But on a more serious note - what is the point of model photography as an amateur? Steady, I imagine is coming more from the angle of a portrait photographer who is trying to capture the essence of a particular person. As he says - you need to define your "Intent"
But if it just a question of photographing a pretty girl in glamour type poses I am not sure I can find much of a justification - which is why it does I suppose it does not interest me much....Show more →
That pose does illustrate the general "thrust" of those poses in that "guide" well.
I don't have much time lately, as I've been working 12 hour days lately. I just wanted to pop in and say that I'll be sure to check back and read your comments at another time.
I read some comments like: "Just make your subject comfortable and observe"
I do have social skills and am capable of this to some extent. It would be interesting to see what other people do when they're photographing someone.
Does anyone have any video's of their shoots? I just want to get a better feel for their process of interaction.
Steady Hand wrote:
EVERY Body would look bad in that pose.
Instead of the "playbook" approach get in touch consciously to how you react yourself on a sub-consciously level body language in person or in photos. What about a woman's posture makes her seem submissive, aggressive, demure, or sexy to you?
You'll find the clues in the way the feet are placed, how the weight is distributed between them, the angle of the hips, curve of the spine, angle of the shoulder line, and the turn and tip of the head. Once you recognize those causative factors in body language you'll be able to reverse engineer any pose or posture you react to on an emotional level into its "moving parts" and then be able to duplicate it when needed to create the same emotional reaction in the mind of the viewer of your model in the photo.
It is possible to pose a woman with a few verbal commands:
1) Stand 45-degrees to the camera (makes them look slimmer, reveals curves of hip and bustline)
2) Point your front foot at the camera and put one heel in front of the other (hides the gap between the legs)
3) Shift all your weight to your back hip and bend your front knee (angles the hips and shouders making the front shoulder higher).
4) Turn your head and tip it slightly towards the camera (i.e. high shoulder)
That basic "feminine" posture can range from demure to drop-dead sexy depending on how aggressive the angle of the hips, shoulders and eye lines are.