This is a guide primarily for models to get into the feel of the shot. Add anything if you like.
pilles
SUBJECT: POSING -- Some random thoughts. Addressing models.
1.The first thing a model should be thinking of is establishing a theme. Will it
be glamour? pretty portrait? head shot? pin-up? Maxim type? If it is for your own portfolio, then it is your decision. Tell him what you want to achieve, in general terms if nothing else.
2.Now that you've decided, get that mood in your head. Keep moving around slowly, like different poses you've seen in magazines, until the photographer says "freeze!" or something similar. "Hold it!" does very well, too.
3.As you change poses, that means move your whole body, not just your head. Also, how you feel about your body shows up in the poses you choose.
4.When the photographer wants you to turn a little in some direction, that means turn a real little, and slowly, so he can see the differences as you move and the light changes on your face or body.
5.A pose shouldn't be a static thing where you put your hands and head in specific places. It should flow, from one pose to another as your thoughts and emotions change. You should feel that posing is a display, and glory in it.
6.Try not to lean your weight on your arms when posing against something and
only some special poses should stand square to the camera.
7.Cross your legs toward the camera when sitting, and point one foot at the camera when standing.
8.Be aware of what your hands are doing and try to keep them edge on to the camera with fingers closed or just slightly open so they don't look like claws.
Don't pose with your elbows pointing at the camera.
9.Are you interested in featuring your face, body, or overall?
10.Flirt with the camera if it's that kind of theme and you are pretty. If you
aren't quite as pretty as you'd like to be, (And you know who you are) try a challenge expression.
(Think S & M) Experiment.
11.Look haughty or naughty, or proud, or sexy, or teasing, or challenging, but it's important to make a decision on some emotion. Not necessarily for the whole
session.
12.Make several shots with that same emotion, in different poses.
13.Important! This is one of the most common goofs even experienced models
occasionally make. The lower lip slightly open and a blank stare at the camera just looks as if you are bored or brain dead, no matter what you are really thinking inside your head. It may feel sexy in your head, perhaps, but try posing in front of a mirror with your eyes closed until you establish in your head what mood or emotion you think you are showing. Then open your eyes and examine the mirror while holding that expression. You are almost guaranteed to be surprised at what you actually look like unless you've done this before. It's an eye opener.
Also, as a photographer kept telling me on a catalog shoot, 'soft mouth, soft mouth.' Tension in the mouth and jaw can ruin a shot. Easiest way to get it without ending up with the open-mouthed bored look pilles mentions is to remember 'lips together, teeth apart.'
BC and others. By all means, spread it around. It would benefit all of us and places like UTube and My Space, and bloggers would get a terrific audience.
I appreciate this - thank you. I found that my posing technique changed (and improved!) after I'd posed myself. We like to be behind the lens, I know, but sometimes you have to wear the shoes (... and that's where I draw the line )
Great idea for a thread, but perhaps more helpful if put into a framework of basic cause and effect elements a pose needs to evoke a specific reaction in the mind of the viewer of the photograph... For example:
Confrontational / Masculine: Squared off body, hands on hips elbows out -- things to make the body look wider, static, difficult to get out of the way - sharp angles..
Non-confrontational / Demure/ Feminine: Body turned obliquely ( less visible and confrontational), shallow angles on limbs, shoulders, eye line, no straight stiff lines anywhere (slight bend in knees/elbows) no gaps between legs or arm/body
Sexy/Alluring - Start with basic feminine posture (which reveals body in a flattering way) then increase acuteness of the angles of shoulders, hips, eye line. The more aggressive the angles the more seductive the vibe becomes. Arms / hands arranged in circular path around bustline and spread legs also have sexual connotations which can be either overt or subliminal depending on how pose is combined with lighting to reveal detail.
What I have found quite interesting is that nearly any pose seen in a photo can be very easily reversed engineered by placing the feet in the same position and shifting the weight between the feet the same way. The weight shift angles the hips and the shoulders naturally and unless the pose is highly contrived things just fall into place from feet to neck.
Then its just a matter of orienting the head and eye line to the shoulder.
Opposite but equal shoulder / eye lines which seem balanced are very pleasing to the eye.
A receding shoulder line (weight on back foot, front shoulder raised) with a forward angled eye line transmits the vibe that the person wants to engage and interact in an playful or fun way. Used in the classic "feminine" posture. See above about affect angle has.
The opposite configuration where the shoulder line leans in towards the foreground and eye angle is the same (i.e. head squared to shoulders) conveys the same willingness to engage, but with a more centered serious way. Used in the classic masculine poses.
In fact nearly any pose and be build on the basic masculine / feminine postures, from the feet-up. A pose is just the body language we react to on a sub-conscious level constantly. Some postures we perceive as masculine traits, others feminine due to cultural stereotypes. You can go with or against that convention to create a huge range of emotional reactions in the mind of the viewer with posture alone. Its really not that difficult it you just get in touch with your emotions AND THINK consciously about why you reacted the way you did in terms of posing mechanics..
Where were the feet placed?
How was the weight distributed between them?
What were the key angles: hips, shoulders, eye line ?
How was head turned relative to shoulder?
What where the angles of the limbs: straight, gentle, acute?
Were there any gaps? Between arms/body or legs?
Catalog just those 6 things and you will have a pretty good blueprint for the pose you are seeing and should be able to build it from the feet-up with that blueprint. That is the magic of the posing method developed by Joe Zeltsman back in the 1960s. Google the name and read his tutorial. If you are open minded enough to see past the dated photos and curious enough to actually read the words it will change forever (and greatly simplify) how you see the challenge of posing. Zeltsman taught Zucker who taught me many moons ago. Say what you will about their styles -- which they took to the bank - both were geniuses when it came to interpreting body language and conveying it in a photograph.
I also agree 100% with south that the best way to learn posing is to try to pose yourself in front of a mirror. The "checklist-blueprint" concept described above is best used that way. Look at a pose you like, then try to recreate it. There's the added benefit of knowing how the pose feels (is it comfortable and natural?) which helps when giving direction to the subjects.
Knowing the "blueprint" for the pose its very easy to pose a subject. Just start with the feet, weigh shift, head angle in that order. It is especially useful for portrait subjects who are not comfortable posing and will naturally tend to stand flat footed and square to the camera. That one reason beginners portraits look so static: they get tunnel vision on the face and forget to look at the body supporting it.
I can pose a mob into an orderly group with drill team precision in about 30 sec. with the following verbal instructions:
Turn and face the center of the group (camera axis) at an angle
Shift your weight to your BACK hip until you can lift your front heel off the ground
Point your front foot at the camera
Look up at camera - I'm on a ladder for groups
Put your the hand closest to the center on your wallet so the guy behind you doesn't steal it
Click
The weight shift angles all the shoulders inward and lower to the center. Raising the front heel ensures the weight is shifted and breaks the front knee. Pointing the front foot at camera makes it less visible and eliminates gap between legs. The bit about the wallet makes one distracting arm / hand disappear uniformly for the entire group and eliminate the 25% or so who would otherwise be in the "fig leaf" hands grasped in front posture and gets a smile every time just as I press the shutter.
This shot was posed that way, literally in about 30sec.
Marvelous! I wish I had read that when I was shooting the Red Hat Society groups, although putting a hand on their wallets might create a problem since they are all women. What's the answer to that, Chuck? On your purse? I don't see any women in your picture carrying purses. :=))
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