Upcoming wedding situation. Does anyone have any hints or experience with a significant difference in heights like this?

use perspective?

I suppose, depending on how easy going the couple is, you could play on it a bit, too..
i'm very curious to hear what the rest of the folks will suggest.

Have her stand directly in front of him. I call it the "totem pole" pose. :-P

=Matt=

i dont think you have to worry the height difference doesnt bother them

If you want to make them appear closer in height...

1. hope she's wearing heels
2. have her stand on something while he doesn't (on a curb for example)
3. have him stand in a low spot on the ground
4. if you're using a wide lens, bring her closer to the camera than he is
5. to really even up the game, have him spread his legs apart as much as possible (think splits) to take some inches off of his height.

Learned this at a workshop , it really helped my perception as a viewer in the audience.... the groom stands with his legs wide and I think the weight rests on leg farthest from bride, leans toward bride. Bride moves in close, legs together..even with his foot between her feet which won't show if she has long gown.
I haven't tried it yet and this is from memory...hope some part of this helps. To me it seemed to close the gap by at least 5 to 6 inches. You can also google images of Tom Cruise with any of his wives, lol, they all seemed to have an automatic stance when next to him, no kidding, just reverse the subjects.

Well seated is an obvious idea but tricky with the nice dress. For the bride I bring a white tablecloth or sheet with me, then if I want to pose them on a fence/grass/bench that might be dirty we have her sit on the sheet. Most of the time if she has a full length dress the sheet blends into the background and no one will ever see it. Example below.



Other than that you can do nice things with him sitting/leaning on a handrail. Steps will be handy as well. Have him pick her up for the fun ones if possible.

Thanks, everyone. I'll give these a try!

Christ people make mountains out of Mole hills!

Exactly what hints or experience do you think you need to have to photograph this couple?? What do you perceive is the problem here that need correcting?

Are you assuming that there is something wrong with showing their height difference or do you think it would be better for the photos if they appreared different to what they normally do?

WTF is the big deal?
My wife and I are these exact heights and as a wedding photographer for many years before we got married and 20 since, it never crossed my mind that we needed any special sort of posing or anything else. As for standing me like some sort of girraffe trying to get a drink to lessen our height difference, I would say the picture looked stupid and reject it out of hand.
Do you think people have never had a pic standing ( normally) next to one another before and don't know how they look?
FFS!

Seems to me some people are more fixated on creating perfect pictures for their own ego and to make themselves look good than giving thought to the wants and likes of the B&G... Ya know, the people whom are PAYING them to have their little self indulgent ego trips.

The 60x40 wedding pic on our wall at home is my wife and I standing next to one another as we normally would. My father in law who was also in the pic was the same height as my wife and I never saw any problem with being taller than him either.
My wife didn't even wear particularly High heels and in the 20 years the pic has been hanging there, Never has the thought crossed our minds that I should have been standing in some stupid pose or otherwise tried to lessen the blatantly obvious height difference between us. We had already noticed that some years beforehand!

I'll say this much, if I had a shooter for my wedding that tried to make us look the same height and unrealistic in all the pics, He'd want to be about 7'9 to avoid me smacking him in the nose for being such a moron to do that.

Before you think there is some sort of problem with the way this couple appear, how about thinking of what THEY want first over making pretty but completely unrealistic pics and ask them how THEY feel about it?

Glort,

Your over reacting here. people here are trying to do their very best, learn, improve and produce high quality wedding images.

This is a place to ask questions, yes even dumb ones, and to be open. A place to free associate without fear of ridicule.

Your opinion is valid, but hey why not tone it down a bit?

Sam

Originally Posted by Glort Christ people make mountains out of Mole hills! Exactly what hints or experience do you think you need to have to photograph this couple?? What do you perceive is the problem here that need correcting? Are you assuming that there is something wrong with showing their height difference or do you think it would be better for the photos if they appreared different to what they normally do? WTF is the big deal? My wife and I are these exact heights and as a wedding photographer for many years before we got married and 20 since, it never crossed my mind that we needed any special sort of posing or anything else. As for standing me like some sort of girraffe trying to get a drink to lessen our height difference, I would say the picture looked stupid and reject it out of hand. Do you think people have never had a pic standing ( normally) next to one another before and don't know how they look? FFS! Seems to me some people are more fixated on creating perfect pictures for their own ego and to make themselves look good than giving thought to the wants and likes of the B&G... Ya know, the people whom are PAYING them to have their little self indulgent ego trips. The 60x40 wedding pic on our wall at home is my wife and I standing next to one another as we normally would. My father in law who was also in the pic was the same height as my wife and I never saw any problem with being taller than him either. My wife didn't even wear particularly High heels and in the 20 years the pic has been hanging there, Never has the thought crossed our minds that I should have been standing in some stupid pose or otherwise tried to lessen the blatantly obvious height difference between us. We had already noticed that some years beforehand! I'll say this much, if I had a shooter for my wedding that tried to make us look the same height and unrealistic in all the pics, He'd want to be about 7'9 to avoid me smacking him in the nose for being such a moron to do that. Before you think there is some sort of problem with the way this couple appear, how about thinking of what THEY want first over making pretty but completely unrealistic pics and ask them how THEY feel about it?

