Posing For Portrait Photography

Aiming to help portrait photographers yield pleasing results with a variety of body types, this tutorial evaluates the subject’s appearance and suggests refining poses, providing tips to make sure each subject ends up with a result they like. Using before-and-after photos—and working through every region of the body from the head to the feet—acclaimed professional instructor Jeff Smith demonstrates simple posing adjustments and explains how various poses can conceal problem areas and maximize positive assets. Also covered are common mistakes that photographers make when posing their subjects and how to best match that pose with the setting, coordinating an overall feeling and style that makes every client look outstanding.

A collection of 100 ideas for posing newborns, babies, children, siblings, and families.

Hit the ground running with this no-nonsense guide to outdoor portraits! Acclaimed photo-educator Jeff Smith shows you how to design beautiful images that virtually sell themselves. Quick lessons take you through every step of the process in detail, showing you how to select locations, and then use natural light alone or in harmony with reflected light and/or strobe lighting for flawless results. Smith shows you what to look for (and avoid) when lighting the subject’s eyes and face, and demonstrates exactly how to balance your scene and subject for portraits all day long (even at the tricky midday hours). With this all-day approach to location lighting, you’ll be able to book sessions that are more personalized, more profitable, and more convenient—for both you and your clients.

In this unique book, author Norman Phillips draws upon his own experience and that of the other top children's photographers, compiling a wide range of portrait examples, insights and strategies for producing memorable, cutting-edge and timeless images. Filled with step-by-step tips for posing boys, girls, twins and triplets, and groups - whether on location or in the studio - this is one book that photographers will rely on time and again.

Photographers are guided through every aspect of posing—beginning with the consultation and continuing with specific tips for posing children, high school seniors, wedding parties, families, events, teams, groups, and pets—in this comprehensive manual. Maintaining that good posing is 80 percent mental and only 20 percent technical, this guide stresses the importance of communication between photographer and subject to creating a portrait that not only captures the subject’s personality but also makes the subject comfortable, fostering repeat business.

Next to lighting, posing is the most challenging aspect of photography—with so many body parts to capture, the possibilities are endless, and it’s all too easy to make a wrong turn. This illustrated reference provides both amateur shutterbugs and seasoned pros with the perfect place to turn when in need of quick posing strategies and fresh ideas. Containing 500 contemporary images by leading photographers, this indispensable manual explains posing fundamentals as well as how to create a flattering, feature-specific photograph—one that focuses on the head, shoulders, arms, torso, or feet—in different levels of close-ups, from head-shots to full-lengths.

Photographers must have a clear understanding of how the human body, from head to toe, should be posed and adjusted in order to look good—and natural—to the camera. Learning effective strategies to flatter the face, arms and legs, torso, and hands and feet will allow us not only to flatter our subjects but also effectively tell the subject’s story. Regardless of your photographic style, the tips and techniques outlined in this book will allow you to better control what the camera sees and the mood or message you want to convey. Whether you are a portrait or lifestyle photographer, photojournalist, fashion or commercial photographer, this book is designed to help you learn skills that you can apply to your specific style and method of shooting. Stephenson maintains that you should first identify the intent of your portrait before you begin to analyze the way in which you will pose your subject or subjects. How will the client use the image? Does he or she need a business portrait, which will require an air of authority and confidence, with a traditional vibe? Is the couple who booked the session deeply in love, and would a pose that speaks to their emotional closeness be appropriate? The author then moves into a discussion on body language. The way that an individual holds himself says much about his mind-set, mood, and motivations. Image viewers subconsciously read the cues that the subject’s body conveys. It is important to ensure that the body language that is summoned through posing suits the mood/theme /intent of the portrait. There are traditions of posing that have been in play in the visual arts for eons. Many photographers fall into using the same pose for every subject. When this happens, all of the images that leave the studio begin to look the same. This can have dire consequences when it comes to the public perception of the photographer’s work—and can squelch the joy photographers feel when creating. Stephenson offers simple approaches to flattering every body part when photographing individual clients and also teaches readers how to create artful images of couples and groups, as in multi-subject portraits, each individual must look great and relate logically and aesthetically to other subjects in the frame. With tips for posing the young and old, males and females, singles, couples, and groups in both indoor and locations—and in reclining, seated, and standing poses, from full-length to close-up, this book will walk you through all aspects of posing and balance with examples and easy to follow instructions. It’s time to stop guessing and learn the art and science of posing.

The analysis of the portraits in this book gives insight into how they were created and explains to studio photographers of all skill levels how to get the same great results. Carefully matching the pose to the subject of a photograph is a central lesson presented in this guide and ensures that the best portrait possible will be created to delight both client and photographer. Lighting setups and appropriate poses for head shots, three-quarter, and full-length portraits, as well as for specific body parts, are discussed at length. Works from the author’s portfolio are shown and analyzed to reinforce each of the concepts presented.