When I meet with potential wedding clients and ask them what style of photography they're looking for, 9 out of 10 times they say photojournalism. They tell me they want "real" moments, not boring, corny old poses.

However, when I show them my portfolio and ask them to pick out their favorites, they always pick the shots that I've posed!  What does this tell you?

It tells me that what they really want is not "photojournalism", they just want beautiful pictures.  

And I'll tell you a secret - those great pictures do not make themselves, you have to create them - and that means posing!

There are maybe 2 photojournalists on the planet that I would trust to shoot my wedding without a posed bride and groom photo session -  Jeff Ascough and Huy Nguyen.  I can't tell you how many people I've met that have told me that they didn't get a single good image of themselves with their spouse on their wedding day, and that's a tragedy!

So how do I pose? I only have one rule:  I never let my couples smile for my camera. If I take a picture of people smiling for the camera, then I consider that a failure. I only want to take pictures of real smiles - or perhaps no smiling at all. But never, never, never a fake smile. The key to a great image is the look on your subject's faces. Always.

So how do you get beautiful, natural images of your couples?  It's easier than you think.  My main technique is to just have my couples do something. If they're just standing there feeling awkward, then you'll get phony smiles. However, when they are doing something, they easily forget the camera - and that's when you get a great, natural image.

Here are some useful techniques you can use to help get the session going. I'm listing a few of them below. Every single image you see in this post is posed. In other words, it wouldn't have happened without my specific instructions.

(1) Have your couples hold hands and walk towards you. Just tell them to talk to each other and ignore the camera. You shoot from way back with a long telephoto lens. It never fails. I always get at least one album image from this pose. Super easy.

(2) You can do the same pose from the back.  After they walk towards you, just have them turn around and walk back. In this image I wanted a more intimate look, so instead of a telephoto I used a 35mm and just trailed the couple, shooting while walking.

(3)   Here's another guaranteed, super-easy pose. Just have your couple touch foreheads. Then step back and take your image with a long telephoto. Works every time.

(4)  Here's a quick variation on #3: groom's nose to bride's cheek.

(5)  Head's don't have to touch. For this pose, I simply asked the couple to put their arms around each other and love each other without kissing.

(6)  Try this one: Bride and groom face each other with bride resting chin on groom's shoulder.

(7)  Tell the b&g to face the camera, about a yard apart, hold hands and look at each other.  They'll just start smiling, guaranteed.

(8)  I always like to take at least one fashion image at every session. This one's more stylized so it took a bit more direction.  The basic formula: groom looks off camera, bride looks on camera. No smiling. Just browse through any issue of Vogue and you'll get tons of ideas.

(9) A similar pose - this time with bride looking off camera and groom looking on camera.

(10) If having your couple walk toward you isn't enough to elicit the expression you were hoping for, try increasing the intensity by having them run!  If this doesn't get a great expression then I'm sorry - your bride and groom are zombies.

(11)  If you're lucky enough to have a great backdrop, try at least one image where you back far away and fill up the frame with scenery. I was probably 100 yards away when I took this shot. My posing instructions? Hold each other.

(12)  Another reliable and quick way to get a beautiful image is to just have your couple kiss.

(13)  I like to have my couples stop the kiss when their lips are about an inch away from touching.  Keeping the lips apart keeps the couple's faces from mushing together.  It's also - in my opinion - sexier.

(14)  Try having the groom lift the bride. Always generates big smiles.

(15) This one is - I admit - borderline corny, but the clients love it!  B&G sit on grass, hold each other, and look into the sunset. This is the type of image that gets the order for a 30x40 canvas!

(16)  Last one: B&G sit on a bench. Ask them to cuddle then back away and shoot with a long lens.

This was just a very short list which will hopefully give you some ideas. Keep it simple. Keep your subjects moving and interacting.  I'll often hear from them that the photo shoot was their favorite part of the wedding. You'll get lots of great, natural expressions and your couples will have a lot of fun.