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Bonus: Night Rooftop Shoot

Lesson 10 from: Unique Posing for Weddings

Doug Gordon

Bonus: Night Rooftop Shoot

Lesson 10 from: Unique Posing for Weddings

Doug Gordon

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Lesson Info

10. Bonus: Night Rooftop Shoot

Lesson Info

Bonus: Night Rooftop Shoot

welcome everybody by far the nighttime is my favorite time to shoot whatsoever I love being in the dark because what happens is I'm able to control the light I'm able to create a substance that I want to put together by painting with light so as we spoke about earlier in the day no matter what I always want to try to shoot from a doc to alight area so if you look right now the backgrounds tending to go a little bit doc behind me because the camera angle to me I have all the light on the front very strong on in the background starting to go a little bit darker than what would probably wanted to bay and that's the main thing that's one of the reasons that I'm not gonna play with flash too much out here because if I do I'm gonna wind up creating extra shadows I'm going to be creating extra strength and more importantly I'm going to be taking up time that I don't have so my light my torch right is going to be one of the premier things that I used at this point so let's talk about what we n...

eed to do is I told you earlier in the day everything begins and ends with what it ends with good light so right now I have good light on me I have good even clean light but I want to keep the lights off so I could let the background open up so here's the thing where is my eye assault because that's the question most likely that all of you are asking at home how high am I willing to go well the fact is I'm willing to go is high as I need to based on one thing shutter speed my shutter speed is going to determine just how high my eyes so goes the reason that is is the slower I go the more chance of movement within the subject the slower I go the more chance of movement from myself with camera shaker other negative items that could happen so with that being said I'm going to try to keep it in a very slight area where I want to keep my shutter speed up above about tenth eighth of a second yes you heard that right the tenth of a second I want to put enough light on the background so that my subject is again in slight shadow looking for beautiful catch life I just want a little dot of light within her eyes or his ice I want a dot of light because if I create that light that means I got good highlights on the face and I'm not over exposing the more power I go with out of my light I'm gonna wind up creating shadows and things underneath the neck or on the clothing so I want to try to keep the dot simple so it starts would again understanding shooting from dr light and most importantly keeping the light soft I'm going to start with an I s all right now of twenty five hundred now some of you are home like oh my god are you out of your mind can you actually do this off course if your camera can go to six thousand I s so why can't you shoot a twenty five hundred again it starts with good light so what we're gonna do is we're going to start the first scenario we're going to shoot towards the space needle now it's not pitch black yet but it's black enough where you'd have trouble if you were going to shoot a flash and you're gonna wind up exposing it enough eight then I'd have to severely slow down my shutter speed so what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna start with my bride so I'm gonna call my beautiful bride over and you have no idea what troopers thes models are because it's about fifty degrees out right now and I had no idea that it was gonna be this cold in seattle so come on in beautiful what's your name hi car doug nice to meet you thank you so much opener I'm gonna bring you right over here okay so what we're gonna do is walk caller over we're gonna bring her right to about here you're going to spend towards me beautiful now there's two things that I need to make sure okay first and foremost the thing that I need to make sure of is that when looking a caller I want to make sure there's no distractions in ahead I don't want the space needle to be a hot do you like so I want to keep that very simple now for this basically going to shoot I could shoot on manual I could shoot on program I could shoot on your appetite priority I'm going to take my exposure off her face so if I could bring julia can I have you come over for a sec let's take a look at what this fight occurs with I don't want to overpower the light I want to keep it soft because if I get in here super super hot what's gonna happen I'm gonna overexpose her I'm gonna be bringing it down the exposure the backgrounds gonna go dark and the space needle is going to appear not to glow I want to keep it simple so I'm gonna keep it light so we'll start with a simple portrait you're gonna turn your head beautiful no turn your body back this way you're going to kick you're right like forward out a little bit and now you're gonna turn your head to the right a little bit just going to take that hair out of your face okay gorgeous turn your head a little bit now take a look you saw the lighting pattern inside today now it's even better because you see it in full detail a two thirds lighting powder so what I'm going to do is I want to create just a tad of a glam opposed I'm gonna bring her hand can you bring your hand behind and grab up right by your elbow beautiful take a look for to keep her hand deeper on the reason I want to do this is if I bring it out front you see the shadows start to occur so I'm pushing too hip forward here and now I'm adding here so now will I have separation in the background on her I will is long as I keep her head in the sky don't overexpose hard to the background again what does that mean that means where I put so much light on her that it brings down the exposure and it goes black behind her so how do I do that I'm gonna act sent her with the kick alight from nico gonna bring it in right here so what exactly is a kicker light mean we're just going to hit to show a little separation and air that's all that matters but I don't want to much spill over nico I forgot it's going to be hard for you isn't it you were a little vertically child just be perfect if you get right up there thank you sir so we're turning a head to the light you're looking at me beautiful turn your body back a tad nico can you back up a little bit now turn your head to your right beautiful looking right out towards me going to sweep that hair out of the ice because that's a strand of hair becomes a big annoyance I'm sorry accent chin down now all I'm looking for is good light on the face this is one of those times I'm gonna work with a much lower camera angle I wantto work with a lower camera angle this way I can get up but again no space needle in her head so let's thought to work I'm gonna go back to camera now because I'm in the high rise so and I worried about shooting hand held not too much which is kind of odd that I shot all day inside on stationery backgrounds with higher shutter speeds I shot on tripod and now I'm shooting hand held