Throwback Thursday in Portrait Photography

by Skip Cohen

​It's Throwback Thursday, and while a big part of this post is from the SCU archives, it's so relevant to helping many of you raise the bar on the quality of your images, especially with tall grooms and short brides. It's a great lesson in posing and all thanks to Don Blair.

I've written a lot about him over the years, almost always about something I learned during our incredible friendship. "Big Daddy" pretty much became the older brother I never had. 

He believed in the "rules" of photography, but he broke them all the time. He was always looking for a different way to take everything he learned and create something new, but he never compromised at the client's expense. 

The two images above are a prime example of Don pushing the edge of the creative envelope. (My apologies for the quality of the scans. They're from a copy of the book we wrote together in the '90s.)

What do you do with a tall groom and a short bride? 

​He was a 6' 4" Algerian boxer, and she was the All-American cheerleader type, at best 5' 1". Just about every photographer at the time would have him hunched over her or put them on some stairs to balance things out. Don sat them down on the floor and created some of my most favorite bridal portraits.

And then, to do a different spin - he sat the groom down and brought the bride in behind him. The bridal portrait becomes so much more pleasing than the usual hunched over groom!

There are no shortcuts to becoming a great photographer. Make it a point to know every aspect of your camera and especially the different focal lengths of your lenses. Stop being a "natural light specialist" and get to know studio lighting. Spend time experimenting with various techniques and learn every rule in photography. Attend every hands-on workshop you can; watch every video, and read every book!

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"You've got to learn your instrument. Then, you practice, practice, practice.
And then, when you finally get up there on the bandstand, forget all that and just wail."
Charlie Parker

Once you've learned the rules and understand them, you've earned the right to push the envelope, break the rules, and be a true artist. Throw away the rule book and like Charlie Parker suggests, just wail!  You can break any rule you want, with one exception...NEVER disappoint a client.

Happy Throwback Thursday!