Enhance your family & couple session with a clear idea.

Following article will introduce a few tips how to make your photo sessions magical by creating the momentum through good guidance. There is two goals that you should achieve in your session. First you should make your clients relax and feel comfortable in your presence. On the other hand you should try to push your clients out of their comfort zones. Here is how to get there.

Start your photo session slow

Every photo session needs some warm up time so don´t jump right into the actions shots. Connect with the client first, introduce yourself and ask about them or there prior experiences with photography. You will find out fast how comfortable they will feel in front of a camera. If they are new to the field try to relax with them . Don´t leave all to your client, direct them into the intimate moment that will make a good photograph. Ask them to turn the head slightly or move a leg forward slowly. The right choice of words is important to help convey the delicacy you need to take a good picture.

Introduce movement and keep moving yourself

Movement is crucial to get motion and emotion into photography. Make your clients have a walk along the beach and join them. Don´t let the subject just pass your camera. You can´t have a stationary attitude towards something that is moving. Walk around your clients and stay agile. If you usually like to shoot in situations where your subjects are illuminated by direct light from the front try to take their pictures also while backlit. Counter lightening usually more dramatic and sometimes gives you surreal results.

You can even go further and make your clients run. It helps to release emotions and totally forget the camera. In case your clients are ready to get sporty try to motivate them like a fitness coach. Make the pull each other while running. If they are lacking in dynamics don´t hesitate to grab a clients hand to demonstrate. Just be careful not to push something the clients doesn’t really want to do as you never know the reason why a specific pose makes the client feel uncomfortable.

You can dance!

In photography everyone is a good dancer. Make the client twirl and stretch arms and maybe you can even play a song through your phone. Tell them to bring tension to every part of their body and motivate your client to give it all. Don´t be afraid to suggest dancing poses even if you think you´re not good at it. Seeing that you are not taking yourself too seriously will help the client to open up himself. Also shouting commands like “more power” or “more drama” will help to get the energy you´re looking for. Remember that the more energy you bring into a shoot the more you will affect the outcome.

Everyone is special

Make your client see their beauty. Don´t be afraid to tell them what you like about their appearance. Compliments don´t only help to get good photographs you will also lighten up the clients day.

Take a step back

Take a step back and invite your clients to do the same. Finish the session by giving the client their own space. Operate from distance and snoop around working silently. Like this you will get good shots of trusted intimacy.

Predicting weather in the Riviera Maya.

Some clients ask me for if it might rain on the day of their photo shoot. Of course there is always a chance it might, but here some reasons why you shouldn’t worry at all.

Predicting weather is almost impossible so don’t bother and leave weather apps aside. The good news is that the Mexican Riviera Maya is blessed with 70% sunshine per year. Chances that it doesn’t rain on the day of your shoot are 2 out of 3; those are good odds.

Really don’t bother to check your app. Living in Playa del Carmen for 10 years we know very well that weather predictions fail regularly. The caribbean weather is changing fast, there is no mountains in Quintana Roo that might stop clouds and you couldn’t tell by looking at the morning sky what the weather will be like 2 or 3 hours later. Even in “rainy season” it tends to rain heavily for a couple of minutes and right after the sun will come out and shine bright again. Or it might rain in Playa del Carmen half a day but 50km away in Cancun or Tulum the sun is shining. Local precision considering weather forecast simply doesn’t exist in this area.

Rainy day, nice image nevertheless. Look at the skin tones, everyone looks great!

The most important is to not let rain bother you at all. We photographers love it actually. It makes the greens in the jungle just pop! You get nice reflections on the streets and as light gets defused by clouds skin tones come out really soft and you will appear younger! For a photo session in the Riviera Maya there is no bad weather.

Imagine those nice a crafty greens as your image backdrop. In case of hard rain they will serve you as natural shelter :)

Do`s and Don'ts in a family or couple photo shoot?

Well there is practically none, really. Photography sessions are so fast and fluid that it is very hard to force a good photo and most of the time you and even the photographer don’t know at what time beauty unfolds in front of the camera. The job of a good photographer is to stay attentive, know where to stand and to be ready when “THE moment” comes up. Of course you can manipulate and control shootings by implementing poses but most of the times you get the best shots out of unexpected situations. When people ask me how to pose or what to do with their faces I always get a bit intimidated. My answer is always short and I am sort of saying: “Try to stay you” or “make minimalistic changes”. We are photographers, we think in technical terms, exposure, rules of composition and light. If you feel like modelling, thats good, but we are not the ones to teach you that. Don’t try to be someone you are not. It is one thing to be a trained model and another to be an authentic person. Your family and friends at home will appreciate and connect emotionally much more with the candid shots than the posed ones. They want to recognise you, they want to see who you really are and not what you’d like to be. Doing photo sessions in the Mexican Riviera Maya is a blessed situation for any photographer. People that come to Tulum, Playa del Carmen or Cancun come mostly for vacationing and have an excellent mood and normally they bring their good vibes to the shoot. And thats what our photo sessions should be about. Connect and have a good time together.