gonna have you take a few steps back because the farther Tony stands, right there. Perfect. The farther Tony stands, they're gonna eventually get the same height. So Tony I'm gonna have you button your top button. This is a mix between a bridal portrait in a way because the focus will definitely be on the bride. Now I'm a huge fan of shooting wide open. So this particular situation, Tony being in focus is important but it's not imperative. So I'm gonna shoot very close to my style which is an F2. I'm still gonna be at ISO 200. I always want to keep my ISO as low as possible. I'm moving a little bit slow because these rocks are a little gnarly. Okay. I'm gonna compensate my shutter speed. I'm gonna try first. That's brilliant Brittney. Ah! Good. Tony left hand in your pocket. With, yeah. Nice. Now Britt turn your left shoulder. Towards me. Not that much. Yes. That's ultimately where I want the body but just relax it out now. Good, good, good. Bring the core in. Beautiful. Just give me a deep breath and then just relax it all. Just shake it, just let it out. Shake it off. Good. Already your body changed. Beautiful. I'm gonna remind you to bring you core in again but I don't want you overthinking it because it just doesn't look natural. Ah, this right here. Good. My settings are an F 2.0 a thousandth of a second 200 ISO. My focal point is on the bride. Beautiful. Take a deep breath. Pull back the shoulders, relax. With your left hand place it just slightly against your thigh. Just your thigh, there we go. Beautiful. But give me a little slack in your wrist. Little slack. Gorgeous. Beautiful. I want that wrist but lower. Ah, beautiful. Beautiful. Beautiful. (camera beeping) shutter clicking) Let's see. Tony can I have you looking towards the ocean. (camera beeping) (shutter clicking) Beautiful. And Brittney I want you turning back toward the ocean but with your left shoulder. (camera beeping) (shutter clicking) I'm sorry this way babe. This way. (laughs) I'm sorry. Good. Look back at the ocean. At a girl. Good. I want you looking back there, you're at me. Beautiful. Now what's happening is that the elbow is a little locked so give me a kink in the elbow. Now what I want you to do is lift your bouquet here. And you're gonna be facing this way. You're gonna be facing that rock. So you're gonna take a deep breath and you're, watch me for a sec. Take a deep breath and you're just gonna lower your, that way. So I'm gonna give you one motion. This way? You're going to be, you're gonna end here. Okay. You're starting here, you're ending here and in the process of you moving the bouquet comes to your side just so that it's not locked. I am giving you a lot. You just roll with it and then we'll fix it (laughs). Good. Starting here, ending here? You are starting there. Okay. Ending here. I got it boo. You got this. I got it. We're doing this. We are doing this. Beautiful. And we're starting in three, hand, left hand on your, there you go girl. Thank you. One, two and three. (camera beeping (shutter clicking) At a girl. This time I want you doing the same thing, but this time I got too much of your profile and too much of your white eye. Bring your chin slightly here and bring the core in. Right, here we go. Three, two and one. (camera beeping) (shutter clicking) All the way, at a girl. At a girl, thank you. (shutter clicking) Kink in the elbow, kink in the elbow. Ah, there you go. Heck yes. Tony can you come up from behind Brittney so that your back, you chest is in her back. And you're gonna get your feet underneath her dress. (seagulls calling) Okay. Right now I'm going to be shooting this at an F 3.2. I'm going to compensate by way of my shutter speed and I'm going to be shooting (clears throat) at 640th of a second. Or actually make that 500th of a second. (camera beeping) (shutter clicking) Cool. So my settings right now are, I'm shooting with a 35 millimeter. I changed from the 50 millimeter to the 35 millimeter to get a wider shot and set the environment. I'm shooting at an F 3.2 500th of a second 200 ISO. I will probably be shooting at 200 ISO for as long as possible. Probably for the next 25 minutes to which then I will bump it up to a 400. This is just based on experience on what I, the style that I like to shoot. So right now what I want you to do is, we're not gonna be really looking at my camera 'cause it's a really wide shot. So I just, Brittney I want to keep your face nice and light, slight smile, beautiful. Tony you're gonna come down. You're gonna kind of give her a nice big bear head in three, two and one. Beautiful. Eyes down at the bouquet. Nice. (camera beeping) (shutter clicking) Good. Tony can you look out towards the ocean? Nevermind. Bring it back to me and then what I want you to do is just to kind of squeeze in like you're kind of looking down a little bit at her. But you're not like, yes that but not yet. So we're gonna peel away from that. So this is what's happening. I want to actually bring my clients to the ending point. I peel them back and then I work them back way into it. So this, the idea is show them what you want, where you want them to end. Peel them away, then work 'em into it 'cause that's what's going to yield a really natural pose and him coming from such a height down to her height. So here we go. In three, two and one. Bear hugging. Nice. Nice. Thank you. (camera beeping) (shutter clicking) Beautiful. Hang out. And because I shoot a lot with primes, if I was using like a zoom I could just zoom out but what I'm gonna do I'm gonna zoom out with my feet. I'm still gonna