What makes a photo good? Obvi having good lighting, exposure, a pretty background, and all that is important, but what really makes a photo stand out is EMOTION. The photos that we are drawn to are the ones that make us feel something. The ones where you can tell the two people are so in love.

It’s no secret that I LOVE pictures that feel genuine and not forced or stiff. I love being able to portray the couples personalities in their photos. I do that by giving them prompts to do in order to get them laughing, smiling, crying, etc. I want to share with you guys three of my favorite prompts to give couples in order to get good, emotion filled photos!

1. The “Drunk Walk”

I seriously use this prompt almost EVERY single shoot I do. And guess what? Every couple does it totally different and it never looks the same. I tell them “Okay so you just met each other at the bar and you had one too many drinks and you are leaving together and totally flirting with each other. You are giddy in love and stumbling and bumping into one another.” Then I show them by stumbling around with my pretend drunk significant other and look like a fool so they know I am totally down to be weird and crazy so it’s not as awkward for them. Every time I do this I get the best laughs and those goo-goo looks at each other like “heyyyy I’m taking you home tonight hot stuff.”

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2. “Hug like you won’t see each other for 6 months”

This is my favorite way to get pictures that portray how much love a couple has for each other. If I would have just said “okay now give each other a hug” it wouldn’t have turned out the same. You can see how tight Courtney is pulling Sean in because she is imagining not seeing him for HALF A DANG YEAR. Seriously, try this prompt you will NOT regret it. No ragrets over here! 😉

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3. The “Sneak Attack”

Okay this one’s for the guys. I tell them to go a few feet behind the girl and then I say “okay when you are ready, sneak up behind her and attack her with love.” Some creep up and swoop them up and spin them around while others may sneak up and swarm them with kisses and tickles. The guys have so much fun with it and we all know most of them aren’t too keen on talking photos so we have to make sure they have fun too. And the end result is super cute!!!

SO there ya go! I have a million of these prompts, but I love these three so much. What prompts do you use when posing couples for pictures? What other ways do you get them excited about photos?