Posing_Masterclass
Author:: Scott Robert Lim
Tags:: Photography
Keys to posing
Maximize beauty
Start with a realistic and organic emotion.
It’s about the emotion wrapped in a pose.
Posing is both technical and emotional
Must get subjects to buy into a story or emotion
Failure to pose correctly produces inconsistency
Create a positive environment
Work quickly and efficiently
Three Essential Poses (Female)
Classic Elegance
The most widely used pose in the world
Nose toward light
Body away (especially if they’re wearing a color brighter than complexion)
This pose creates short side shadow
Use a sweeping motion for the model, where you end up is where the pose should be. Sweep towards the leading leg.
Shift weight on leading leg (leg far away?) and that leg has to be straight. Pop the hip out towards the leading leg.
Trailing leg is slightly bent. Knees together (holding an orange between the knees)
Have them give a little more and exaggerate the pose. They might feel a little awkward.
Have space in the waist so you can see how narrow it is.
Have the hands at different heights.
If the hands look like they’re doing something, it looks natural.
Always try to have the side or inside of the hand, not the outside.
If they lean towards the camera a little bit, it creates better angles.
You can turn the head to the light and move the eyes towards the camera. It’s not easy to do.
Modern Pose
Nose towards light
Shoulders at an angle
Pop hip
Raise knee: makes more of an hourglass shape
Especially if models have it difficult with poses, just let them lean against something.
Raising the knee inwards gives the model a more hourglass-like shape.
Shoulders not square to the camera, slightly off.
Having the knee visible is what makes that shape. So either let it come through the slit, or ask the model to lift up their skirt to just above the knee.
Important is the weight shift, head in the same direction as the weight shift, and then the leg lift
In general, the head is where the weight is
The difference with the elegant pose: the lifting of the knee, instead of trailing the sway.
The Roll Over Pose
Pose when someone’s on the ground or sitting.
Roll up on hip (just like shifting the weight)
Cross one leg (knee) over the other
Nose to the light
Move arm out of the way so you can see the shape of the hip
When lying on the side, bring top knee before the other, that accentuates the hip more.
Posing Hands & Arms
Rather something simple 100% correct than something creative 80% correct.
The Cigarette
As if a person is holding a cigarette
Palm down or up
You want to have the wrist bent
Example: take the hand, shake it out, let it fall, lift it up a little bit (and let the fingers naturally lay there)
Always shoot the edge of the hand. That minimizes its size and frames the face.
You can rest the cigarette hand on the other wrist.
The Shoulder Tap
Slightly touch with the hand, palm up
Usually you’ll rotate the head
Works great with directional light so you can get some short side shadow
Look into the light, tap shoulder towards the light
Pose gets better with mode directional light and more face in profile
The Necklace / Collar Bone
give the hands something to do to make them more casual
Let them glide over the collarbone slightly
Touch with the hand away of the light, so it doesn’t create a hotspot that distracts from the face
The Hair Pull
Keep elbow in and hair pull out
The Dress Pull
Useful at weddings or very long dresses
Hold long dress up
Bend the arm
Gives subject more weight especially for epic wide-angle shots
The Yin-Yang
Creating balance and triangles
One hand on or above the head
The other hand below creating another triangle
Ying-Yang-BOOM is a third triangle by lifting the knww
Create balance in poses with the arms
You have to be the model’s mirror, you have full responsibility of their pose
Nice to do when the model can lean against something
Face Framing
Naturally, lightly touch face so the shape of the head stays intact
Have one hand higher than the other
Shoot the side of the hands, not the front
Headshots
Tips
Shoot down on your subject (just a little bit)
Use soft directional light
Use 50mm lens or greater
Create subtle shadows to contour the face (that’s why large light source)
Catchlights are a must! Subjects need to be in a darker area than how they’re lighted.
Be aware of a person’s face plane. In general, have the camera sensor in the same plane as that of the model’s face.
Find the sweet spot. Sometimes moving the head a millimeter can put it in or out of the sweet spot.
Technical Aspects
Define the Line. Turn the head to get the corner of the eye close to the line of the edge of the face, and hide the ear. (Visually) Don’t cur off the eye. Do not let the nose break the face line. Short side shadow.
Break the Spine. Never have the spine perpendicular to the ground—or it’ll look stiff. Have shoulders tilted a bit so it creates a triangle for the head to rest on.
Nose Towards the Light.
Try to keep things clean, it’s less cleanup.
