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Shoot: Fashion Female Poses

Lesson 34 from: Posing 101

Lindsay Adler

Shoot: Fashion Female Poses

Lesson 34 from: Posing 101

Lindsay Adler

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Lesson Info

34. Shoot: Fashion Female Poses

In fashion photography, the regular posing rules don’t apply. You can get away with almost anything as long as it looks good and is done with intent. Lindsay talks about professional model poses for females, such as using elegant hands and elongated necks to communicate the mood.
Next Lesson: Shoot: Beauty Poses

Lesson Info

Shoot: Fashion Female Poses

So we're going to talk about photographing for fashion photography. Here's the thing. In fashion, there aren't any rules. In fashion, there are no rules for lighting. You do whatever you want, and if it looks like it's on purpose, you're good. For concept and for posing, I mean, you've seen the shots where the girl is slouched in the corner and it's a terrible pose, but it's expressing despair or whatever. I mean, okay, so there aren't any rules in fashion, however, I'm gonna teach you my fashion rules cause I have my fashion posing, and there are some distinctive differences. So the number thing that I definitely want to encourage you to keep in mind is really, for sure, number one, you're posing to communicate the shoot's mood, so the way that you pose the subject becomes far more important than any of the other posing that we've done, cause all of the other posing we've done is just to flatter your subject. Okay, well this instead is not only to make the clothes look good, but to al...

