I have photographed so many different couples that I lost count years ago, but in every shoot my goal is the same: to capture each couple’s relationship.
Of course, I aim to do the same with family portraits, but this post is about couples photography, so let’s talk about what actually makes a great couples portrait.
This past August, Variety published a wonderful feature about Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys, the actors behind The Americans, Widow’s Bay, and The Diplomat, featuring a couples portrait session photographed by Gavin Bond.
In my opinion, it’s the perfect example of natural couples photography.
You don’t need to be a professional photographer to understand why these photographs work. As you scroll through the images and read the accompanying interview, something becomes obvious: Gavin Bond photographed their relationship.
You can see it in the photographs of them together, but interestingly, you can even see it in the posed photographs and individual portraits.
The entire shoot is about a relationship.
Photographing Movement and the Relationship, Not the Pose
Take a closer look.
Russell and Rhys walk. They run. Keri Russell rides a bike. Matthew Rhys goofs around chasing her. There are posed photographs as well, but even in those, their interaction is what makes them interesting.
Of course, we know a photographer is there capturing it all. But it doesn’t feel like it.
It feels like they’re simply taking a walk in the woods — goofing around and having fun.
Candid photography is tricky.
On the one hand, the photographer is trying to capture a “spontaneous moment.” On the other hand, standing in one spot with a camera focused on a couple won’t make anything happen. Except, perhaps, make them uncomfortable and self-conscious.
The best candid-looking portraits are created, not simply observed.
A good photographer uses the location and light to create a composition while guiding the couple through the shoot.
It’s not simply a matter of suggesting where someone should stand or where they should walk. Often, it’s a suggestion of movement: run, jump, get closer, turn around, make a goofy face, talk to each other.
Forget I am here.
And then something magical happens.
The couple stops thinking about the camera. Their relationship takes over.
And that moment is the photograph.
This Is Why I Don’t Particularly Like Posing Couples
When I started my career as a fashion photographer, posing was very much part of my job.
Fashion photography is controlled. You’re thinking about the clothes, the brand, the lighting, the composition, and how everything works together. The model is part of that composition. And, importantly, you’re working with a professional model whose job is to be photographed.
That experience is enormously useful to me today.
Ironically, it taught me how not to pose someone.
I can carefully arrange two people into the perfect position, the way I would during a fashion shoot. I can make a great photograph that shows the clothes, the location, and beautiful light.
But it might say absolutely nothing about the couple standing in front of my camera.
We won’t know anything about their relationship.
And that’s the difference between photographing two people and photographing a couple.
Unposed couples photography doesn’t mean the photographer gives up control of the photograph. Quite the opposite. It means using all that technical knowledge without controlling the relationship itself.
Chemistry Is Photogenic.
This is what I love about Gavin Bond’s photographs of Russell and Rhys, and it’s what I aim for in every couples shoot.
Their relationship is doing the work.
Bond creates the setting and the photographs, but what makes the images memorable is what happens between Russell and Rhys.
The accompanying Variety interview confirms what we see in the photographs. They interrupt each other, laugh, tease each other, and finish each other’s thoughts.
The photographs are simply a visual representation of that relationship.
Every couple has their own version of this chemistry.
Some couples are romantic. Others are sarcastic. Some are quiet. Others make fun of each other constantly.
There isn’t one correct way to look like a couple in love.
My job is to figure out who you are together and photograph that.
Why Surprise Proposal Photography Is Actually Easier
I know that sounds a bit strange, but bear with me.
Technically, surprise proposal photography is much harder.
You have one chance to capture the moment without being seen and ruining the surprise. You need to know the location well enough to position yourself, anticipate the light, and be ready for something that might unfold very differently than planned.
You have seconds to get the most important photograph right.
But capturing genuine emotion is actually easier.
One of the most important moments in a couple’s life is happening right in front of the camera. No direction is necessary. The excitement, surprise, laughter, tears — whatever happens — is real.
The moment creates itself.
Once the question has been asked and the ring is on the finger, that chemistry doesn’t suddenly disappear.
Quite the opposite.
The couple has just experienced this enormous moment together. They are excited, emotional, slightly overwhelmed, and usually paying very little attention to me.
This is why I love combining surprise proposal photography with a candid engagement photography session immediately afterward. The emotion is already there. There is nothing to manufacture.
The photographs almost take themselves.
But that doesn’t mean there is nothing to plan. Here is a quick list of things to consider when planning your surprise photography session.
The Location Matters — But Not as Much as You Think
I photograph couples throughout Boston, Cape Cod, Newport, and the rest of New England, and I am constantly asked about the best location for a couples or engagement shoot.
And yes, location matters.
Cape Cod gives us beaches, dunes, harbors, lighthouses, and spectacular evening light.
Newport gives us cliffs, ocean, and the mansions.
But a beautiful location doesn’t automatically create a beautiful couples portrait.
A photograph of two uncomfortable people standing stiffly in front of an incredible sunset is still a photograph of two uncomfortable people standing stiffly in front of an incredible sunset.
I’d rather have a windswept beach, messy hair, and two people laughing at each other or even better, a couple brave enough to venture into the water!
The landscape supports the photograph. The relationship is the subject.
You Don’t Need to Know How to Pose
This may be the most important thing I tell couples before a session:
You don’t need to know what you’re doing.
In fact, I would prefer that you don’t.
You are not professional models, and you shouldn’t have to be. We are not doing a Vogue spread. We are photographing you!
My job is to put you in good light, find the right composition, and give you enough direction so that you don’t feel abandoned in front of a camera.
Then I’ll wait for you to stop thinking about the camera.
That’s about it.
The Best Couples Photographs Aren’t Really About Photography
Which brings me back to Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys wandering around, goofing around, and laughing in the woods of upstate New York.
They’re beautifully photographed. The styling is great. The setting works. The photographer is a professional.
But those aren’t really the reasons I love this shoot.
It’s because Russell and Rhys are themselves.
They look comfortable, slightly weird, affectionate, and familiar with one another.
In other words, they have chemistry.
And ultimately, that’s what makes a successful couples photography session, whether it’s a surprise proposal, an engagement portrait, an anniversary, or simply a fun shoot that captures two people as they are right now.
Twenty years from now, you shouldn’t look at my photographs and think: That was a beautiful pose.
I want you to look at them and think:
That was us.