keep the same lens. I'm gonna change my aperture to an F4. I'm gonna back up a tiny bit. I'm gonna get up on a rock so that I can be at slightly more of the same height as they are. Cool. And now I'm just gonna set more of the scene. So Ryan forgive me. Can I have you back up? (laughs) Thanks Tony. Good. (camera beeping) (shutter clicking) So because I changed my aperture I'm going to have to compensate by way of my shutter speed. Because I have more of a distance and, this is beautiful. Great. So I'm gonna be shooting at an F 4.0, two hundred and fiftieth of a second 200 ISO. We're gonna do the same thing guys. So on the count of three just kind of come in for a nice bear hug in three, two and one. Beautiful. (camera beeping) (shutter clicking) Good. Now what I want to do is I want to create a little bit of movement but I know it's a tiny bit difficult because of the rocks. The good thing is is that my bride is wearing shoes and she's comfortable walking across the rocks or that's what she told me. So what I'm gonna have you guys do is simply just make a line from here to here. And what I want Tony to do, we're gonna try to see if he can kind of lead you as if he's leading you away along these rocks. Now I want to be careful that the dress doesn't snag so I'm going to take one step out so I can lift your dress up instead of dragging it across. So hang out one second. Okay. I'm gonna need a pedicure after this shoot. Right? Take, can you take a couple steps up? Oh that's beautiful. That is, okay. Pause there. Tony can you take one step out that way? Boom, great. So what we're about to do is we're going to have the bride and groom walking along the rocks and that's going to be great but I'm purposefully having Tony to be a few steps in front of his bride and it will accentuate the height difference and I'm okay with that height difference. It is exactly what it is. What I want to do is I'm going to coach him to go back to his bride as if he's genuinely helping her out of the rocks. All I'm doing is creating motion within their portfolio so that it looks real and it feels natural to the day. So let's see. Tony? Exactly, just like that and as you walk through the rocks it's going to be natural to kind of feels off kilter. That's fine just go with it. Just occasionally make sure that you're looking back at Brittney and making sure she's okay which is I'm sure something that she would just do naturally. Brittney I want you bringing the shoulders back, the core in relaxing that bouquet. You can't do anything wrong 'cause you just look so gorgeous. I'm gonna back up a tiny bit. Now, one thing I want to point out is just behind the bride and groom there are a bunch of people. So people wearing bright tie dye colors. I'm going to crop in camera. Instead of me shooting directly into this direction, just to save me time later I'm going to scoot over a tiny bit and crop them out of the frame entirely. I used to think of it as trying to think of my post processing far in advance because I don't want to have to deal with cropping people out of my frame in Photoshop at a later point in time. My focal point is on the bride and I will be rotating it to the groom if necessary but for right now we're good. I'm gonna count you down in three, two, one. Take your time. Casually walk. Not a big deal in three, two and one. We're walking. Looking back at Brittney. Good. Beautiful. Beautiful. Gorgeous. Now Britt, walk to me. Walk to me. You're gonna be leading him. You take the time. Take your time (laughs). Relax your hands between, nice. Beautiful. Eyes at each other. You can't do this wrong. Gorgeous. Hand in your pocket Tony. Nice. (shutter clicking) Beautiful. Cool. Before we leave this area, one thing I'm going to point out is I want to make sure and find something that's going to give me more height than Tony. Which is difficult because on a good day I stand at five four. He's close to six foot if not six foot exactly. So I'm gonna try to find a rock that gives me at minimum six to eight inches and that's what I found. I'm going to find my rock or my pointed elevation and then I'm going to position Tony within that so that I can shoot down on the couple. I will have the bride get up on her tippy toes to level out what that looks like and we're gonna take things from there. This is my rock. Okay. So I'm going to stand on the rock first. I'm gonna figure out my frame. Cool. Well actually let's just enjoy this moment real quick. (camera beeping) (shutter clicking) Distribute the weight unevenly, heavily. There you go. Beautiful. Beautiful. Give me the the, you know what-- My arms are hyper extending. I was gonna notice. That's why. No it's fine. It was fine. I was like I want to be that (laughs). I'm just gonna be more conscious of it, but it's fine and own it. Own it, own it, own it. It is not gross whatsoever. I just get to see more of your beautiful arm. There you go (laughs). Okay good. Good. Nice. Beautiful. Nice. That actually worked out really great. You guys, thankfully you guys think I'm funny. (Tony laughs) This is great. Tony I'm gonna have you come in. And then Brittney you can pause for a second. Tony I'm gonna have you come in. This way? Yes please. Come in. Come in. Come in. Right about there, perfect. Now that I've positioned Tony, woo the best part of this situation, the amazing part and again I just happen to be lucky and this is what I look for in a lot of situations is on the ground there is sand but there's also a rock. This is gonna be great 'cause not only did I get elevation, my bride will get