Nostalgic Storytelling by Kinseylynn Photo Co -

Your complete guide for beginner photographers to get everything you need in your couple galleries to blow them out of the water. A guide to Nostalgic Storytelling by Kinseylynn Photo Co. When I first began photography i wanted to capture raw and genuine looking moments but had no idea how. At first i made the excuse well i just don’t have the right clients they aren’t models and they are just awkward in front of the camera. Until something clicked in my brain and I realized it is MY JOB to make them look like models not theirs. I realized that there is no way all these photographers who ARE getting it right just have people who know how to “pose” all the time. It started with just wanting to catch authentic looking moments. Then evolved into wanting to make every session a very clear story capturing the essence of the couples love. For them to remember years down the road.

It Begins with Making them comfortable

Now this may be a given but no one is going to let loose like you want them to if their photographer is making them feel awkward. For me making them comfortable looks like: never giving them time to wonder if they look good or not. I may be thinking of what i want them to do next but in that moment i am still telling them they are doing a great job. And having them keep moving. Think of yourself as a coach yelling at your team to keep going. Some ways to keep them moving while you are trying to be creative are:

having them run back and forth, this also helps them sort of blow off the awkwardness
Keep them kissing, I tell them to kiss All up and down the body as fast as they can this will usually get some great laughs and if it doesn’t i’ll yell at them to keep going.
Piggy back rides. I tell them to do the bounciest piggy back of their lives ( and don’t look at me )
Ring around the rosies. Ill make them do this while i get the shot wide and as close as i can without getting hit.

Capturing the Romance

After all that you all are going to be a bit out of breath so here is a great time for you all to take a pause without them realizing that this is your personal break to come up with the romantic soulful directions. I will usually have them Nuzzle in and hold one of their chins or beards or do Eskimos. Right here you can really get a feel for how easy or not easy its going to be to get them to do some super romantic shots. If they are clearly uncomfortable here, as in making funny faces and being silly still. I will send them back into the running and wild jumping around stuff. Some people just aren’t going to want to do the soulful stuff and that’s ok. Ideas of shots to get during the break are:

Hand shots i like them up in the sky, or close up of grabbing their faces
Kissing obviously
Eyelashes, tattoos or jewelry insane close ups of random details

Little People big world

Once you’ve got the fun and the closeness out of the way all that is left is wide angles. You can simply have them start walking towards the landscape and back up really far to get a good idea of what you are working with and how you can get creative with it. I Live near Jackson Hole and Grand Teton National park which makes my job usually to capture those mountains. But a pro tip is to pick the most interesting thing in front of you and work with that. Is it the sky? mountains or grass? I like to imagine taking something they would hang in their living room framed real big as art.

Final Shots

Lastly I’ll ask them to just sort of run around like the beginning and quote “just do stuff” sometimes this is when we get the best shots. For one they are all warmed up, two they are able to think of ideas they may have had that we didn’t capture yet. Or they will not really know what to do and here i can ask them i there’s any last shots they wanted. To which they usually reply “you got way more than i even expected”

Things you can throw in to spice it up

Now these aren’t necessary but if you really want that artistic feel you can throw in some of this to really pull your galleries together.

– Shooting through trees or plants i usually shoot through bushes or my hair in front of the lens.

Blurry photos depending on how you feel about these, they are trending. They are easy to do and sometimes make a statement.
Double exposures, practice makes perfect with these. So don’t worry if you don’t get it on the first 10 tries.