The Forehead Touch

How to set up The Forehead Touch

1. Set the frame before anyone moves. The Forehead Touch wants a close frame filled with faces, with 2 people already close enough to touch. A quiet, intimate pose where the couple rests foreheads together. It works anywhere and suits shy couples.
2. Get them into the standing shape, then say this once and stop directing: "Bring your foreheads together, close your eyes, and just breathe together."
3. While they hold it, make one flatter change and shoot again. Have both partners drop their chins slightly and soften their shoulders to avoid tension in the neck.
4. If the first frame feels stiff, do not rebuild the group. Try this next: Open eyes and smile at each other.

Who it suits

The Forehead Touch is a couple pose. It fails if the two of them stand like acquaintances. It suits 2 people and a standing shape. It is beginner: one clear sentence is enough direction. Because the frame is tight, a small lean changes the picture more than a new backdrop would.

Where to shoot and how to light it

The Forehead Touch works indoors or outdoors. Outside, use a simple background. Inside, use a window and clear the clutter behind the heads. The pose does not depend on a specific place, which is why it is marked for either.

For The Forehead Touch, the rule is the same in either place: open shade outside, a window and no ceiling light inside. Keep the light on the faces rather than on the background. A close-up frame has nowhere to hide a squint.

The usual miss on The Forehead Touch is a gap, a straight line of heads, or a face waiting for the next instruction. Have both partners drop their chins slightly and soften their shoulders to avoid tension in the neck. Then take the frame before anyone resets.

Variations

• Open eyes and smile at each other
• Add a hand gently on the partner's cheek
• Shoot wide to show the landscape around them