elevation and these types of natural elevations exist everywhere in nature at all times. So Brittney I'm gonna get your dress and what I'm going to do is I'm gonna have you stand as much as possible on this one and then I will bring Tony into you. Sorry. Beautiful. I know it's a little hard. No it's okay. You're gonna get a workout. We're getting a workout. Okay. So Tony come on in. Great. So the tide's coming up so I need to work fast, as fast as possible. Now Tony I want you on the sand as much as possible. That's great. Okay. Now look at this, like I gave my beautiful bride some inches. Some inches. Wow. So, I'm going to shoot this (clears throat) at a 1.4. I'm going to focus on a rotation of eyes. This is lovely. This is lovely. Great. So, I'm going, because I'm shooting at a 1.4 I want to get really close. I want to make this a really intimate photo but I'm going to have to compensate by way of my shutter speed. I'm gonna test it out right now. (shutter clicking) This is pretty close to what I want. I'm at a thousandth of a second but I'm gonna change it to because that's just the style, I like to shoot just rather bright. Beautiful so now what I want you to do is bring your hand on the inside of his elbow side. Yeah that's great. And then Tony can you have your hand on her elbow? Yeah. But instead of cupping it to the side. Yep. There we go. Nice. Nice. Nice, nice, nice. So I'm gonna adjust you dress. Great. So I make adjustments all the time. Just like I cropped people out of the frame last time, I'm going to make adjustments so that I don't have to do them later in post. Can you bring your hand up to, yeah right there. Just relax your fingers. Gorgeous. Now what I want you to do is to bring your, bring your foreheads in. Forehead's in. Brittney can you drop your chin a tiny bit? There you go. And actually Brittney I changed my mind. Can you put your hand right down here? Good. I'm gonna actually shoot this at 500 'cause I feel like I'm losing light and then the minute they got closer, okay. I'm gonna go, here I go. My settings. F 1.4, 640th of a second, 200 ISO. Take a deep breath Britt, relax that right shoulder. I just abbreviated your name, it's all good. It is all good. Bring your foreheads nice and close. (camera beeping) (shutter clicking) Beautiful. (camera beeping) (shutter clicking) Good. Beautiful. Now what I want you to do is peel away from each other. Well actually Tony will you lean to kiss her forehead? I mean 'cause (laughs) Good. Beautiful. Now what I want you to do is peel away from each other. Brittney can you look down here at my, what's, are you okay? Oh I'm sorry. I meant-- Oh. 'Scuse me my fault. My fault. You meant, heads. Just your faces (laughs). Alright. I'm so (laughs)... I thought I'm supposed to move it away. (Jasmine laughs) Totally my fault. Totally my fault. Okay, good, good, good. Now Brittney can you look here down at my hand? Beautiful take a, now I'm having too much of the neck twist. Just, at a girl. At a girl. Tony you come in and you kiss her wherever your lips land. (shutter clicking) Beautiful. And then Brittney eyes here. (shutter clicking) Heck yes. Thank you. Okay we're moving. We're in the second half of our shoot and I've moved them away from the tide pools and back onto the sandy area. Now my goal for this particular part of the session is to have strategy. Strategy would be three main points that I want them to do. I'm gonna have them walking towards me just enjoying it against the sandy area. Then I'm going to have them simply just get nice and close out looking at the ocean. It'll be a little bit more portraiting in nature and that's fine because mom and grandma always want something. The tide is coming up so I need to work rather quickly but we're gonna adjust to it as we go and we're going to end the shoot with a couple sitting down. Couple sitting down is kind of like a little bit more intimate. Will also be a great opportunity to put them a little bit closer to equal levels. Now, starting this part of the session, I positioned my couple standing next to each other which would be fine and wonderful and great. Except for the fact that these are certain things to take into consideration. I don't want to magnify Tony's height difference. So here at the beach there's a slight incline and whenever I see a slight incline I see it as an opportunity to bring the bride, elevate the bride naturally. So seeing where Tony and Brittney are right now, he's on the upside of the incline which is making him even taller. He's probably about six two, six three right now. I'm going to have Tony sit on the opposite side of Brittney. Brittney will now be standing taller and it's going to lower Tony just naturally. Beautiful. Gorgeous. Let's see. Jay-D, I'm sorry can I get the 50? Great. So I'm gonna have you guys just, Tony I actually want you holding the bouquet. I know, I know. There's a vision so we go with it. Okay. (camera rattling) You got it? Thanks. Okay cool. So, you guys are gonna hold hands and I understand that there are people in the background for this frame and people in the background that I cannot possibly crop out in advance but it's all good. I worry about that at a later point in time. I'm going to hae the couple not be looking at me. I'm going to have them be looking at each other. So again another opportunity for me to shoot at a 2.8. It's a little bit wider than like that traditional 4.0, 4.5 aperture but I can still get away with it because they're not going to be looking at me. As long as they're somewhat in focus and on the same focal