20 40 Things I Wish I Knew About Photography Posing
♥ June 4, 2012 ♥
These tips are not intended to be any sort of official rules. These are things I’ve learned as I grew into a photographer. I can only speak to my own knowledge, experience, and style. Not all of them will fit everyone’s style and some of them might work or not work depending on what type of photography you are focusing on or how your photoshoot is going. These are tips I merely use as a “general rule of thumb” set of tips.
1. Don’t shoot shoulders square on. Shoulders are the widest part of a body and as a photographer it is our job to flatter the least flattering parts of our bodies. Shooting straight on is not flattering. Angle the shoulders slightly to lead the viewer into the photo.
2. If it bends, then bend it. Don’t let your clients have straight joints. It looks stiff and unrelaxed. Ask your client instead to slightly bend an arm or walk as they have their photo taken will help your client look relaxed and naturally posed. This rule also applies to the neck. If the neck looks stiff, ask your client to tilt their head slightly.
3. Shoot straight on, or better from above. Shooting from below a person makes even the most gorgeous subject look awkward. Shooting from above can make someone appear slimmer, eliminates double chins, and can provide a beautiful look into your subjects’ eyes. Shooting from below can make someone’s hips appear wider than they are or any other body part and this is generally unflattering.
4. No up the nose. Sometimes we forget our perspective and as moms when we photograph newborns we look at them the way a mom would holding them and take a photo. Anytime you are shooting a face from below or at an angle, be careful you are not doing ‘up the nose’ shots where you can see up your client’s nostrils. This can happen during any type of photography, so it’s good to be aware.
5. Sharkeyes. Sharkeyes are when someone’s eyes in a photo are black and have no light or color to them. Ensure that the eyes of your clients have good catchlights or sparkle to them by asking them to tilt their head or turn slightly one way or another. These small movements can give that sparkle to a client’s eye that can make or break a photo.
6. Put weight on the back leg. Have clients angle their shoulders so they’re not square to your camera and put their weight on their back leg. This automatically makes them relax.
7. Give your clients lots of direction. Most people are uncomfortable in front of the camera and you have to direct them. Giving them direction will help them feel confident and that confidence will show up in the photos.
8. Let one pose become many. You can move your own feet, or zoom in or zoom out or move slightly to the side and take photos from different angles.
9. Have your clients look places other than your camera. You can tell them to look away, look down over their shoulder, look past your camera to provide a different emotion to your photos.
10. Give your clients encouragement. When they’re in front of the camera they can’t see what they look like and they need to know if they look good. When they hit a good pose or you’re taking photos that you know have hit the mark, let them know how good they look.
11. Portraits are traditionally shot a few degrees above the eyes.
12. Bring a stepstool with you to all your photography shoots and weddings.
13. Talk to your clients. Getting to know them gives them a sense of trust with you. You want your subject to trust that you know what you’re doing and can make them look good.
14. Sometimes people’s faces get stiff. Ask your clients to take a deep breath and breathe out with their lips slightly open. The few moments after this your client’s face will be relaxed and natural – so snap a few. If that doesn’t work, ask them to do the “pufferfish” face where they blow up their cheeks and then let it all out. That helps their face to relax too. If you do it with them, they won’t feel as silly.
15. Give them something to do with their hands. They can touch their cheek, run their hands through their hair, put their hands on a nearby object…something.
16. Show them what you mean. Instead of trying to tell your client how to pose, get in the pose to show them how you want it to look. You’re a photographer right? You are visual and probably learn visually and it’s likely that your clients are visual learners too!
17. Be aware of ears. Shooting people straight on can make their ears appear large. With women if they are tucking their hair behind their ear or if their ear sticks out just slightly it can be one of those things that will bother them later in photos and can sometimes look distorted when in 2-dimensional photography form.
18. Get close. One of the biggest newbie mistakes is to shoot from far away and get lots of the background or landscape in the photo. This happens a lot when we’re not confident with posing. If you force yourself to get close the photo becomes more about the clients and their interactions with each other or with you than about the background.