could I break my tripod down yes well let me teach you a very valuable thing about cameras steadiness because maybe you don't want to invest in a tripod it's very simple tucking your arms in getting good base good foundation is important I'm gonna use my legs as a tripod turn your head to your right beautiful a little bit not so much sweep that hair out of your left eye just a tad so let's hope this works notice my stance noticed my balance looking right there beautiful I want you to bring your eyes to the light right there you're doing spectacular I couldn't ask for better you're smiling hold it wonderful happy teeth so let's take a look at what we got do we have a nice glowing background and if we do think we'll be live in a second there we go take a look beautiful soft color beautiful separation between the subject and the background that's what it's about now you don't realize it it's dark here but it looks like daytime that's so crucial and so important because I've used less light on her what have I done I've made the exposure better so right now when you look at it you're asking what your white balance my white balance is very very simple what's the main light on the subject it's tungsten it's tungsten and that's what makes it easy if we keep a mean white balance on the subject of tongue stan we're going to be okay so we want to try to work it our best to control the light so now watch what we do here simple glamour post could I shoot a full length image off her the answer is yes is she in a proper position right now can I back you up just a little bit beautiful on a case you were wondering my white balance again is set for tungsten I'm shooting a twenty five hundred I'm handheld I wasn't aperture two point eight now the key here is going to be the distance of the light to subject turn your body a little bit again this way good kick that leg out again good bringing in front just like that's created curve bring your hand behind good just like that lean forward turn your head to your right a little bit you're going to step back just a little bit too good no you're perfect sorry stalking the mackenzie thank you look right there turning your head now why you still have an important because julia moved up which means what's gonna happen down here we're gonna have a tad of full off so we want to make sure that we bring it down do we mind fall off on the gown of course we don't fall off a good thing because what's gonna happen with full off is it's going to start the slimmer out no obviously she doesn't need to be slim but watch what happens when we work it looking down beautiful actually when your eyes to me will do too looking at may I'm going to shoot a full length here you're doing great hope where I could get it in because I have a seventy two two hundred you're going to be serious absolutely beautiful smiling gorgeous nice and happy keep those eyes open remember I don't move remember I said it's important you pay attention look at her eyes you see how they're closing it's very very important that you pay attention to those little things looking at me again turn your head to your right just a tad perfect don't move stay there you're doing wonderful happy beautiful smiling don't move now look down turn your head to your right the eyes down now if you look and you're not seeing it probably in her sets at home her eyes were not up all the way the idea is to get the eyes in between whichever one is survive I'm sorry whichever one is down you don't want it looking half down you want it all the way down stretching a chin out now watch how we adjust it and look at the beautiful exposure right there what we're getting so from here you're going to basically you're gonna look down beautiful now let me see what happens julia turn off you like for one second good look at the beautiful light on a hair now is this gonna work for the image no but what I want you to notice if one of our cameramen could goto a face I know she's going to be doc I want you to notice what that kick alike does that sound big separation looking down now you collider up again julian excellent so watch how I could change this an angle it one of the things you hear is watch your vertical lines watch a horizontal lines well once you know your lines once you know your olds what can you do you can break them looking there you're doing absolutely wonderful absolutely gorgeous looking down beautiful stare right there hold on one second don't move wonderful take a look thirtieth of a second two point eight and look at the separation by tilting to the right do you notice the beautiful light we're getting noticed the separation from the background we're keeping it really really simple now watch what we do here we're going to create a different look can I have you turn and face the opposite way form a beautiful so what we're gonna do is I'm gonna show you what I want I want you to kick your hip out on bring your hands up just like that looks really good when I did I don't worry they couldn't see it but thank you push the hip out hands up good just like that now how do I want a lighter do I want to light her from the front or let's see what we get from the back and remember watch your hands push to hip out a little bit good go the other way good no you're not being first take a look looking make you just like that good looking up perfect so now we're gonna bring you back here okay I want you to hit her gonna bring no value here actually move over to the side a little bit we're going to turn that light off so let's take a look we're going to get that back when you can see move over a little bit good push your hip out girl work your magic look at the separation in hand now if I exposed for the shadowed area of her if I expose for her what's gonna happen to the background it's gonna explode isn't it it's going to explode so maybe I will have julia from the front put that on but watch where julia goes right now she's at a forty five degree angle to uh I'm gonna bring her atmore off a ninety degree because what I want to do by lying her strictly from this side it's going to send this side into shadow which is gonna wipe it's going to minimize a body in her backside so we're keeping it very simple looking straight out gorgeous excellent you're doing wonderful stay nice and still good perfect looking at looking storied ahead you are doing wonderful stay there just like that hold it I'm gonna move over just a little bit to get your hand out of the space needle good just like that stay there take a look notice again the glow on the dark background and it's all again is what simple light look at the globe look at the separation I don't mind the hotness on one side so look at how we create again now from here I'm actually going to step you out for one second so you could warm up beautiful can I have nick and dzhokhar please this is one of my favorite poses to dio what a couple okay and I especially love doing it at night in a scenic background so what we're going to deal with we're gonna bring them over here nick is going to be very helpful towards me you're going to come in close now do I worry about their height right now the answer is no you guys hold hands can you separate from him beautiful