plane, right now the height difference between them is looking about six inches. I'm going to push Tony a little bit closer to the water shore which will shorten him and elevate Brittney. So Tony step a little bit this way. Great. And beautiful. Now, are you barefoot Brittney? Good. Can you pick up the side of your dress? At a girl. Beautiful. And you guys are just going to be looking at me. I'm sorry excuse me, at each other. My settings right now are at F 2. two 250th of a second at 250 ISO. I'm gonna have you guys look at me to begin. Beautiful, gorgeous. Now you're gonna start with your left foot on the count of three walking nice and slow just looking at each other enjoying. When I call for you, you look at me. We know the drill right Tony? Wink at me Tony. Wink yeah (laughs). I got you. So in three, in two, in one left. Nice. Slow. Beautiful. Beautiful. Now what I want you to do is Brittney, pause Tony. Brittney come up towards me. Come up towards me. Come up towards me. At a girl. Hold on, hold on tight. Tony, don't let her go. Try to get away from Tony. In three, two, good, at a girl. Eyes down, eyes down, eyes down. Oh shoot (laughs). Eyes back at Tony, eyes back at Tony. Good, eyes back at me. Eyes back at me. Eyes down, eyes down. At a girl. Thank you. (Brittney laughs) Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Beautiful. So, by me actually have Brittney drag Tony from behind, again we're elevating their height without making too much of a drastic change. So, we have walking, oh we're gonna have you guys just enjoy this beautiful beach. 'Kay cool. I'm gonna shoot this. (coughs) Can you guys move your shoulders a little closer? Yeah I'm too, so I could shoot this with a but I actually don't like that distortion. It doesn't distort too much on the 5D Mark III, but instead of me changing my lens I'm simply gonna hop up on this ledge which will give me a height and distance. I'm gonna two angles. One firstly behind them, and I can already tell right now that, I'm at too much of a height distance so I'll squat. But I'm gonna just get my settings adjusted to where I want them. My focal point will be on the back of the brides head but for a specific reason. Rad. Brittney, can you rest your head on, beautiful. (camera beeping) (shutter clicking) Jay-D can I have the 35 on deck? Jay-D, can I have the 35 on deck? (camera beeping) (shutter clicking) I'm gonna shoot this at a 1.4. Or 1.2 because I can. I'm gonna adjust by way of my shutter speed. Britt can I turn back and get a test shot real quick? (camera beeping) (shutter clicking) (waves crashing) (camera beeping) (shutter clicking) This is fantastical. I'm shooting at a 1.2 800th of a second, 250 ISO. Lean on Tony. Beautiful. (camera beeping) (shutter clicking) At a girl. Good. Now come up, look out towards the ocean and on the count of three you're gonna look back at me. (clears throat) (waves crashing) In three, two, one. (camera beeping) (shutter clicking) Good. Beautiful. Good. That a girl. You look so stinking beautiful. This time what I want you to do, this time what I want, yes that. What you just did you looked back and you looked gorgeous and confident, but just relax the eyebrows and (laughs). Okay. Okay, okay. That's brilliant. In three and two and one. (camera beeping) (shutter clicking) Good. Now what I want you to do that exact thing but bring your torso closer. Yes. But only movement. Okay. Not yet. Yes you got it. You got it, you got it. In three and two and one. (camera beeping) (shutter clicking) Good. Again but looking a little bit tiny bit happier (laughs). Okay. In three, two, one. (camera beeping) (shutter clicking) Good. Tony can I have your hand in your pocket? Your left hand in your pocket? Nice. Core in, turning around and happy face in three, two, one. That's it now. Good, at a girl. At a girl. 35. After this we're going to have the couple sit and then we'll call it a day. (camera beeping) (shutter clicking) Good. Alright you good? Can you guys turn towards each other? (waves crashing) Oh that's cute. What? I mean you guys can not do the cute stuff if I am not shooting. I mean people. No that's brilliant. Good, good, good. Good. Nice. Now just how we get started, can you, the start at the shoot we had your hand around, keep the bouquet in that hand. Yeah. (waves crashing) Let's see. Okay nevermind. Great. Bring your torso's nice and tight. Nice and tight, nice and tight. At a girl. Relax that left shoulder. In three, two, one. Gorgeous. (waves crashing) (shutter clicking) Eyes at each other. Let's back it up. Oo! A rip. Okay, okay, okay. (laughs) (camera beeping) (shutter clicking) And then let's see, nice. Bring your foreheads to touch. (camera beeping) (shutter clicking) Good. Jay-D 50. Jay-D, Jay-D? 85, 85, 85. Thank God (laughs). Sorry. Sorry, I love you. Thanks. Okay great. (lens rattling) Beautiful. So I'm turning on the 85 because this is a beautiful portrait lens. It's a little slower focus but I'm okay with that. I'm gonna change my ISO to 320. Just a test shot. (shutter clicking) I'm probably going to have to bump my ISO to 400. (camera beeping) (shutter clicking) Yeah I'm gonna bump my ISO. It's time to get this party started. Let's go to ISO 800. (shutter clicking) Yup I'm where I want to be. My settings now, I'm shooting a traditional portrait. F 4.5 160th of a second 800 ISO. I'm not gonna actually tell them that I'm gonna start shooting because they're just laughing and hanging out and having a great time. (shutter clicking) So in that case I'm gonna shoot it candid. (shutter clicking) (waves