Close-up Couple Bridal portraits used to be formal and staid. The couple froze side-by-side, either with cheesy smiles at the camera or a deer-caught-in-the-headlights expression. The modern photographer has revolutionized this awkward tradition. For example, Sterling leads couples to genuine, yet romantic portraits, of the Close-Up Couple or perhaps we should say, the couple, close up.
Now photographic artists like Sterling coach couples in ways that create meaningful close-ups of the bridal pair. As we have shared in a previous blog, “In every wedding, Sterling gives couples some time for the bride and groom to make some memories” by making some special close-up couple images. And he makes them close up and personal.
Almost a Kiss: A close-up portrait of a couple reveals feeling, although we see little of the bride. It’s his spotlight!
He tries to gain a few moments with the couple to create a few Tender Moments photographic images “while the ceremony is fresh on their minds and before the party has tired them out.”
Secrets of Sterling’s “Tender Touch” Close-Up Couple Portraits
During such portrait-making, couples can share moments that reveal their true emotions. They can react naturally and comfortably in front of the camera. That is probably because, with Sterling’s prompts, they know the bride will look gorgeous and the groom will look sharp.
As experts at the famous Knot resource for weddings have said, “Unless you’re a movie star or a model, having a photographer following you around is going to be a fairly new experience on your wedding day.” Most couples believe nothing puts you more on the spot than the idea of a close-up that will be part of your life for all time.
Thus, to help you avoid feeling awkward, Sterling has shared some suggestions and comments more than once in this blog. He often gives special advice for those moments when a wedding couple together, might get camera shy. And we want to review and add to, those close-up tips today, with some recent images.
A Little Philosophy Behind Sterling’s Close-Up Couple Magic
On the one hand, we do not mean you should copy these portraits. That would be similar to what we call the Pinterest effect. As we have previously explained, this effect happens when couples want to pose exactly as a couple they saw online. Some couples want to re-create not only the pose but cutesy props and copied expressions.
When asked about bridal couple close-up portrait sessions, Sterling states it is much more natural and beautiful to do your own individual thing. The images from your wedding day can reveal your unique, authentic style as a couple.
The Secret to Timeless, Authentic Close-up Couple Portaits:
He explains that the secret to the perfect couple close-ups is “to let your own personal magic as a couple flow.”
A Close-up Couple Portrait Reveals a geneuine shared moment of intimacy.
In fact, that personal feeling that comes shining through the moment dictates what Sterling does to capture memories. And it shows in long, medium and really shines in close-up shots. How does Sterling do this? Gentle prompting and Visualization.
We are “Getting Real” with Close-up Couples and Relationship Photography
Again, as we said at the opening of this article, the old days of standing stiffly shoulder-to-shoulder, forcing grins at the camera are over. Photojournalism and gentle pose-prompting have replaced those cliches and frozen portraits of olden days. Now we make portraits that are full of emotion. And as we have said before, Sterling has branded his special close-ups as “Tender Touch Portraits.”
1. In Sterling’s Tender Touch Close-ups, the eyes have it.
We all know the old saying, “The Eyes are Windows of the Soul.” In a wedding portrait of a couple, the eyes show a connection between the bride and groom. That’s what Stirling wants to capture. The experts at Digital Photography School agree that the eyes have it.
They state, “The eyes are the single most important feature of any portrait. Beautiful eyes can make even the dullest portrait mesmerizing. Poorly lit, out of focus eyes, or eyes that lack connection, will weaken the impact of a portrait.” Sterling often focuses in squarely on eyes, whether they are full of tears or joy, wide awake or softly closed.
2. The Close-Up Couple and The Shared Image
When we see both people within the couple’s image almost equally, it is a “shared” close-up couple portrait. We have used the term “relationography.”
By that term, we mean that although we have a good recording of the physical faces, the importance of a Tender
Kissing Her Smile: A Shared Portrait because we see both faces fairly equally.
Touch Close-up is the way the two faces are relating to each other. A groom wiping his bride’s tear might make such a moment. A kiss almost happening definitely makes such a moment. The relationship is the story of the shot.
In this example, we also get a nice look at the bride’s lovely rings as her hand gently rests on his sculpted cheek. As Sterling has stated previously, often the moment right before the kiss captures as much intimacy as the actual kiss—with less face-smushing.
3. The Spotlight Image: One Member of a Couple is “Scenery” for the Other?
Not all shared moments or portraits show equal amounts of the couple’s faces. A groom or a bride might be in profile with the spouse in full face. And yet, there is communication and the story is emotion. It is not always obvious which person is the star of the moment. It’s the expressions that count.
