In my first year of wedding photography, I was able to second shoot weddings with Greg Bumatay, a sweet soul and kind man. I learned a great deal shadowing him at weddings and it was while shooting with him that I started navigating the world of posing for wedding photography. Here's an excerpt from EXPOSED Magazine that describes an experience in 2006 while trying to pose a bride and groom:

“This isn't to say I became an expert at posing. In fact, I'd venture to say it was quite the opposite, but at least I had the ideas floating in my head. Once, while shooting a wedding with Greg, he turned to me and asked me to pose the bride and groom. I stood in complete despair and I even whispered, No. Greg smiled like he didn't hear me and told his clients he was going to shoot from a different angle and I'd be taking the lead. My feet felt like they were stuck in blocks of concrete and my tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth.
Instead of pushing the limits and posing clients like I saw in my fashion magazines, I reverted to Tacky Wedding Photographer mode. I asked the couple to pose against a wall, to kiss, and-please don't hold it against me-to twirl. Oh sweet baby Jesus, I asked the groom to take his bride and dip her. What was I thinking?! Was I an adult trying to play with a life-size Barbie and Ken?! Had I not been preparing myself for this moment? A moment I could strut my stuff and show off my ideas? Instead, I used every old trick in the book and created completely forgettable moments. Thankfully, Greg stepped in after a few minutes and resumed his professional approach. I felt like crawling off into a corner and heaving into a brown paper bag, but I remained collected for the sake of my pride.”

I've learned a lot about posing in the following years and this video outlines how I presently work with my clients…which is far cry from the infamous Dip…

I hope this offers insight into how I pose my clients to create natural photos, but if you have tips, feel free to leave them in the comment box!