good I want you to bring this like here and lean your weight on your back hip nick I want you to lean forward like you're walking away pulling on end I want you to look out this way tilt your head you're going to turn your head looking here so I have them bolton almost profile to where the camera is going to be so realistically where should you you come julia is going to come from behind over here you're gonna come right around here turn your head neck to make and I'm looking to get them at almost a forty five degree come a little bit more good excellent turn your head a little bit beautiful little bit more now I want to bring your also going to come in rather than backlight her I'm gonna bring you right here so I'm setting up a double profile light one of them is too light jack are one of them is to light nick we're turning the head look at the light if you can see it you see the beautiful light on her face but push your hip back a little bit girl now look at the profile light on next face looks good doesn't it but exposure is going to be very very tricky this is one of the times that I'm going to go and I'm actually gonna meet her off the highlight because I want to make sure they do it djohar turn your head to the left a little bit look att that excellent so I'm gonna come back and again I'm looking to shoot up nick turn your head slightly to the left excellent you're doing terrific I'll tell you when I'm set turn your head a little bit nick good right there I'm gonna come down you're doing terrific take a look look at the glow and the separation from the two of them to the background look at the beautiful light on both their faces now nick look back in her now lookit nick's face we have bad light don't we so julia can I have you go behind you're going to come around at forty five degrees behind we're gonna bring a right here you're going to come over here because nick's gonna turn his body here come over a little bit you're gonna put a profile light right on air look down now nick excellent you're looking down beautiful again pushing the hip turning her head to the light nick's got profile light look it out quick and easy this is all because I'm making it very efficient by knowing my lighting patterns and more importantly what am I knowing I'm knowing exactly what I want to expose for because I know him and tungsten because that's my main light we keep it simple so now we're going here we're going to shoot up a little bit we're going to get nice and close in terms of what we're trying to accomplish excellent looking right they're beautiful stay there gorgeous neck excellent thirteenth of a second two point eight I feel like I'm gonna be a little bit open and look at that that's a pretty exciting image isn't it again did I worry about being a thirteenth of a second two point eight the answer's no why didn't I worry because I knew that I was balanced if I think I'm going to shake the camera what's gonna happen I'm gonna shake the camera so I can't think about it going to relax but watch right here watch how we changed this and adjusted because in essence does nick really matter nick means nothing nobody even likes nick you're it but watch what we do but what does matter is nick's hand so watch what we do here we're going to bring your head up I want you looking up and out good now push your hip in the other way good actually turn your head down do it that way now what we're gonna do is focus on just her face come in a little bit closer you could even get in right behind nick look it out close she is in proximity to him because all I want is nick's hand part of his arm on her face leaned forward down stretch your chin out head here eyes down come in a little closer just adding the accent light so a a beautiful light on her we're going to eliminate most of nick actually let me see you bring your eyes up there a bit more good tilt the top of your head to may turn your head to your left excellent stay there she not beautiful turn your head to your left take a look so what we've done is just an essence eliminate nick look at that light on her she looked stunning simple easy life now watch this and I'm gonna use nick for this because the other ones aren't old enough so nick you're gonna slide out for one second can you do me a favor watch how we poser I want you to turn your body this way kick your hands here and I want you to look up excellent now we're gonna bring nick in can I borrow you nick turn your head beautiful bring your body turn hip you're not in the picture actually all you're going to do is bring that light above our bring your eyes up to a beautiful shit up looking up towards the light beautiful head back gorgeous you're going to come right over here julia now this is one of the reasons I work with stands because I could raise them and move them it makes it a lot easier not that you're doing a bad job you're terrific ok but look at the light coming down on the face eyes up looking straight up high good on dh now we got perfect light on her don't wake the idea again is not toe over light her if you're over leider she's going to make the background dog looking up push that hip back gorgeous good looking up you are dealing terrific stay there you're smiling doing great laughing smiling excellent she's sitting there she's so happy because she wishes I was her husband okay I know how you feel it's all right neck but look at how good that images we got good light on er we got good highlights we're using our exposure compensation based on working with a person of color so watch what we do here we're going to change it up again because again it's about shooting from doc till light so watch what we do here nick you're gonna come in facing your beautiful wife can I bring you back mr mckenzie I want to create emotion too with them I want to create chemistry so we're going to ask her to kick collect like in between his legs and she did great she didn't have to think about it now the problem is what I want to do is I want nick to kiss her neck there's only one problem what is it that it's not meaning yeah from stop I didn't say that that's going to be bleep now the problem is the connection between her because of the height isn't gonna work so what we need nick to do what's very important is to really open up his legs and lean back you want to separate your legs to create no not like that the although I kicked this way back good all the way back now put your arms around now put your arms here here now push kicked out left leg further between now watch when she pushes her pelvis in she arches her head back back beautiful head back sorry head back all the way now take a look nick goes in stretch your chin out no no no we want it to be almost a perfect profile head back body in there now where do you think we should like this from come right over here we're going to go at a forty five degree angle here with our kick a light on and then we're gonna bring julia over here nick you're gonna go into a neck kiss it a little bit don't pucker nick we're going to learn about this tomorrow goldfish lips nick did this it's no good we don't like that head back head back can you get back further roll out your shoulder close your eyes now again right in there