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Archive 2017 · On the Topic of Posing

  
 
eke2k6
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · On the Topic of Posing


Does anyone else feel like posing the couple is the most difficult part of the day? The reportage stuff comes easy, but it's that initial hiccup during the portrait session that I want to smooth out.

I have a few fundamental poses and variations to go along with them, but I'm getting tired of them. I'm curious if you guys have a resource you depend on for posing inspiration.

Anyone have any ideas?



Aug 07, 2017 at 01:24 PM
IrishDino
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · On the Topic of Posing


Buy Picture Perfect Posing by Roberto Valenzuela and/or go on other people's blogs and memorize some of their poses

I sucked at posing so bad that I starting writing out 50 poses on a piece of paper every single day for the past 4 months. I found that, along with Roberto's book, helped the most. I just accepted that posing doesn't come naturally to me and I was going to do whatever I needed to to get through it.




Aug 07, 2017 at 01:32 PM
formula4speed
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · On the Topic of Posing


Picture Perfect Posing as mentioned above is a good read and is pretty geared towards wedding photographers. He talks about the thought process rather than just having you attempt to copy a pose which is helpful.

A cheat sheet of poses doesn't hurt either, if I remember right that book even gives you some ideas for one to keep in your bag.



Aug 07, 2017 at 02:22 PM
eke2k6
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · On the Topic of Posing


Awesome. Just bought a copy. Thanks guys!


Aug 07, 2017 at 02:29 PM
InSanE
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · On the Topic of Posing


Posing is difficult only if you dont know how to do it.


Aug 07, 2017 at 02:47 PM
LeeSimms
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · On the Topic of Posing


Roberto's 2-day workshops are well worth it. I'm thinking of doing another one. They're always a little different and very challenging.

From Roberto, I don't know 'poses' but I know what makes people look good in photos (posture, subject balance, relationship with light). He doesn't teach the what, he teaches the why.

2 years ago I made the commitment to get good with it ('the final frontier' as I jokingly called it) and the journey has fundamentally changed they way I view the work. I used to love long PJ-centric weddings where my crazy focal lengths and lighting carried my portfolio. Now, I just want to make people look good quickly, then bug out before the heavy drinking starts.

We just got a Morman temple a bike ride from my house and its quickly turning into a small goldmine. I have weddings there both Friday and Saturday this week and it just came on line. Low on the photojournalism, high on the posing.

Once you can do it comfortably, it's a nice entry into family & portrait work which can be more lucrative than weddings. The final frontier.



Aug 07, 2017 at 03:46 PM
IrishDino
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · On the Topic of Posing


One thing that really helped me too was learning about how NFL teams will have their first 16 plays pre-planned before the game starts.

So before every session, I have 16 poses pre-planned and ready to go. It takes a lot of pressure off me and I'm more free to chat with the couple and not stress inside my head about what I'm going to do.



Aug 07, 2017 at 06:18 PM
rw11
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · On the Topic of Posing


Good point - the aftermath of a wedding is very similar an NFL scrimmage


Aug 07, 2017 at 06:50 PM
gnjphotography
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · On the Topic of Posing


I forget the name of the app, but there was a free app where you paid for poses of specific parts of the weddings day. You would get a collection of photos from that photographer, with poses you could mimic. It had photographers like Jerry Ghionis and Susan Stripling on there. It seems cheesy but was useful to have it on the phone. There were also flow posing pamphlets that fit in your back pocket that helped pose the bride, bride and groom, groom and how to flow from one pose to another. Roberto's book is great as are his video tutorials.
Research the items mentioned here and above and during the off season, hire a few models or get some friends together and practice. I say models for you do not know them and it can be more challenging that way. Even better, offer free portrait sessions to get a few practice shoots at posing complete strangers and get more comfortable getting out from behind the camera and interacting with the client.
Good luck and it is only through identifying our own weaknesses that we can surpass them and grow stronger.
-Greg



Aug 07, 2017 at 11:04 PM
Chris Fawkes
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · On the Topic of Posing


The industry has just come off a long period where posing was considered a dirty word. Photographers like Jerry Ghionis and Sue Bryce and a few others were continuing to sharpen their posing skills during that time.

The app mentioned above was picpockets. It came with some posing examples included then you could choose a portfolio from other photographers for a few dollars per photographer from memory. Here is a link to the app https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/picpockets-worlds-best-photographs/id646742014?mt=8



Aug 08, 2017 at 05:18 AM
BSPhotog
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · On the Topic of Posing


The personality of the couple accounts at least a little for how this process goes as well. Having planned poses doesn't feel right for me as I prefer to work in a way that is more responsive to the space, light, and couple. That said, I still struggle with posing--especially when faced with a blank space or couple who isn't super dynamic/outgoing/involved.

I'll be watching this thread



Aug 08, 2017 at 06:53 AM
mirrorrim
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · On the Topic of Posing


The guide that most helped me was Justin and Mary Marantz's Art of Authentic Posing. I really like that it's a mix between a defined pose and an interaction, which makes things more natural and my couples really relax and have fun. I started off with Roberto's book and while it taught me a ton about fixing little things that make a big impact (posture, positioning) I think it actually hurt me in the long run. I became too focused on the little things that made a pose technically perfect that I ended up falling back on just a few poses with no variety, and definitely no natural emotion/interaction.

I recently added Katelyn James posing course to my education. She is pretty popular/trendy(?) and now I finally have a name to put on the poses I see so often in FB-land. She has 4 core poses and then she shows you how to add very simple variety. The feet never move in the core pose, just the upper body. The only thing I dislike is some of the poses come off too...unloving? Can't think of a better word, but an example would be guy has hands in BOTH pockets, woman wraps arm around one of his. Guy is facing forward to camera, woman facing sideways to him. However all of that is easily modified by just having him put an arm around her too.

Portraits used to be my most dreaded time of day and now I find them pretty easy and relaxed. With the above 3 teachers' advice running through my head, I can easily get a ton of variety and emotion in a short amount of time. Each teacher contributes: Roberto with technical tips, Justin&Mary with interaction and emotion, and Katelyn with simple and quick variety.



Aug 08, 2017 at 11:44 AM
elkhornsun
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · On the Topic of Posing


You get to practice posing during an engagement session and this also helps to relax the couple the day of the wedding as they are used to being directed by you and have learned some basics about how to sit or stand together.

I learned the most from Bambi Cantrell during one of her workshops. She covered various approaches with her models (4 models for 8 workshop participants), including how to partially obscure part of a person to make them seem slimmer or less obviously obese - extremely useful in the US at this time.



Aug 09, 2017 at 06:29 PM
level1photog
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · On the Topic of Posing


Linsay Adler, Bambi Cantrell, Pye Jirsa, Roberto Valenzuela, Jerry Ghionis, Sue Bryce.

These are some of my favorite when it come to posing. Don't focus on just the pose, but why they do it. If you can retain 80% of what they teach, you will be pretty solid when it come to posing.



Aug 10, 2017 at 12:40 PM
LeeSimms
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · On the Topic of Posing


For me, the break from photojournalism was the desire to deliver good wedding photos — even if the couple had a shitty wedding.


Aug 10, 2017 at 09:23 PM





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