crashing) Good. You're looking just happy. Can you guys look here at me? On your tippy toes Brittney. Get up high, oh at a girl. Bring your faces in a little closer. There you go. (camera beeping) (shutter clicking) Eyes at each other. (camera beeping) (shutter clicking) Beautiful. Can you look over there? Jay-D can you wave? Can you wave at them? Can you guys look at Jay-D? (Brittney and Jasmine laughing) Good. Nice. Good. Jay-D can you stand closer over here? (laughs) Nice. Good. That, very good. Now Tony and Jay-D and Brittney at Tony. You're looking at Tony, you're looking at Tony (laughs). There you go (laughs). No Brittney you're looking at Tony, Tony's at Jay-D. There you go (laughs). We need to just stop depending on him. I know. You know you're a lost cause. Okay. I'm gonna hope down. There's too many names. (Jasmine laughs) I know that's true. You know your name. (Jasmine laughs) So we're going into our last shot of the day. We have lost a considerable amount of light, but as long as I can end this shoot on a high note my clients that I know that I did everything that I set out to do. We had three main objectives in the first part of the session. Now we have three main objections in the second part of this session so we've kind of interspersed things as they happened naturally. I'm gonna go into the last frame of our shoot and we're gonna hope for the best. I'm gonna have them sitting down as this will be a great way to even out their height difference. Try and get in a nice emotional close pose and then we'll just call it a day. So here we go. So, let's see. I'm going to intentionally place the groom away from this gate but I'm not gonna place him too close to where I've seen the tide come in. So, I'm going to have Tony, Tony can you just sit down here and kind of face in the direction. Now, I don't actually coach a guy too heavily into where I want him to sit because I want to see what his body does naturally. Great. So now what I'm going to do is I'm going to place the bride. I'm going to place the bride sitting right here and I'm gonna adjust her body from there. And I'm gonna shoot really quick. Jay-D can I get the 50 on deck? Can I get the 50 please? I don't even know if I'm gonna be able to sit down. Okay, here. Hang on one second. Hang on one second. Yeah. We're gonna, you're gonna actually come to your knees. Okay. At a girl. Boom. Good. Good, good, good. And you're going to sit on the side of your bum. At a girl. Oh no. There you go. That's great. I want to see a little bit of your feet. Now I'm intentionally showing the brides feet because if I don't she's gonna look like a cupcake. Bring it up a little bit more. There you go. Good. Good. You're gonna interlock your arm. Oh we'll see. We'll see where we're doing this. (waves crashing) Good. Okay. Rad. Rad, rad, rad. Okay cool. (waves crashing) I actually notice that the bouquet's in competition with her feet. So I'm gonna place it out a little bit like that. With the head kind of facing up towards the camera. So Tony as much as possible, fall into the pose so you just kind of just feel a little bit... There we go. That's great. Already the body kind of changed a tiny bit. Beautiful. I'm going to shoot at a 2.5. I'm gonna drop my ISO to 640. Can you guys look out that direction? (shutter clicking) (waves crashing) (camera beeping) (shutter clicking) Now one thing that I can tell right now is the position that I have actually placed the bride, it's magnified a part of her body that I actually want to minimize. As a result I'm going to turn out this side. Part of her arm I'm making it look too large. So I'm gonna have her turn her body out so that I can consider that later in post. So can you turn a little bit more towards me Brittney? Wait, you can keep your body in that way and then shift your shoulders out towards me. Good. Now I'm gonna have you just place here and wrap your arms, excuse me, upper, there you go. Now lean in. Beautiful. So I basically just shifted her position of her body not to kind of showcase what was going on in the back of her arm. Now I think it looks much stronger. Relaxing the hand, nice. Looking at each other. Looking at each other. Great. So there's somebody walking in the background and I'm just gonna let him pass. I'm sorry guys. We're gonna let somebody pass in the background. (waves crashing) So this is what I'm thinking so far. What I'm thinking so far is this pose isn't all that strong. I mean just to admit it. But I'm gonna shoot through this pose and then amend to see if I can create something a little bit stronger. (waves crashing) (shutter clicking) (waves crashing) Can you guys look here at me? So, beautiful. Brittney see if you can bring your head in a tiny bit. Okay, cool. (Brittney mumbling) Yeah I know it's my fault, it's not you. It's totally not you. (waves crashing) Let me have you, let's see. I can move you easier than I can move Brittney. Yeah. So, let's see. Tony can you scooch your bum out towards the ocean? Stay there lovey. (waves crashing) You're gonna actually turn toward me. This way? Yeah. And then scoot back. Yeah. And then Brittney, you're just gonna kind of hold his, yeah. Actually go back to what you were, I liked it. I liked it, I liked it, I liked it, I liked it. (waves crashing) Let's see how it would look here. (waves crashing) And then, Tony can you hold my camera real quick? (clears throat) Sorry. Yeah, cool. Can I see your left toes a little bit more? (waves crashing) Good. And then wrap your arm around. There you go. (waves crashing) (camera beeping) (shutter