Posing

How should you pose a subject?

There are specific poses that I can show you and I could show you how posing works. Weight distribution and body language are important.

Rather than trying to describe something that is better left to a live demo let me give you a few ideas.

Learn to be a really good observer. The best photographers are just that. Great observers, and then they translate what they "see" on paper. It's no different when it comes to posing. Most people pose themselves really well by just being there. However, the moment you point a camera at them they become self conscious and "break" the pose.

After I take a photo where I have posed someone I tell them to "relax" while I set up the next shot. As I move the camera or tripod I keep on eye on the subject. Without fail they will relax into a really terrific pose. If at that point I tell them I am going to take a photo they will freeze up and break the pose. So I simply tell them, "don't move that looks great" or " do what you just did a second ago".

You will be surprised how many poses your subject will give you if you just observe.

A mistake I often see is the photographer asking the subject to pose. This will only give you awkward poses that look fake because you are asking the person to perform making them self conscious.

Lastly I look for poses that the subject looks good photographed as a full length (head to toe). If he or she looks good full length I can also take some from the waist up and head and shoulders without making the person move. This way you can create extra photos from the same pose.

If you look at these three photos you'll see that I started with a full length pose. Then I took a photo from the waist up and finally a head and shoulder. All within a matter of seconds. If you repeat this 10 times you'll have 30 photos.

All this by just observing how someone is seated or standing