It’s the emotion that counts in this close-up couple.
Experts agree that most couples like this type of photo much better than the typical, Smile-at-the-camera shots. And of course, we always take one or two of those for grandmothers.
How Artistic Photographers Create Magic for Close-up Couple
Experts are putting the “close-up” in a new light, the light of a relationship: “In order to show love and affection, having your clients look at each other is key. There is something about eye contact that makes a couple really feel their love for each other.
That being said, you should have your clients look at each other as much as possible. If they’re a passionate couple, this look will ignite undeniable chemistry and sexy body language. If they’re a silly couple, this look will result in a fit of giggles, which always makes for a good photo.”
Obviously from these shots, Sterling agrees—and he encourages action as well as looks. Beware, for Sterling close-up couple’s Tender Touch Session, the following interruptions might happen:
Sharing A Secret and Spotlighting the Giggles: a Modern Close-up Couple
- Hugging each other,
- telling secrets,
- nuzzling,
- cuddling
- tickling
- and kissing.
All this action can often “intrude” into Sterling’s moments with the couple. The bride and groom get so caught up they often completely forget the camera. And that’s fine with Sterling—and his couples.
During all this action, some photos share the moment between the two with full views of both faces In other shots, one of them might have his or her head down or even be turned away. And yet, we see relationship—in the arch of a brow, the turn of the shoulder, or the hug-from-behind. (We call that the “teddy-bear” pose.)
4. What is People-Reading for a Close-up Couple?
Sterling, like a few other wedding photography artists does not photograph a wedding day like a list of scenes on a shot list. He tells the story, but the images that stand out are the images that reveal the couple’s personalities. In essence, this means Sterling is a “people reader,” reading the moods and moments of two people on one of the most important days of their lives.
About Sterling’s Tender Touch Close-Ups
The Tender Touch series of images brings out the genuine feelings of the wedding couple. They are the images that the couple and their families will celebrate, even 20 years from now.
In the words of Grace Ormand magazine, “Of course, the aesthetics of the day should be preserved by those photos, but the emotional aspect should be perceptible as well. The ability to photograph a wedding in all its glory and unique beauty is a skill that can only be mastered by a true artist. After all, it’s not easy to capture both the visible and invisible within a single snapshot.”
A Little Technical Information to Help You Shoot Close-Ups: Pick Your Aperture and Choose Your Mood
Sterling creates close-ups not only of couples but of the bride or groom alone. When he is doing solo shots or shots of a couple, he utilizes his technical skill to enhance the mood of the moment. He captures your interaction as a couple, both formally and informally.
We researched a fine article from Digital Photography for Dummies that explains only one facet of the technical input that goes through Sterling’s mind: the Aperture.
It presents a list which addresses apertures f/1.2 to f/11 and how a skilled technician can create certain effects without photoshop. Of course, with a wedding you can not always control the light and have choices about that wide a range of apertures, but it’s good to know the tips.
Fairytale Moments for Close-up Couples
Did you ever wonder what photoshop trick they used to get sharp close-ups and blurry backgrounds in the same shot? If your photographer knows his craft, the sweet misty blur of the background does not always come from the computer; it comes from the camera.
- The Setting: f/1.2 to f/2 “These widest possible apertures are best used for a single subject. They result in
Spotlight on the Bride in a Close-up Couple Moment
a very shallow depth of field, which isolates your subject from the foreground and background. They can create a very soft and dreamy look.”
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The Technique and the Setting:
Use a 50mm lens, 1/200 sec., f/1.4, 100 Now remember, Sterling, cautions you that the far planes of the cheek or jaws– and definitely the ears–will be the softer focus with an aperture this wide.
- f/2.8 to f/4: These apertures will give you a shallow depth of field with a touch of a dreamy mist of the background, but they “allow more of a person’s face to be in focus. For a single subject, if you start around f/2.8, most of the face is sharp, but the ears are softly focused. If you go up to f/4, you can get the entire head in focus.”Sterling cautions, “If you’re photographing two people, f/4 will ensure that both people are acceptably sharp in the picture.
- f/4.5 to f/5.6: Thus, for a single subject or a pair of people, f/4.5 to f/5.6 begins to add sharpness to the entire subject but also includes more detail in the background.
Last but not least: Sterling advises photographers to be aware of the capabilities of their equipment and the available lighting. Not all lenses–or cameras—have the technology to shoot this wide and give you the desired effect.
(For more technical ideas and more aperture descriptions, see this reliable online resource. )