we want to make sure that we're clean of shadows it's not a sexy pose there's only one thing that can ruin this it's may I can ruin this by not exposing properly I can ruin it by putting something of a distraction and do I need the space needle here it's a distraction maybe I'll keep it maybe I won't I want a glow I want a personality to it so let's take a look head back close your eyes nick don't pucker stay right there excellent and take a look look at the globe look at the separation from the background we don't need anything behind them do we do you see the personality and the image do you see the light that's what makes it happen perfect perfect profile lighting excellent job now can I have my beautiful sr I want to get everybody in ok so we're trying to do this and make it work but what we're going to dio is we're going to turn our direction away from the space needle we're going to turn and face the other way so what we're gonna do is I have these great studio lights here so how can I use them and make it work so what we're gonna do is I'd like to if we could move around here to my favorite cameramen I'm gonna bring you right over here beautiful if that's okay good you're going to come right over here now let's take a look spin your body a little bit excellent but I'm gonna be shooting this way guys sorry towards you good kick your leg infront beautiful no even though she's a senior does she still want to have a little bit of that edgy appeal I don't know if we want to say sexy but she wants to have a little bit of edge to it turn your head a little bit a little bit more little bit more so now let's take a look I have beautiful kick alight I have this mean light right here but it's not in a good spot according to what she is so I'm gonna actually move it I hope nobody gets mad at me I'm gonna make it my main light no obviously a pawn on a shoot I can't bring these gigantic lights with me but what I can do is have my little torchlight when I tell you I do everything with that I swear by that light makes the biggest difference turn your head to the right a little bit turn a little bit george just stay right there just like that now here's the one negative of these fights what's gonna happen they're too strong aren't they it's gonna create a little bit more shadows turn your head a little bit to your right a little bit more beautiful relax right there so now I have a whole bunch of stuff in the background I don't want to see I have airconditioning units I have telephone poles I got trees I need to get rid of all of this how can you do it camera height because you're using short edgy lighting it's very easy to get rid off because what's happening is you're able to move around and create your shadows and work the body in the exact way you need to turn your head to the right again a little bit right there so let me go I gotta find my camera on again I'm going to go down to the ground to get the angle I want now here's what's great about it do I have light behind her it's pitch black if you're watching it at home you know the on ly thing behind her is what it's the bright lights and a building but I want to keep the lights soft enough so that what happens the building lights open up turn your head to your right a little bit you are doing spectacular could not ask for better absolutely beautiful take a look turn your head to the right a little bit gorgeous okay so let's take a look you could hear the shutter speeds faster it's because it a bright light so look at what happened to the buildings can anybody tell if you're watching at home the building's went white doc I'm trying to prove a little bit of a point here we're bringing too much right in with our stage fights so watch how we change it can I have you back with all right we're gonna take this one we're gonna bring it back over going to use it a separate light julia you're gonna come over here turn your head to me beautiful turned back a little bit little bit more not turn your head here now you're going to get in we're right and coming over I don't turn your head to your right a little bit now well I'm noticing turn a little bit I'm good a bit more I'm getting just a tad too much light from here so I'm gonna turn this light behind her even mohr because I don't want it on her okay I want to light her strictly with my torch light looking good chin down beautiful turning hottie right excellent you're doing spectacular watch the difference last night makes so we're gonna go from what we're tilt your head a little bit to your right shoulder beautiful just like that eyes out good you're smiling gorgeous nice and happy stay there wei went from one twenty fifth of a second toe fortieth of a second look at the background look at the difference did that make all the difference in the world because the subject separated from the background look at the two because we went soft delight I have these big beautiful expensive stage lights the only problem was it was too much it was too strong now watch what we do and this is where it becomes important at night trying to fill shadows can you bring your hands into your neck for me a little bit good turn your head to me that you got to turn to the light remember everything we do is to the light and if the light's too strong the backgrounds gonna go dark if the light's too strong not only is the back I'm going to go to talk we're gonna cause too many shadows under the neck turn your head eyes down bring them down a little bit chin down and your eyes down are we live on this camera here if we are I'd love to show that her eyes or not down there in an m between state so if you can't tell if they're open to closed looks mid blink bring them down to here down a little bit watching down bring the eyes down all the way so here we go looking here just like that let's take a look turn your head to the right a little bit beautiful and take a look again using the stage fight to capture something from the side look at that gorgeous flair look at it coming in look at how beautiful the light is hitting her and look at the separation from the city all I'm doing is spot metering an exposure exposure locking right on our eye just like a little would shut up a little bit turn your head to may looking at me a little bit gorgeous nice and serious stay there you are doing wonderful looking at me perfect stay right there I could not x for better looking at may I want you to give me a smile with your eyes turned up a tad good girl take a look again I gotta kick a light coming from the right flaring the camera and take a look beautiful soft light but the light's not too strong where it's poising shadows inside what she's doing so again would it kill you to take off the jacket or no okay so let me take a look let me see what happens if you bring it over your shoulder a little bit good now kick that leg in turn your head to me beautiful a little bit more little bit more not lean forward now am I getting too edgy with a senior maybe but she wants different she wants something with personality that's why she came that's why she's out freezing so let's work with that turning your head to make you are doing spectacularly see a smile from you that a girl chin up a little bit now what