clicking) (waves crashing) Can you lean against Tony's, there you go. Oh. That's okay. It's fine (laughs). Good. Okay. We're gonna go one last shot. I want to fight for it. If this does not work we're cropping it. Scoot back for me. So that she's gonna come in the crest of your body. Okay. Yeah. Oh there we go. Okay. That right there is so much better. Right? Yeah. Okay, one important learning lesson, if your clients are comfortable, chances are the photo doesn't look good. I'm trying to fight for the pose and it wasn't working. And I think it's so painfully evident that it wasn't working and here I was trying to fight for it. Third time's the charm. She feels comfortable, Tony looks masculine, he looks comfortable. This is exactly what I want to end it. Cool. Cool, cool, cool, cool. (camera beeping) (shutter clicking) Beautiful. Can you guys back look maybe in that direction? Nice. (shutter clicking) (waves crashing) Beautiful. Can I get the 35? And this is where we're gonna end it. (waves crashing) (shutter clicking) (waves crashing) Oh yeah. Great. Thank you. Beautiful. Turn the eyes towards Brittney. Yep. (shutter clicking) Eyes down Britt. (shutter clicking) Beautiful. (shutter clicking) And then eyes at me. (camera beeping) (shutter clicking) Now we're not gonna be paying any attention to me. You're gonna be looking down here. (camera beeping) (shutter clicking) And then Tony can you give her a kiss? (camera beeping) (shutter clicking) Good. (waves crashing) Last few. (shutter clicking) Cute, cute, cute. Eye down. Great. And then Tony eyes here. Just Tony eyes here. Forgive me. (waves crashing) (shutter clicking) And then actually Britt, can you look up that way? With your chin not just your eyes. Chin a little, yeah there we go. Beautiful. (shutter clicking) (camera beeping) (shutter clicking) Slight smile Brittney. There you go. (shutter clicking) (waves crashing) Eyes, hands here. Eyes, there we go. I said hands (laughs). Oh man (laughs). I'm all over the place. That was so good, thank you. Yeah. Thank you a thousand times over, thank you. No, of course. So this was the end of the shoot. For those of you who were paying close attention to what was happening at the end, what was happening at the end was I couldn't get the shot to work. And as much as I was trying to fight for it, I knew that I had to make adjustments to tweak it so that the couple one, felt comfortable, and two that it felt natural. I actually to get the three variations of it to actually find what it was, and if I had an idea in mind, this is kind of the progress. The evolution of what happened with the pose. I had to change three times but at the end she looked at me and said, yes this is it, this is comfortable. Once I actually got them into that pose, which was simply just something that's trial an error. Every time I position a couple and I know it's not working, I need to make a few modifications and adjust from there. So you saw it three different ways and three different times. Now, and I actually think that we're gonna get a photo that I ended up liking from it whereas in the beginning, just the photos weren't really landing. So a quick thing just to kind of recap what happened today. Anytime that you can place the subject who is taller in the tall short relationship against a natural edifice so that this person can rest and come down a bit in their posture, which is be phenomenal because we bring the shorter person up close to them. Secondly, anytime that you can place the shorter subject in front of the taller subject, it will even out the playing field a tiny bit. Lastly if there are natural things around that causes elevation to one person or the other, make sure that the shorter person is on the elevated slope, elevated rock, elevated anything to make sure that the heights are equal and that both the couples are enjoying themselves. Like I started in the beginning which is how I'll end, is I don't want to make my couples look any different than how they look. They know that one person's tall and one person's short. My goal as a photographer is to document them exactly how they are but at the same diversify their portfolio in a way that gives diversity so that they have the option for those types of photos. Thanks for joining me on the shoot and I hope you have a great day. (upbeat music) ♪ Let's get it back on track ♪ ♪ On track ♪ ♪ Let's get the mark on the map ♪ ♪ On the map ♪ ♪ I'm gonna take you away ♪ ♪ Away ♪ ♪ We're never ever gonna look back ♪ ♪ Back ♪ ♪ And if you want me to stay ♪ ♪ Stay ♪ ♪ All I need you is to say ♪ ♪ Say ♪ ♪ I want you ♪ ♪ I need you ♪ ♪ I love you ♪ ♪ Wouldn't you like ♪ ♪ Wouldn't you like ♪ ♪ If we could just go anywhere ♪ ♪ And you wouldn't you like ♪ ♪ Wouldn't you like if we could go anywhere ♪ ♪ Wouldn't you like it ♪ ♪ Wouldn't you like it if we could just go anywhere ♪ ♪ Wouldn't you like it ♪ ♪ Wouldn't you like it if we did go anywhere ♪ ♪ Let's make the moment count ♪ ♪ Count ♪ ♪ Let's make adventures out ♪ ♪ Out ♪ ♪ Over the normal days ♪ ♪ Days ♪ ♪ Let's make a getaway ♪ ♪ Getaway ♪ ♪ And if you want me to stay ♪ ♪ Stay ♪ ♪ All I need you is to say ♪ Awesome. So what we, it's like a default word. Have you guys noticed? (audience laughs) Awesome. (audience laughs) Awesome. There could be a clip at the end of the show. It's like awesome, awesome, awesome. Okay. What you have seen was the approach that I take for posing a tall and short couple. I will say it again and again, what you come to before is what you get. Yes I might amend a few things but I would never openly