so further your mood. So if you want something dark and creepy, you could have the person just stare straight at the camera. That's fine. Or if you wanted it to be about sensuality and seduction, you could do a whole lot of curves. Or if you want it to be about graphic shapes and patterns, you could do big negative space and movement. You could have the dress flying in the air or whatever it may be. So there aren't any rules, but if you are going for something quiet and subtle and creepy, you wouldn't be doing this. It just doesn't work together. And I would say when I critique a lot of people's fashion work, that's something that I critique is, okay, maybe the light was good and the environment was great, but that pose doesn't fit. You look like you just wanted to do a fashion pose, which people perceive as maybe over the top, so they did that, and then it was too much cause they're with pose and the light and the hair and makeup and the location. So just make sure you keep that in mind. It's communicating something about the entire story. Number two, my style is triangles and negative space. I mean, okay, I'm not gonna lie, it's easier to have negative space with really skinny girls. There's negative space built in. But that being said, when I'm posing for my style personally, I have a lot of triangles and negative space, and that's kind of what it's all about. I do have curves sometimes, but it tends to be more about graphic posing for me versus curvy posing. It tends to be more graphic for my style. That's me personally. So we'll take a look at that. I am going to direct the model somewhat, but then I am also going to have her do a few poses and I would tell you, okay, when she does that, yeah, don't be offended. I'll be like, here's what I don't like, so when I would be shooting, what I would direct to change. Sometimes, I'll have girls that have been shooting for four or five, six years, and they're great, and I basically just say, here's the mood we're going for, I show them something called the mood board. A mood board is a series of images that express the theme or the feel of the shoot. When I show a mood board to a model, that's how I'm saying, this is the feel we're going for, okay? So then I can give them an idea of what to pose for and I direct them. Sometimes, they can just go, and that's it, and then other times, I have new faces that might have done two shoots before and they have no idea what to do. So in fashion, it's not as easy as people think, by far, especially if they look great here. You need everything else to look great for the fashion shoot to be successful. One thing that is constant is elongating the neck and making them look taller. I mean, I don't know of hardly any fashion shots where the model is made to look shorter. If you look, they're all impossibly tall-looking. Some of them are, in fact, impossibly tall. That's true. But it's camera angle and the way that they have been posed, the way that they pull down their shoulders, elongate their neck, pull up through the top of the head, pull up through the core, all of that makes them look impossibly tall. I mean, you get a lot taller than if you're just standing here normally. So that is something I'm watching for and the neck is even long when you have a shoulder up. You can still always see the neck. It's never like this. I see that in people trying to be edgy, like trying to build their fashion portfolio. You don't see that in high-end fashion. Always elongating everything. Number four is fashion photography is where you see the most potential for movement in poses and I use a lot of movement in my poses. I had a critique recently by an agency that I hired to take a look at my portfolio, and they said that was something that was strong. Even if the model is not caught mid-action, there is a feeling of movement. It has energy to it. It has a direction. So I'm actually gonna give you a couple tips in a second on if you actually did want to involve some movement. And then, of course, elegant and well-posed hands. Hands are almost always purposely posed in fashion. Sometimes, you can get away with palm because it's clear that they were trying to do that, so fashion, like I said, you're kind of breaking the rules. Sometimes you can get away with that. Same way sometimes you can get away with this. But the hands are definitely elegant and well-posed and contributing to that mood that you're trying to establish. Alright, so I'm going to bounce around here. So that would be my top five tips. The first one that I did want to talk about was considering movement, just cause I probably will have her move about a lot. A couple tips for if you want to pose your subject with movement. Tip number one is don't just have them move a lot because then you can't tweak and make it better if you're just letting them move. If I find something I like, it's close, I'll have them repeat that movement over and over again, each time saying, "Okay, again with your chin a little bit to the right. "Again, a little bit longer." And so for example, I'm gonna be the model right now, okay? When you see in Harper's Bazaar or Vogue or whatever, all those shots where the model, you guys see they're jumping and their back foot is just barely off the ground, you see it a billion times, they're not always just going... Like, they're not moving across. That doesn't happen. A lot of times, what they are doing is literally this. Ready? It's just the same movement, and I'll say, "Longer neck. "Okay, hand to your face." And then you can just make tweaks, versus if you have someone jumping around, you can't. Everything's changing. And then, of course, your composition changes. So the same thing is true in all of my dress floofy shots, the ones where the dress is flying. This one made a huge difference for me. I don't just have the model throw the dress and look at the camera. You know what I mean? I don't have them twirl and look at the camera. Instead, what I do is I'm gonna pretend this is my camera here, okay? I tell the model exactly what pose I want her to end in. So let's say, for example, I want this. Whatever. Leaning out, soft hands. Okay, so to get the dress to floof, I could do, for example, pick up the dress and kick it out. And the reason I'm telling this is I'm telling her where to feel at the end of that pose. At the end, when I click, you're gonna lock to that pose. And so it's back and forth. Pick up the dress, kick it, versus like, you know what I mean? It's repeated action cause then, I can actually tweak it. But more important is the twirl. I'll say, okay, let's say that I want you here. Whatever. Hand up here, okay? Whatever. If I want this dress floofing, what I do is I'll wind up their bodies. Maybe it's here. I'm going like this. I'll wind up the body behind and then I'll say, "And snap to the pose. "And snap to the pose." Because how are you gonna get that if they're... You'll never get the position. So I pose them exactly how I want it to feel and then