I'm looking at I'm gonna do one thing don't move can I have nico for a second with that second light if you don't mind if you look closely you see this right here that's annoying me that shadow I'm sorry mackenzie you have it so what I'm gonna do it's slightly phil underneath but I don't want to overdo it because if I do look a face way too much right so I want to fill right from there just a little bit you can see you're gonna come right here I'm sorry thank you so were filling from below turn your head to your right just a little bit excellent you're doing spectacular chin up I love it don't you move just like that turn your head to your right a little bit perfect stay there smiling excellent look at the glow in the background look at the separation and I love what I'm getting look it out beautiful that is a little bit of flair a little bit of personality spot metering on the face I'm exposure locking on the face of my main programmer app priority and I'm working the magic now let's see if we could do something do you mind sitting on the ground over here what I'd like you to dio is I'm gonna actually take your jacket for a second we did this pose earlier in the day can I can't someone her jacket I'm sorry can I ask you to sit with your back to me wait did dispose earlier in the day with gretchen so I want you to turn your back to me put your legs straight out that way beautiful now spread your arms wide this is one of my they repose is head back can you spread them a little bit wider so I can get your head further back come all the way back to may just relax you're next okay good head back now bring one leg up for me I want you to know no not like that just pull it in like that now turn your head to your left good now head back further close your eyes let's take a look are we getting semaj honor we are so we're gonna go in here I'm gonna come down again and I'm gonna try to get her up just a little bit I'm not getting her head in the center like I want but I'll deal with it and take a look but what I don't like is I'm seeing one of the roof bets remember circle I'm sorry you're doing great head back a little bit you were doing so good where your head back a little bit more got it one of the things I'm paying attention teo is where I want my exposure woods okay so if you saw the tripod had good use I knocked it over and it didn't break anything so look at the separation between higher in the background it looks for a nominal great shoot great flair love what I'm seeing can you hop up again gorgeous very you're doing wonderful now what I want her to two is the one who had to get just a little bit more edgy in terms of what she's doing so I wanted to bring you dress up almost playful good turn her head here looking down good we don't want to light her arm too much way lax just bring it up just right good head down to the right take a look now watch how I change according to the light I'm gonna keep everything where it is but what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna look to move at sea what I confined in terms of light because I know I have that so the question is do I have anything around me so let's see if I go over here looking down beautiful get in a little bit closer for me julia just a tad no I don't have much there but let's say looking down gorgeous turn your head to your right beautiful tilt atop your head to make take a look I've exposed for the shot up for the highlights and even though I have that light in the background I like it I like the flare it gives a kind of a cool look doesn't it look at the way the light's hitting us she looks stunning it's not all about good light so let's take a look right here let's pop this out I want you right over here good you're going to come in a little bit closer turn your head right there just like that know until too much don't tell too much turn a little bit good so I have mixed sighting not mixed lighting in terms of temperature I have mixed fighting in terms of the light on a face she split led almost right so mackenzie walk interest detainee bets please thank you right there turn your head just a little bit right there you are doing terrific stay right there absolutely beautiful bring your hands up like this for me we're gonna all girl work your magic woman stay that chin up a little bit there we go perfect serious closure mouth up a little bit so take a look even know I have light on one side and I got inconsistent exposure I'm still getting the separation from the background because I'm zooming out of two hundred millimeter I'm showing separation between subject and background you can slide up because I know your freezing and I'm gonna get back how is my beautiful bride call it can I steal you for a second so let's again take a look everything we do is based on controlling the situation on controlling the light I love the cityscape you're going to come forward to me just a little bit so let's look at what we got when we look at it from the front you're doing good I know it's cold we don't have a lot of good energy on her right now do we we don't have much here it's about kind of trying to find something from nothing so again what I want you to do here is we're going to kick the leg forward a little bit good turning swords pushed to hip back good now from here bring the hands up just a tad wonderful now turn your head here and I want you to turn it over your shoulder so I want you to take a moment to think what am I setting up here I'm setting up clearly a full length because I wanted control the bottom part but where should my lights go take a moment and think do we have any questions at home that was seeing right now ladies were unable to get them good we're good okay come right over here for me you were going to come right here in profile position again move over a little bit turned your head looking down bring that he end up just a tad right they're leaning forward perfect you were doing one of them's gonna pull this hair back so I see you okay perfect shin down one of the keys is making sure that I don't have anything profile can you pull that hair back on the front can I bring you over here a little bit turn your head to your right good girl looking down beautiful bring your hand up to your hair your left hand good looking down now so now I'm going to go into a full length I have your chin up a little bit gorgeous perfect stay right there you're doing wonderful mackenzie I'm not actually gonna use you right now looking down again seventy two two hundred look down with your eyes beautiful wonderful take a look look at the separation again between subject toe background very very simple jahar can I borrow your husband for one second you mind if I give him a new bride for a second okay sorry come right over here this is always one of my favorite bear opposes can you turn and face her you just gonna give him a hug and put your head on his shoulder now no I want your head looking straight out you're gonna go over there take a look you're gonna lean in close to a good this pose is interesting why you said interesting and you'll see me talk about it tomorrow during proposing it's interesting because this is next best side it's the back of him just getting nick so everything