admit that this is what I do where I change my approach for any shape, size, anything of that nature. However if you find yourself in a pinch, and you're just like I'm stuck and I feel frustrated, let's go through a little cheat sheet. First and foremost, what I want is the groom sitting. Maybe perhaps perched against a ledge or in this case there was a rock, and the bride standing. It would lower his body naturally and bring their faces roughly about the same height. The bride standing on something to make her taller. This was shown again and again in this video. You would be at a beach and you wouldn't think, oh well what could she possibly stand on? We found two or three different edifices to give her at least four or five inches in height. In fact I had posted a photo, like sneak peek from the shoot on Facebook and I was talking to you about how to shoot a tall short couple and somebody had left a comment. They're like, well they look a bit to be about the same height. This is not tall short and I'm like, hm. You missed the point. If they look like the same height I did my job. Next thing I want the bride leading the groom while walking to me to minimize the height difference. The closer a subject comes to the camera, the taller they appear. So if he remains about two or three feet behind her and she's two or three feet in front of him and I'm about a foot or two in front of her, boop boop boop boop boop. Their heights then match up. No I want to move to the bride and the groom sitting. Most of height comes from the legs and appendages. So torsos, I can actually get them on a closer planal view if they're both sitting. Next, the groom opens his legs wider to lower his height without having to bend. I don't want to make the groom look bad on account of making the bride look taller. So a lot of times depending on the height, to have somebody like lean lean lean, guys aren't good leaners. Girls are better leaners. So if I'm going to do that, I would ask him to open his legs. And then what I would do is I would crop the frame waist to waist. And now what I did at least even I shaved two or three inches off, that's two or three inches better that I think I could work with them. I want the groom standing at full height. And then leaning over to kiss the bride on the head. If there was going to be a lean, it would be more of a cutesy lean. Like he's gonna magnify his height but come down into that natural frame that I like. Now, what I think might be good would be the bride dipping back and the groom leaning into her 'cause that's creating a natural lean with purpose. So we're going to shorten her body and we're gonna elongate hers. That's something that I can go to as a default. Another tip could possibly be for the groom to reach down and pick the bride up. Now it depends on what their comfortablities are between each other. Sometimes I have had grooms with a lot of upper arm strength to pick up their bride and kind of like lift her up, but most of the time she will put her arms around his neck and he'll grab her around the waist and he kinda picks her up and it makes it kind of like a cutesy photo. But the thing with that is the not so attractive photo is giving her a bear hug and then they just stand like they're sitting and she's just elevated. It has to look like it was really natural. You have to move them into the pose. So you say okay wonderful. Put your arms around her. You're talking to them from behind the camera. Put you arms around her, squeeze her nice and tight. Can you pick her up? Can you pick her up? Until all of a sudden, another thing that just irks me is this and then they just stand there like a pelican. And like, a flamingo not a pelican. Or a pelican and a flamingo? I don't know. I'm not, anyway, a one legged bird. (audience laughs) We don't like that look, right? So when I say if that happens naturally and they moved into that pose, then that's when I think it's gonna be the more solid fit for bringing their sizes down. In a worse case scenario, if you see me do this at the not dream wedding you will know that I'm in a pinch. And what the pinch is is if I'm really stuck and I don't know where to go, I have the groom twirl the bride. That is a time saver y'all. Like I'm just like oh, code red. Don't know what I'm doing, don't know what I'm doing. Why I don't I have you twirl? Great. So you just hold her. Great great great. In the back of my mind I'm like what am I doing next? But I'm giving something to do and maybe one of those photos might make the end portfolio. Lastly, the bride facing the camera, the groom from behind with his legs separated leaning down into her. But because he has separated legs, his legs I can crop from here and as he leans he's not gonna be leaning forward, he's going to be leaning down into the side. He will either just be looking or kissing the top part of her head. They're gonna squeeze her in nice and close and bring that back down. You will also see this reflected quite often in the not dream wedding engagement gallery. If you've downloaded the course you will be able to see what I mean in three different variations of that pose. So now what I want to do is I want to head into homework. What I want you to do when it comes to posing high, low, tall, short couple is I want you to add three to five poses that reflect your brand. Now if you need a refresher on how to shoot for your brand what I want you to do is to revisit a previous episode that we had entitled how to shoot with intention. Once you know the trajectory of the words that you're