19. Limbs. If you are cropping out anyone’s body ensure that your crop lines do not fall at the joints (wrists, knees, elbows, etc.). When this happens it gives the appearance that the subject’s body does not continue past the frame of the photo. Instead if you have to crop, do it where there isn’t a join and this will give the impression that the rest of their arm, leg, etc. continues beyond the photo.
20. Watch for shadows and light. There’s a reason a lot of photographers like to shoot in that ‘golden hour’ either in the wee hours in the morning or just before sunset. The light is even and not harsh and it prevents you from having strange shadows on your clients’ faces. Shadows below the nose or below the eyes can give your client the appearance of not being as good looking as they truly are. Whatever time of day you are shooting aim to ensure that your clients faces are in perfectly even light where there are no harsh shadows. If you have to shoot in the middle of the day, shoot in the shade.
1. Keep your client’s chin in mind. Having the chin be too high can create that “up the nose” look. Having the chin be too low can cause double chins.
2. When posing families or small groups using a pyramid shape with some people higher than others can create a shape that’s pleasing to the eye and pose people in a flattering way.
3. Paying attention to composition of the photo as a whole is very important. Rather than just posing someone and framing them in the middle of the photo, try putting them slightly off to one side or the other to add visual interest.
4. Avoid the prison mugshot look and shooting someone with a direct profile shot.
5. I keep the focus on the eyes of my subject. If I’m photographing one person I like to keep the main focal point on the eye that is closest to the camera. If I’m photographing a couple and using a lower aperture I’ll keep the focal point on the face that’s closest to the camera, although usually both people end up in focus.
6. When doing sitting poses with anyone it’s best to keep the knees closed instead of apart. It looks more appropriate and flattering.
7. Eyes don’t always have to be open to produce a good and thought-provoking image. Sometimes the best and most intimate images of a couple are ones where one person has their eyes closed and looks deep in love.
8. Keeping a space between the arm and the body will help your subject’s waist appear trimmer as well as their arms.
9. Have your client relax their shoulders. Sometimes they are nervous to have their photos taken and that can result in a kind of slouched look as the shoulders go up because of their tension.
10. Relax the fingers and hands. The last post I was talking about giving your clients something to do with their hands. Sometimes they start to “over focus” on their hands and the fingers can become kind of stiff. If you ask the bride to put her hand up on the groom’s cheek sometimes her hand looks like she’s trying to do jazz fingers. Reminding your clients to relax those hands and keep them natural is important.
11. Creating a gap between the arm and the waist can be a great way to slim the waist, but creating gaps in general, for example between the legs instead of having your client stand with her legs together can be a great way to make your client appear more narrow.
12. Avoid armpits. End of story.
13. Sometimes for us female photographers it’s hard to figure out how to pose a male in a masculine pose since we’re so used to photographing couples or females. If you need good male pose inspiration check out GQ magazine. Their fashion section for guys usually has some good masculine poses you can recreate.
14. Find all your pose inspiration in fashion magazines. This is a great way to keep up with styles and poses that are current and popular. You can stay ahead of the curve instead of being inspired by photographer XYZ who takes beautiful photos, but the poses are reminiscent of the 80s.
15. When doing group photos try to keep everyone’s heads at different levels to create more visual interest.
16. If you’re shooting large groups at a wedding it’s a great idea to bring a stool with you so you can be slightly elevated. When you shoot large groups straight on it’s often hard to see everyone’s faces and sometimes you have heads randomly placed between other people’s shoulders. Getting that above view will help every person look more flattering and you’ll be able to see everyone too.
17. If you do a pose with a hand in the pocket, have either the thumb or fingers left out so it appears more casual. Sometimes a hand in the pocket can also appear to look like a stump without a finger out to give the illusion that there are other fingers too.
18. Talk to your clients behind the camera, always have it up to your eye. When you take it down to crack a joke or explain something to them you could miss out on a natural opportunity for laughter and a great photo.
19. Have your clients tilt their head one way or another. This is a great way to define a relationship in engagement photos and make your clients feel relaxed. It’s also a great way to adjust the chin and make sure you are getting a flattering angle for the photograph.
20. Outline your expectations before your photo session with posing. I always give my clients a rundown of general rules and the most important one is always, “If I ask you to do something that seems awkward or uncomfortable please say no. If it feels awkward, it will probably look awkward.”