we do it's about creating a candid moment in emotion so we're gonna bring you around to the front we're gonna add the light all right they're shown up a little bit beautiful tilt your head in close your eyes for me gorgeous vax they're looking up you okay ice close beautiful take a look so now camera placement is going to do everything because it's not about seeing nick it's not about that it's about everything else actually open your eyes are beautiful looking straight out right here you're smiling nice and happy you're looking up chin down a little bit gorgeous hold it could you fake it just a little bit more excellent keep those eyes open I think she closed hold it right there you're doing great don't move stay there just like that and I'm a little hard on my exposure take a look think she closed again but let's see what we got if you look look at the exposure look at the separation in the background now watch how we create just a little bit of mood turn your head towards him close your eyes can you come around over here a little bit more now we went flat lighting to begin with not so exciting kind of boring actually because it's too flat but what about if we create a mood to create the look of kind of like a first dance look bringing the light in behind again she's actually not really behind she said about I probably say about ninety degrees right now so I have to keep her in front otherwise nick's big head is gonna block her okay chin up a little bit turn your head to him a tad close your eyes perfect turn your head to him a little bit gorgeous hold it let me lock my exposure excellent you're doing terrific look at the separation look at the background again pulling out but more importantly why am I cropping this way why am I going for this image this way because I'm thinking about mohr than just one shot it's the biggest problem we face is photographers you guys curry lacks one second the biggest problem we face is that we don't think beyond one image is I'm shooting I'm thinking of the story I'm thinking about not only the one image but how I could make a whole sequence out of it I'm thinking about how could I make this better how could I make it stronger how could I get them not to buy one image but two by twenty of them so by cropping to the side I'm leaving room to place many images on a page in an album or I'm setting up a beautiful panel print again it's about that story it's about that personality now one of the questions I'm asked all the time is your little light can you actually like a group with it the answer without a doubt is he yes can I have all of it is only four of you but come on over we'll make it work come to me just a little bit you guys gonna walk forward now what I'm gonna do can I have my beautiful jahar come on over and what we're going to do here we're going to bring hold on one sec separate over a little bit he's not going to your husband for this one you give him this actually now what I want to do here can I get away one of the big question intimate can I get away with a height difference if they're this different the answer's yes because they're not the only two any image do I want to short I'm down yes kick your leg a little bit wider open so we're going to bring you in here it's gonna look a little odd because I never ever posed someone in between a bride and groom but obviously you're the bride but look at how we create our image here here you know what I'm gonna do I want to bring you to the other side behind him you're going to come right over here beautiful we're bringing them in and we're gonna pretend that they all know each other and they're a family it's a group picture they probably never met but that's okay good leaning in nice and close but the key to all of this is one thing can you put that light up for me beautiful I need to make sure that all of their faces are in the direction of the light and what does that mean well if you look there in the direction of the light caller not in a direction she's hot on one side nick hot on one side so we're gonna turn to the light lean in close beautiful you're going to turn your head well from sorry nick your big feet good just like that come down to their level down down down down down good leaning into the light just like we get before you lena close one happy very dysfunctional family I don't even know how to explain how you guys all together but I'm cool with everything I'm open mind him from new york heads together turn in right here you're doing terrific just like that everybody lean florida look at me now we'll get a bringer in close good now I need to look at my back like that light this is noticing is hitting right in her head so what I could do is tell turin on and what did that get rid off the light so now everybody lean forward I look and I see turn your head to the right a little because I want to make sure I have catch right call his eyes got it catch nick's eyes I have catched night on dzhokhar's ice I got catch like and senior girls eyes what is your name beautiful can jolene and close I'm very sorry turn your head to the right a little bit so we'll bring it down we're right here turn your head a little bit called country you're doing great jack are doing great nick you're here look at me here guys leaning forward just like that stay there perfect wonderful everybody smiling like you like me even you nick excellent let's take a look group before look at them they're popping out from the background that's pretty good for just one light isn't it one pound light that's all it's about is good lighting so relax one second guys if you could you guys can all actually you guys are going to step out you could warm up you're going to stay in girl you're going to stay in with your man I'm gonna show you part of what we're going to learn tomorrow because tomorrow is when we break into flowing posing together where we go one two three four five six years before you know it two hundred posters had gone so let me show you quickly how we would do it go on the other side because tomorrow we're going to shoot again most three available light turned towards your man open your legs why can't bring him up and bring him open wrap your arms around heads together cheeks together bring your hand up looking here the girl was freezing nick turn your head to your right just a little bit nick clean fluid nick lean forward good turn your head to the right lean forward you come on in miss julia take a look there lookingood nick's looking happy look at me here dzhokhar turn you head to your right chin down now how could we screw this image up watch how easy it is to screw this up I'm gonna screw it up because all I'm going to dio is I'm gonna shoot number one I'm gonna forget to exposure coppin state and I focused on her number two I don't really have a lot of life behind her too I because I shot shot into the dock so and I didn't even really shoot into the doc you got a light let's do it this way and see what happens hold it this time I will expose correctly take a look look at how their hair starts to blend in because I didn't have anything like behind it doesn't work as well does it because god knows I'm not gonna have studio lights when I'm out on location so