going to choose, you're gonna have your poses but then I want you to add three to five different ones for couples of different heights. So that the overall portfolio stays the same but you've added a few modifications to kind of get them down to the focal plane that you prefer. Okay my question is sort of related. Okay. I am similarly not a vertically gifted individual and I've noticed recently that shooting up towards a couple, especially a tall couple can be really unflattering. Are there ways that you can, that you work to avoid that? That you work to augment or not augment, but diminish that angle? Absolutely. Absolutely. So, when it comes to posing a couple of the same height but that are taller, I will use a lot of the same poses or tips that I have got here but I'll flip it. So when I ask for instance as you've seen in the video, I asked Brittney to stand on a rock and that made her almost as tall as Tony. But that's six foot and I'm five three on a good day. So what I need to do is what I then found was a rock around them so that I stood on the rock and then I shot down on them for that particular angle. Now the closer you stand to your subject, the more you're gonna have to angle your camera up. So when I shoot taller couples which does happen often, I will back it up a little bit. So now I'm just, I might not, when I shoot a tall couple and I'm close to them I must find something around me to stand on. If I have nothing to stand on I simply walk back. But I will tell you the minute, it's very similar to how to look for natural reflectors. It's how to look for things to stand on and then you start saying okay which I why I arrive to a wedding venue early. I arrive to an engagement session early. It can be simple as a curb. A curb gives me a good four to five inches. Now if I place my subjects in the center of the street, now caveat I don't want somebody on the internet being like that so dangerous. Let's pretend this is a street where both ends are closed. The clients in the center of the street and I'm on the curb, I am now of equal height and it looks like exactly what I would pose a client of a shorter height or maybe my same height. Awesome. Hi. Hi. Do you ever bring like, when you're shooting a tall short couple other than like looking for natural things do you also like bring a box or bring a step stool ever if it's like a really tall couple that you're gonna be chasing around all day? You know I don't. I do know that other photographers do that. I don't think that it's part of my brand. I have been very fortunate to photograph athletes and we have shot a few NBA weddings and I, and in addition to the groom being tall, his workplace, his coworkers are all seven foot tall. (audience laughs) So even if I tool a box to stand on I would still be short. And in light of that I don't but I don't have a problem or see an issue for people that do. Just for me, I work so fast on the wedding day that I couldn't imagine being like oh hang on let me get my step ladder and then like move with it and like okay being now family photos and then I'm gonna step up. It's just not how I roll, but that's a personal decision. Thank you. Mm hm. I was just gonna ask do you use the same techniques when the bride is taller and the groom is shorter? Largely yes. But for instance like one of the poses where I had the bride lean and then the groom lean into her I would not have him lean back and her lean into him (laughs). (audience laughs) I absolutely not. However there is the pose that I would use and use quite often is having him walk ahead of her. That one works very well for me and for a girl it's okay. (sighs) I have to be very careful of these gender conversations. From my experience it's easier to ask a girl to step on something to elevate her and not so kosher to ask a guy. Now, the couple knows that she's taller than him, right? I mean it's not like they're seeing this for the first time. So me documenting them exactly how they are is entirely okay. Now in another lesson, how to shoot a curvy bride, I was working with a curvy bride and her fiance was a bit shorter than her. Now when we were shooting in natural environments, we were shooting almost in like a concave area. Now it wasn't a curb but it gave the same effect. So without saying anything, instead of placing the bride on the curve, I placed her on the down slope and him on the up slope. Without saying homie you're short, let me even this out I'm like hey why don't you stand here and I'll place her here. So finding natural things in that capacity is always a good thing and in that same situation, and again I just work with what I'm given but in this situation there was a fence. And so I said can you lean against this fence? I want you standing nice and straight and I want you just to give me an arm kind of relax back into that hip. And once he was relaxing here, I said Ashley come into him. She she got in nice and close and I said I'm just gonna want you to open up your legs, relax your weight back into one hip and I want you to fall into him. So those types of things happen naturally and you could do it without the guy being really conscious of what's going on. Okay. Yeah. Are there any other questions? Fantastic. On that note we are going to close this section and next time you approach a shooting situation where you are photographing either a high low tall short couple, I know you guys will do it with ease and with grace and if you're ever in a pinch you just pull out that cheat sheet and you guys are gonna be fine. Thank you. (audience laughs)