So I am really struggling with posing....yesterday I took my 11yr old niece out to take her school pics and I was really making a conscious effort to pose her a bit because I have a senior girl shoot coming up in less than two weeks (my first one). I am very nervous because the posing is really troublesome for me. I pulled some sample poses I found off the internet and tried to do some, but they didn't turn out well :(
Any tips or advice would be awesome!
Here is my favorite sort-of-posed shot from last night:
Posing is one of the most challenging things ever! I'm no master - but there are a few things I try to keep in mind. (Not hard and fast rules by any means.)
ReplyDelete* demonstrate the pose you want them to do. People "get it" 100x's better if they see you do it first, and they don't feel so silly either.
* I try not to shoot people at less than 50mm.
* I try not to shoot people from an angle lower than their eye level.
* When composing the shot, don't cut off peoples extremities at the joints (wrists, ankles, etc)
* Don't shoot women straight on, their hips should be at an angle to you.
That's all I can think of right now. Look at lots of images - in magazines as well as online. sketch out what you would like to try - or take pics with your phone, and you can share with your client that way as well. Good luck!
that is a GREAT shot!
ReplyDeletethanks!
ReplyDeletewow that REALLY helps.. I have around 100-200 photos saved of all different groupings and poses. Look for one to fit your style too. I like the awkward poses that you can tell people will feel awkward doing but they look amazing photographed. Also since I am short I cannot shoot down at people so I usually have them squat for a few photos so I can get a few good close up face shots. It all depends on the person :)
ReplyDeleteI agree with Angela that posing is truly one of the trickiest things to get a handle on for lots of reason, on of the main one's being that you can never get the same look from two different people just by telling them to stand a certain way. Everyone has their own unique body language and so I try to make people move rather than really doing a lot of poses. I'll give them a scenario or show them an action like slightly swinging their arms side to side or walking slowly toward me or a dance move. It TOTALLY helps to have these commands premeditated and for you to actually practice doing them as you think through how you're going to instruct someone. I do show people how to pose but a lot of times I can sit in a position that might be uncomfortable to others so I usually just work really hard on getting the commands understandable and then adjusting the person to fit their body type once they kinda' get to where I can see how the pose is taking shape. I ignore all "technical" ideas on posing for the most part because I think I have a crazy eye :) I have shot up people's noses since I started and think it can be done but you just need to be back quite a ways so that you're not catching nose hair! I also love wide shots... not necessarily fish eye right up close on someone's nose but full body shots with my 35mm can be awesome. When I'm posing a woman, like Angela said I don't shoot her straight on and often instruct them to turn to a 45 degree angle and slightly lean forward at the waste. This elongates the neck and thins the waist. It feels awkward but it usually gets them laughing too! I do a lot of sitting full body poses because it seems like people can get more comfy with their hands when they sit. Speaking of hands find something to do with them :) I like to have a scarf or necklace to play with or thumb in pocket always works. My final thought is this; start collecting posing images from blogs and magazines that you love! I like to go to stephanie williams site (linked to in the sidebar). She does fashion shoots and is great at incoorporating movement into a single person shot. I also, since starting my biz, have created an inspiration book full of posing ideas, ideas on color combinations and on location ideas that I use when I get in a pinch or am in a rut. I just print off photos from nordstrom.com or shopruche.com or any of my favorite fashion sites and paste them into my book. I also use fav blog shots etc. and use the JUST for inspiration, again there is never going to be a time that I will be shooting the same person in the same light as someone else so I need to make it my own. That's that! HA!
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