Thanks for the perspective, but no thanks for the attitude. There's nothing wrong with discussing our options in this type of situation, wouldn't you agree?

I'd agree with you that the stretch-legged giraffe pose would come across as "stupid" to some subjects who don't care about a height difference. ...But what if it's the other way around, and the bride is 6'3" and the groom is 5'? It's happened before, and the clients are often very self-conscious about it.

So yeah, surely the professional thing to do is to discuss it with the client and just see how comfortable they are about the height difference. We totally agree about that. But all I know is that going into the job as a paid professional, I want OPTIONS.

Personally, I really really like the second photo that Quark posted, I think it's a must-have pose for any couple with a serious height difference. I'm very glad we had this discussion.

=Matt=

Originally Posted by Matthew Saville // Personally, I really really like the second photo that Quark posted // =Matt=

Possibly better without the pole + straightened verticals, maybe?

pp

A fun piggy back shot.

Used a foot stool at the wedding i shot last weekend for the bride to stand on.

Some natural shots are bound to be taken on the day somewhere along the line together - such as coming out the Church anyway

I apologize for the terse initial question. I was using a tablet while sitting in my car outside the only establishment with internet within about 30 miles. Had I been able to type more, I would have given some more info:

I'm 6'5" and my wife is 5'5". I get it. When someone recently saw a wedding photo from our long-ago wedding, they asked if the girl standing next to me was a flower girl.

When I asked for hints or experience, I fully expected that "no need to do anything special" would be in the range of answers.

I learned of the difference in height about 3 days prior to the wedding, when I ran into the mother of the groom and asked if there was anything I should know -- drama, physical issues, etc. The height issue and making sure the bride's younger brother didn't upstage her were what came up. There was not going to be an opportunity for me to meet the bride before appearing at her dressing-room door on the day.

As it turns out, the difference in my height and the bride's was probably more of an issue. The bride was so cute and happy that it would have been hard to take bad photos of her.

Originally Posted by Glort Christ people make mountains out of Mole hills! Exactly what hints or experience do you think you need to have to photograph this couple?? What do you perceive is the problem here that need correcting? Are you assuming that there is something wrong with showing their height difference or do you think it would be better for the photos if they appreared different to what they normally do? WTF is the big deal? My wife and I are these exact heights and as a wedding photographer for many years before we got married and 20 since, it never crossed my mind that we needed any special sort of posing or anything else. As for standing me like some sort of girraffe trying to get a drink to lessen our height difference, I would say the picture looked stupid and reject it out of hand. Do you think people have never had a pic standing ( normally) next to one another before and don't know how they look? FFS! Seems to me some people are more fixated on creating perfect pictures for their own ego and to make themselves look good than giving thought to the wants and likes of the B&G... Ya know, the people whom are PAYING them to have their little self indulgent ego trips. The 60x40 wedding pic on our wall at home is my wife and I standing next to one another as we normally would. My father in law who was also in the pic was the same height as my wife and I never saw any problem with being taller than him either. My wife didn't even wear particularly High heels and in the 20 years the pic has been hanging there, Never has the thought crossed our minds that I should have been standing in some stupid pose or otherwise tried to lessen the blatantly obvious height difference between us. We had already noticed that some years beforehand! I'll say this much, if I had a shooter for my wedding that tried to make us look the same height and unrealistic in all the pics, He'd want to be about 7'9 to avoid me smacking him in the nose for being such a moron to do that. Before you think there is some sort of problem with the way this couple appear, how about thinking of what THEY want first over making pretty but completely unrealistic pics and ask them how THEY feel about it?

Have him sit, her stand.

Basically anything that involves them using different postures will help 'de-accentuate' the 'issue' (if you percieve it as such) -- and anything that closely replicates two thirteen year old standing next to each other trying to see who is taller will accentuate the issue.

I, personally, would simply say don't fear it. Just keep him from getting all hunched over when they smooch, have him lean more from his waist and ensure that she really reaches up to him (which will also have the effect of making her look slimmer and longer)

Groom 6'10" Bride 5'1"







just take your time, make sure your close ups are money on position, whatever you have to do to get them into them. Don't be afraid to elevate the bride, or shoot down on them. Don't be afraid to shoot full body and frame large, but don't do it from a low vantage to avoid the "looming".

I would bring a short step for her to stand in in part of the posed shots.

Just take a step back and shoot it as you would shoot any other wedding. This is NOT a unique situation, and as it has been pointed out already, don't make it a "problem." My best advice is to be yourself and shoot it the way YOU want it shot. The bride and groom will be extremely happy, regardless of their difference in height.

Cheers and good luck with your shoot.

CARL
D3XWannabe