again I want to keep their head in tow light looking at me turn your head to the right beautiful leaning forward just like that I'm bringing their heads up lean forward a little bit more smiling happy teeth don't move put your nose right on his cheek beautiful chin down close your eyes gorgeous stretching out to him a little bit roll your right front shoulder out nick you're doing spectacular or as good as your capable of good now look at each other noses together look at each other nick not mae I know you're in love but it's okay lean away from him beautiful lena way turn your head to your right now let's know not that much good looking they're perfect stay there you smile and wonderful hold it just like that I think I was a little slow on my exposure let's see well no perfect good now turn your head to me gorgeous good more more more more more nick put your nose on a cheek neck lean forward to may your heart now lean forward don't tire neck turn you head to your right beautiful looking right here gorgeous you looking to meet nick stop smiling cookie nick don't push you know so hard on her face carlina body away nick you're doing terrible looking right here remember we control it nick you're serious don't push you know so hard turn to the light eyes are beautiful smiling well hold on I went talk again because what did I learn today I learned about exposure compensation I have a person of color I overexposed toe when I should have took in a down point seven were doing spectacular stay right there look at the difference now we got it but look you're probably thinking at home right now he's shown the same four poses a thousand times I hope I have more than this so let's see if I got any let me reach into the box too hard you're gonna turn your body before me neck go behind her be good neck look her idea bring your hands right here not the good part you're gonna bring your hands up here nick you got her and like the sleeper hold no good bring arms down bit not glow nick I want you to know I have nothing to do with this r rated movies nothing nick is bad don't let him back creative life good looking down you're gonna lean and turn your head to me beautiful just turn your head here a little bit looking down nick you're gonna lean your body to may lean a little bit you know a little bit you're gonna look down at your beautiful wife shin out excuse me looking down light up higher we always want to keep the light higher now here's the thing do I want to see a lot of nick I don't see any of neck look at him I want to see his little is possible good now here's what I'm noticing can I come alive from this camera here let's take a look at a face from the kicker light you see this right here no good too strong so we need to pull them up pull him up you see the difference the kicker lights too strong I don't feel like moving I don't wantto work that heart so I'm gonna move them leaning forward nick is going to turn his head to earth in a two thirds dzhokhar is in the perfect two thirds as well depending on where I am to the camera where were the cameras to them looking down beautiful turn your head nick chin up a little bit perfect stay there beautiful hold it right there you're doing great stay there let me get up and get some lights behind him take a look don't move don't move look at the beautiful separation look at the spectacular light on a face look at the flare can you tell it's the pitch black of night time the answer is a dead know nick you're going to stay right there but tilt your head to her nick your chin up turn your head to your right neck maura maura maura jahar chin up a little bit more turn your head to your right tilt the top of your head away from him right here looking right here both of you towards the light shut up nick little bit now I want you to look at this it's very important the height separation is nick tell thing has had too much he is get down lower neck get down lower good we want to bring the lips to the level of the eyes their eyes or off camera then I can go and make it look more natural turn your head a little potato right dzhokhar perfect stay there guys you are doing spectacular don't you move stay right there wonderful can you slide a little bit to your left gorgeous perfect turn your head to you right to her excellent I could not x for better smiling doing terrific nick keep faking it I love it smiling teeth come on nick I can't spread my legs this on hold it right there happy excellent let's take a look separation great great job blowing through the background look at the color of look at the saturation I love it that's how simple and easy it is to shoot at night it's all about controlling things so if your home give your models a great big round of applause could you guys we're troop it's spectacular do you hear them they're going nuts in the thousands it's like a stadium there's a loud roar now focus back on me I don't know whose life so I imagine you're right over here we're over here so let's take a look you got mae how's the lighting look I look then because you got the short light side of pecos a steady camera right so he is where it goes it's very very simple nighttime is fun night time is a challenge because we get oversaturated and we over jump on the lights it's about how we can make things more interesting how we could make things better it's about knowing that we need to separate our subject from the background by shooting from a dog to a light area it's about knowing that we don't want to over like the subject in comparison to anything else in the frame it's about knowing that off flash all light is our paintbrush whatever maybe it's about knowing that if you could do nighttime photography you're going to do something that nobody else is doing how does it work it's very very simple it's snowing again that light is the control if you could find good light if you could see good light if you could get like with personality you're going to create a magical image so that is what made it happen tonight I don't have anything great I'm on a rooftop I'm in an area with telephone why is and everything else that I don't want around me but what made it work was finding the light if you can't find the light create the light see the light that's what we're about that's what makes photography good how many shots did I do in an hour tonight I would do even more if I was just shooting you're not instructing about it because I didn't have to play and keep adjusting my settings I was able to use my little torchlight when I tell you that thing is my best friend in the world you can't imagine I use it for everything because it's my paintbrush on as a photographer you're sculptor with light and no matter what if you haven't picked it up today one the light all boils down to one direction one lighting pattern I understand where the light's coming from I turned the face to it right now I don't mind being shot from this camera do you know why because I know that I look thinner because only half my body's being let and I'm okay with that that's a good thing but if I turn my face here I still got short bite but I got two thirds lighting pattern I look good so we keep it simple we keep it easy and not tell we light it tonight