I add motion to it. And you'll see the motion in the hair, you'll see the motion in the dress. So a lot of times, it doesn't mean that the dress is floofing up in all different directions. It might just be a little bit of the fabric or a little bit in the hair, but it makes a difference because it's what infuses that feeling of energy. Instead of being a pose, it's a moment in time that you were able to capture just because of those little movements. So in the very beginning of this class, well, at the very, very beginning, but I did some of my contact sheets and if you can go back and look at that, one of them was on red, red on red. And if you noticed, there were two poses that were very, very similar, and one of them, I didn't like her hand, and the other hand looked a little bit. I was having her do this. Pick up the dress, and just changing it just a little bit each time, but it was fundamentally the same pose and I say, "Great, go back a little bit. "Again, softer hand. Again." So that would be my tip is for fashion, it's not just next pose, next pose, next pose, twirl. I mean, it's precise. So if you want to add movement, take more control, tell them what you want that pose to feel like at the end. Do you also shoot those in continuous mode, then, for movement? No. Good question. Me personally, I don't shoot that in continuous mode. I usually try to click at that exact moment when I want it. That being said, when I photographed dancers, maybe I would do more continuous if it's natural light. I do have really great studio strobes, but I find that me just clicking on continuous, it's often the in-between, I missed it. So I'd rather try to just make that educated guess. And then also, I've become more aware of timing. I can kind of get an idea so I can actually click more accurately than multiple pulses. Okay? Cool. And you can ask questions. Iris, can we move the light out for me? Great. One question from Adrian Farr in England. If shooting an editorial fashion story, is it better to have all the poses similar throughout the series, or can you mix the poses up as long as there's still an element of consistency? You can mix the poses up if there's consistency, but it needs to be communicating the same thing. So if it's sexy in some shots, it should be somewhat alluring and sexy in all of them, even if it's a close-up, it's a little bit sexier with the eyes or sexier with the fingers. And, I mean, I can communicate that even just in, you know, you can have one fashion look where it's really aggressive, or, like, sexy. I mean, it's just in body language. So when I shoot, I don't even always pick quote unquote the best pose in my final edit. What I'm picking is how they lay out in a story. So even if I love this pose for this one model but if she did it for three looks, I've gotta pick a different pose. So the layout actually makes a difference for me in the end, which is a little bit different than in most traditional portraiture. Great. Okay. Alright, we're gonna keep going. Great. I will bring out here... Can I get? Great. And so what you'll notice, there's negative space built in. (audience laughs) You know what I mean, I don't need to really worry about that right off the bat. Long lines, very tall. When I photograph a full-length shot, if I were actually in my studio in New York, I wouldn't have her that close to the background. I have tall ceilings, so I would have my background up, I don't know, Iris, what? Like, another three feet taller than that, probably. Okay, don't get me wrong, I didn't start like that. I had, you know, 17 feet deep by eight foot wide, you know, when I first started. But anyway, what I would do is I would have her someplace out here, and I would back way far up and put my lens on the ground when I'm shooting. If I'm going for a standing graphic pose because it makes her look 10 times taller. If I did the same thing here and I shot at a low angle, so I'm just gonna demo that for just a little bit. Okay, great. And can you just give me something with long legs? Perfect. Great. Pop your elbow back just a little bit. And then put your hands off to your face here. Okay. So let's say I wanted her to look really tall here cause she looks really tall, (camera snaps) but notice it's kind of going off the background and I am shooting kind of at a higher angle. What I would do is probably back up to the other side of the audience, get down low, and use a long lens. On a model, that whole thing, and I'm talking about a sample-size model, so sample size would be, I'm just being honest, is like a two, four. Sample size is two, four. Sample height, usually professional models are five-eight and taller. Like I said, I'm not getting into debates, there's always debates, I'm just telling you, this is what the standard is in the fashion industry. I don't really need to worry about a lot of those same things that were a huge concern for portraits, cause a huge concern would be, okay, if I'm too close and too low, I'm gonna make her thighs and her midsection look big. (audience laughs) It's not as much of a problem. So instead, even if I can't get back that far, when I shoot low, it makes her look hugely tall and nothing really looks big. The only thing that would be bigger, because I was closer than I would normally be, are her feet. So that's why I wouldn't be quite that close. I might be maybe another six feet back. Then her feet won't look as large because they aren't really proportionally that much closer to the camera than anything else. So I know this isn't quite posing, but it is because it's, how does your camera angle affect things? So when you're photographing professional models, it's not as much of a concern if you want to make them tall by getting down low and shooting a high angle. Yeah. So I have a question for people who don't have a 17-foot high ceiling or whatnot. How can you compensate that so that you're not, you know, the backdrop is not going through her head? So that actually is camera and lens choice. So one thing that would be is I would back her up towards the background a little bit, okay? So when I pull her out perspective-wise, and you can see this if you do this in your own studio space, when I pull her out perspective-wise, now she's over the top of the background to my eye. If I back her up, she starts fitting more and fitting more and fitting more. Keep going. And so now, I have that much more space. Okay. For the lighting that you're doing, move your subject as far back as you feel comfortable to still get that lighting. The next thing is if you have a little depth, really back up as far as you can and zoom in. How it works is with a wider-angle lens, because let's say you had to shoot a little wider because you don't have that much depth, when you shoot a wider-angle lens, it exaggerates all these distances and so I start seeing the top of the background because it has a wider field of view. It sees all of that. If I back up, the way the lens works with compression, if