You can use a backlight to define the cheek: a defining shadow remains on the cheek.
On location posing females
Not used to posing? Use a chair for example: easier to shift weight. Also when standing up, that’s what they can hold on to.
Start pose from the ground up. Move feet and bottom part 45 degrees.
Put all the weight on the hip furthest away from the camera.
Lift inside leg a little bit to create the hourglass V look.
Have the body one way and the head another way, that’s easiest.
Find some space inside the waist by having the hand on the hip. If she looks a bit like a chicken wing, move that hand back.
Pose the subject and say “give me a little bit more.”
When rotating the feet away fro the camera, you can move the shoulders back a bit so those shoulders create a triangle for the face.
Elongate the neck by making the subject move down their shoulders and lean forward a bit.
On location posing with a chair
Sit at the edge of the chair
Roll over the hip, move far hip over/above other leg
This is a great pose for someone not experienced
Keep the angle of the face at the same angle as the camera, that’s why you would for example bend down or ask them to move their chin up or down
Make sure hands are completely relaxed, if hands are tense you’ll see that.
Very easy to do: lean over the back of a chair. Pay attention to the hands, they should not be sticking forwards or they’ll end up too big.
Male Headshots
Liberties
You can shoot a man square on, gives confidence.
Profile / sidelight gives a lot more drama
Theory
Relaxed and Confident
Hard light or soft light
Start with sitting or leaning
Shadows = strength
Split lighting
Sitting poses
One shoulder (far away) lowered
Head tilt towards lower shoulder, conveys strength. Feminine = head towards higher shoulder.
Legs at a slight angle
Square shoulders are good for a thinframe
Lean forward
Nice position: straddle the chair and lean forward, works basically every single time. Chair also hides belly fat.
Search for architectural things in the environment that look masculine
You don’t want the hands too far apart
Sometimes you want the arms forming a circle to close, so they frame the face
Leaning
Leaning back slightly breaks the spine
Crossing legs forces someone to lean on one leg
You can lean sideways against a wall and pop the hip out away from the wall
Standing
Position feet first
Feet 45 deg to camera
Also here, lean on back leg & leave space inside waist
Pop the hip away from the camera, rotate hip towards the camera
Head tilt towards lower shoulder
Or, use sidelight
Stairs are great to put all the weight on the lower stair
Sometimes, get someone out of a pose and put them in again, they’ve been in there so long it starts to look unnatural
Posing Couples
Can be hard
Overarching keys
If you can’t pose one, you can’t pose two
When in doubt, pose one and then another
When in doubt, light high and middle
Capture a variety of emotions. You want variety in your set.
Most couples want a “photojournalistic story of love” so don’t let them look into the camera
Couple posing system
Every pose goes through a routine of expressions and micro-adjustments
Look at each other
One looks at the other, other looks away. Bride towards the light, groom towards the bride.
Close their eyes, get close & smile. That;s a sort of “kiss” that doesn’t distort the face’s shape.
Both look towards the light, a la “both looking towards our future”
Smile, can be used any time
Hysteric laugh
Touch each other but look away of each other
Posing on location
Trick for better walking: sometimes people look stiff when walking. So make them run, they look better, start laughing and it’s great.
Surprise them by giving sudden instructions, so they don’t have an image in their head and can’t think too much
You don’t want a sea of hands so it looks like an octopus, so cover up one’s arm/hand with the other.
Transitional poses with couples
Theory
Start with one pose and transition into others
Hold hands
-
There should actually be a space, a V between the hands
-
Variety: lead the bride down the stairs, kiss the hand
-
Create a hinge so they don’t stand square to the camera. Weight on back leg.
Hip to hip
-
Hips together, but female leans back a abit (that creates a V)
-
She can use his shoulder to lean back, that has a kind of classic look to it
The dip
-
As she’s leaning back, he can hold her leg and she can dip a bit more. He may need to reposition his leg.
-
“James Bond” with high slit split dress. She’s wrapped around him where he’s square to the camera.
Bride’s back
-
Bride rotates further from the James Bond and shows her back.
-
Put the light to the bride’s nose.
-
Often brides love to show the back.
-
Remember, you can shoot at different angles. Or let your second photographer do that.
The protector
-
Show the groom’s back, she’s behind him, holding him and looking over his shoulder.
-
Tip: groom’s nose by the temple of the bride, or at the cheeck.
The walk away
-
Hold hands again but walk away this time
-
Make a V, look inside