Posing For All Skill Levels

smoke665 · Nov 14, 2019

If you're like me posing a subject is uncomfortable. I know the technical, but communicating that to the subject occasionally gets lost. @adamhiram this video really illustrates the benefit of having modeling lights that @Derrel explained in your other post on speedlights vs strobes.

The following video is one of the best I've seen from an instructional standpoint, in that you are able to see how the little things matter. Whether your new or an old pro it's worth the watch. Word of warning, it's a fairly long video, so set aside some time when you can watch it without interruption, or as I did, back up and rewatch parts.

adamhiram · Nov 14, 2019

Thanks, Will! Bookmarked to watch this weekend. Posing is definitely a weak area I’ve been meaning to learn more about. The few opportunities I’ve had to shoot a model who is comfortable in front of the camera and knows how to pose really highlighted just how much of what we do has nothing to do with camera settings or light positioning.

Christie Photo · Nov 14, 2019

Just one reply? I watched maybe the first 20 minutes or so. They did a fine job!

My only wish is they would have included a bit more traditional terminology... 3:1 lighting ratio, S curve when posing women and the like.

I hope many aspiring portrait photographers here will take time to watch this. Thanks for posting.

-Pete

Derrel · Nov 14, 2019

I remember this video! It is really good, and it speaks about a lot of things that many people today are blissfully ignorant about.

smoke665 · Nov 14, 2019

Christie Photo said:
Just one reply? I watched maybe the first 20 minutes or so. They did a fine job!

My only wish is they would have included a bit more traditional terminology... 3:1 lighting ratio, S curve when posing women and the like.

I hope many aspiring portrait photographers here will take time to watch this. Thanks for posting.

-Pete

Yeah he seemed to be hooked on 2:1. I did think he did a good job on explaining feminine and masculine posing.

JBPhotog · Nov 14, 2019

And as the title states “classic” where the more traditional methods are not as popular today in the ever expanding de rigueur genres. The principles are still valid though.

smoke665 · Nov 15, 2019

Derrel said:
I remember this video! It is really good, and it speaks about a lot of things that many people today are blissfully ignorant about.

A lot of what he covered I already knew, but intermingled were little tidbits of useful tips, like watching for the eye notch as you turn the face for a 2/3rd view, dealing with different size eyes, or how he had the light follow the face. Simple things that make the difference between a good shot and a fantastic shot.

@JBPhotog you have to know the underlying principles regardless of the current trends in portraits. So much of what he covered transcends the years, being valid regardless of the fashion.

JBPhotog · Nov 15, 2019

smoke665 said:
A lot of what he covered I already knew, but intermingled were little tidbits of useful tips, like watching for the eye notch as you turn the face for a 2/3rd view, dealing with different size eyes, or how he had the light follow the face. Simple things that make the difference between a good shot and a fantastic shot.

@JBPhotog you have to know the underlying principles regardless of the current trends in portraits. So much of what he covered transcends the years, being valid regardless of the fashion.

Precisely why my last six words supported those principles.

Derrel · Nov 15, 2019

I remember back around 2011 or so we had a huge argument on here with one member claiming there was no such thing as "the feminine pose".

Another really good online resource is called the Zeltzman Approach to Classical Portraiture. It is a series of web pages dealing with the underlying fundamentals of the quote classical approach. If we look back thousands of years to ancient Greek sculpture, we see that there were certain rules which were followed in portraying athletes and military leaders and political leaders. These same rules are still used today, but many people are unaware that there is a visual language , with many people today shooting quote portraits using their camera in a horizontal orientation when that is a violation of the basic rule in 95% of cases. We just had this come up about 10 days ago,when a young shooter thought he could experiment and come up with some way to frame a bust portrait as a horizontal.

smoke665 · Nov 16, 2019

Derrel said:
. These same rules are still used today, but many people are unaware that there is a visual language ,

Sometimes you can create an image that doesnt conform to the recognized standards, but before you can successfully "break the rules" you have to understand the logic behind the rules. While photograph is a relatively new medium in art, the principals of composition as you say date back thousands of years. Learning and using that knowledge will always give you a better result.

Joe Zeltzman was somewhat a leader in his "feet up" approach on weight distribution. Another one that built on Zeltzman's concept was Monte Zucker. An accomplished photographer, author and educator, he was quick to recognize the importance of presenting the most flattering angle of the face. I've read a few of his books and still refer to them on occasion.