Class Materials

bonus material

Day 1 Slides
Flow Posing Guide
Bonus Video: Workflow: Doug Gordon Photoshop A
Bonus Video: Workflow: Doug Gordon Photoshop B
Bonus Video: Workflow: Doug Gordon Photoshop C
Bonus Video: Workflow: Doug Gordon Photoshop D

Ratings and Reviews

a Creativelive Student
 

I loved every minute of it! I watched and re-watched the Live show 3 times and now have the video version to burn into my mind. I don't get sick of watching it, I learn something new with each viewing. I have notes upon notes, inspirational quotes and I was truly inspired. I saw you live at your workshop and I wish we would of covered the business section a bit more in depthly because after watching you here on creativeLive I was floored! I can't wait to attend another one of your workshops because you are a wealth of knowledge, energetic and you inspire me to be better! I'm so glad I wasn't afraid to try even though I was terrified at first. Thank you, thank you, thank you for being such an amazing mentor!

a Creativelive Student
 

Doug is AMAZING! The way he teaches makes it fun and easy to understand. The way he poses his couples are so fast and easy to learn, I have taken my photography from mediocre, to world-class. I would love to meet him and thank him personally one day. Thank you Creativelive for introducing me to Doug, and thank you, Doug, for introducing me to CreativeLive! The best community for learning!!!

Adrian Farr
 

Doug has so much enthusiasm, it is beyond measurable. He is truly a fantastic motivator. He helps you understand the best ways to work with the light you have and shows you some very simple yet effective posing techniques. I highly recommend watching and buying this course if you want some great advice on improving your photography.

Student Work

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