Posing
Cold is the constraint. Everything below is quick, and the session is planned in ten-minute bursts with somewhere warm between them.
In short: Cold is the constraint. Everything below is quick, and the session is planned in ten-minute bursts with somewhere warm between them.
One take, because footprints cannot be undone.
Warmth, steam, occupied hands.
Eyes closed, chin lifted. Reliable and comfortable.
Scarf, cheeks, breath. Cold reads better close than wide.
Genuine, in bursts, shot from below so it arcs against the sky.
Warmth as the reason to be close, which stops it looking posed.
Start with walking away, tracks behind — the first two minutes are warm-up and the first pose should be the one that asks least of anyone. Move to hands round a cup and looking up into falling snow once the shoulders have dropped, and keep two people sharing a coat for the end, when self-consciousness has gone. Shoot each one in bursts through the movement rather than holding it: the usable frames sit between the instructions, not on them.
Two metres back with the lens zoomed rather than close and wide — distance is what keeps facial proportions natural. Camera at or slightly above eye level for portraits, at chest height for full length. Below eye level enlarges whatever is nearest the lens, which is rarely what you want in frame.
Anything held for more than thirty seconds in a wind. And sitting or lying in snow at the start — wet clothing ends the session and it is always the first idea someone has.
Trusting the meter — snow fools it into underexposure, so add one to two stops. Leaving the camera to fog when going indoors; put it in a bag first. And planning an hour outdoors, which nobody enjoys below freezing.