Tips for posing your subject during a photo session
Too often, when I am being photographed, I notice one major flaw in how the other photographer interacts with me during the photo session -- they lose connection. They will take a shot, and then spend too long checking the image. Then after that, every other shot is interrupted by looking at the playback screen. Not only is it annoying to the person being photographed - the continuity is lost.
Using this photo of Rozalinda as an example - while she looks magnificent, and is supremely easy to pose and interact with, it depends on Read more inside...
People skills for portrait & wedding photographers
The articles on the Tangents blog have focused heavily on the technical aspects of photography - lighting, posing, camera settings and such. But there is another essential ingredient for you as a photographer when you work with people - good social skills. This is invaluable - you can be a phenomenal photographer, but if you don't quite know how to make people immediately comfortable and trust you, then the photo shoot will not be as successful.
With New York’s vibrant culture and the imposing architecture, it’s often a Read more inside...
Posing and lighting technique - posing in relation to the lighting
When taking a portrait, the pose needs to suit the lighting. And vice versa, the lighting needs to be done in relation to the intended pose. Especially so when the lighting is dramatic. This is such a key idea - lighting and posing are tightly correlated. Started again: you pose the participants in relation to the light. You light the people you photograph, in relation to how you position the light.
When lighting a couple, I tend to favor the woman in terms of flattering light. So in setting up a pose, the lighting Read more inside...
I love this photo! I also like how it came together. This was within minutes of meeting DaWeon and Toban for their engagement photo session in Philadelphia. We had only chatted on Skype before. Embarrassingly enough, I arrived late to the meeting place for their engagement session through my misunderstanding about the address. No excuses there. But it did mean I had to work fast - the setting sun was lighting up the Philadelphia skyline, and I had to nail a series of photos very quickly.
DaWeon and Toban had said they Read more inside...
Posing technique - Adjusting a pose with incremental changes
I'm not a huge fan of "flow posing" where someone is rigidly posed according to formula. I feel this doesn't allow as much for personality and individuality as a more organic approach. I much more prefer a low-stress approach where a pose is adjusted, to where it looks good, and looks flattering. This does mean that I have to find that balance between allowing "faults" and finessing a pose. Sometimes it just works better for the flow of a photo session to not micro-adjust to the point where your subject might feel it as Read more inside...
In posing, a good tip is to have the wrists and hands form a kind of S-curve instead of being straight. While this photograph works for me, and I really like the composition and her direct gaze into the camera ... I should've guided Anelisa to bend her left wrist (the hand closer to her cheek), a bit more. That would've made her gesture a touch more elegant in this photograph at the top.
Of course, in analyzing your photographs closely, there is (nearly) always something to pick up on how you could've improved the final image.
Here is Read more inside...
When you work with models, or subjects who are used to presenting themselves to the camera or an audience, it is much easier for the photographer to pose them. The challenge though is how to pose people who aren't used to pose in front of the camera. Then it is up to the photographer to guide them, and give clear instruction how they should pose for the camera. The question just came up in the Tangents forum - how to pose everyday normal people.
The photograph above is of me as I was showing a model at the After Dark photography workshops how I Read more inside...
So you have a great camera and lens; and someone who is willing to be photographed and willing to work with you; and you have a great idea for a setting or backdrop ... but now what? Posing your subject is something that can be quite intimidating to a newer photographer. The pressure is now on YOU to create magic .. or at least an arresting image. Leaving everything up to the model or your subject to do, or for them to come up with ideas ... while you just click the shutter, makes you just an owner of a camera, and not a Read more inside...
The photo above is one of my favorite images. It was also subsequently chosen as the cover image for my book about off-camera flash photography. Oktavia is a professional dancer and we both wanted some photos to extend our portfolios. Of the number of places we used as a backdrop, I really liked this place - an art gallery in Manhattan where we were kindly allowed to use as a setting. What I'd like to show, is some of the images leading up to this final choice - how a combination of positioning Oktavia and changing the light, culminated in this Read more inside...