you guys go back to the first day, how those two people looked closer, even though she's not closer to the background, she looks closer to the background, and what happened when she got closer to the background? It looked like it got taller. So it has that same effect. So if you can back up as far as possible and use the longest lens that you can in that space, moving the subject back as far as you feel comfortable with the light, that's how you compensate to not have them chop off the top of the ceiling. My first studio that I had in New York, I had six-foot-three professional women's athletes in three-foot heels. I mean, I did a ton of Photoshopping all the time cause I couldn't back up far enough and I didn't have a long-enough lens. So in that case, you would just have to watch your angles. Get as low as you can, being back as far as you can with the longest lens, right until it goes to crop off their head. And that's kind of all you can do, unless you want to Photoshop. Good question. That was a good one. Okay, great. Awesome. Alright. So I'm gonna just talk about a couple posing types, and I definitely do this, for example. Alright. So I would bring something like this, for example, on a shoot, which are all photos I took but I said to her, "I want poses like this, maybe." And she said, "Okay, so very angular." I mean, she sees it, even if she wouldn't say it in the way, necessarily, we would as a photographer. But if you look... You know, there's negative space, long lines, negative space, triangles. And so I can kind of give someone an idea, versus if I send all poses with lots and lots of curves and it communicates something different. So I do this. I don't necessarily do this even just to say, "Do this pose." I say, "This is the look we're going for." I don't want to copy the pose. This is already in my portfolio, so I don't want the exact same pose. Otherwise, I have to put it in totally different sections so nobody notices that I'm repeating poses. Anyway. So let's take a couple shots. I'll tell you a couple things that we'd look for. And I probably will be right up against you guys. You don't have to move. I'll be bumping into you. Hope you don't mind too much. Okay, excellent. How are you doing over there? Good. Okay, excellent. So first and foremost, the variations from the female poses we did before, everything actually does still apply. I don't usually do the weight on the back foot that much unless I'm trying to make them look curvy, but I don't need to. You know, all those things apply. So I'm gonna have you come a little closer. Cross your legs over. Good, great. And I'm gonna have you do something like this. Okay. So I'm not posing that well and I can direct and it looks good, because I actually don't pose for how I would pose, I mirror for them how I know it will look good on them. And that is practice. So I actually have, at this point in my career, maybe 10, 15 poses that I can start people with that I know, on a model, will always look good. And I do stupid things like, "Okay, later, I want something where you go like this." Looks totally stupid on me, but then every time, there's a tall, skinny model, looks great. So I can give that as a starting point. So just like that is great. Perfect. Yeah, right there. So what I'm looking at, nice soft hand, I still have a curve but it's not like curve emphasizing body parts. Negative space, that's good. Her hand is not stressed. It's negative space without it being palm. So that looks great, it's nice. Take a quick shot. Wonderful. And cropping would make a difference, cause watch what happens if I crop here. I'll have two shots to show you. The closer crop is better because it kind of leads out at an ending point. This one is back to that cropping, it's not at a joint, it's just above the feet so you kind of want to see it. So I'd pick, if I were going to use this, I'd crop maybe just above the knee. But right here, it's like, ah, you're so close to the feet. It's kind of a little bit awkward. So that looks great. So there is triangles and negative space. Alright, let's do... Yeah, we were talking. Alright, perfect. You can put your hands up like this. So what did I say before about symmetry and elbows towards camera? It's called foreshortening and it's not as dynamic. When anything is exactly the same, it's static. So if I have her lean, now it's more dynamic. Here, it's up and down and rigid. When she kind of kicks out one hip, leans one way, now, one more time, now, I have a leading line to follow versus this or this. This is no negative space, this is negative space, but there's no dynamic to it. This is more dynamic. So I'm gonna have you do that. Straight at me, perfect. And you guys will be able to see. What's always funny is even bad poses sometimes look fine. (audience laughs) But we're learning good poses. (camera snaps) Okay. And just do that but with your arms just out, without leaning. And now lean. And also, the head tilt gives you another bit of movement. You'll see how it just doesn't work. Okay, that looks like it's showing off her armpits. And then now it's a little bit more of a curve and you could go even more dramatic. I'm close to seeing the palm on that side, but not quite far enough. Just okay, plus, it's in shadow. Perfect. Let's do, wanna do a little bit of movement? I also am aware, and I ask the person, okay, how stable do you feel in those heels? Those are good. And I'll ask somebody that. Just this leg is bad. That's the strong leg. Okay, well you do the strong leg, perfect. So I ask people because sometimes, my wardrobe stylist will have huge, tall, skinny heels and I have them do a pose, and then it's a topple. I mean, they're really trying for me and it's a tiny little bitty heel. So I ask, which is why I had her wear a little more stable. And just in case people couldn't hear, one leg is a little injured or something and so the other leg is stronger. Yeah, one leg is injured. Yeah, so I just ask. Yeah, just talk to your subjects. Your shoot's over if they get hurt. Alright, I'm gonna have her do her own movement and then I'll tell you what I would tweak. We didn't talk about this, so I don't know what she's gonna do yet. You do something and I will tweak it. (camera snaps) Okay, cool. So it's gonna pop up on screen. So let's say that maybe I said kick your leg out. Okay, so here's the thing. In fashion, what I would see is I could absolutely use this pose if it's a double-page spread and the title's on the left-hand side. So it goes white all the way across and she's actually kicking into the title. So these things are different in fashion. I have a ton of poses that are in no way, shape, or form what you would say is a normal pose. But let's say that it's not a double-page spread kicking into something. Okay, so what I want to do is I don't want it to be so angular and leading me out. So when you do that, instead of kicking it out, can you kick it up in a triangle? Perfect, okay. Nice, right? Looking at that, hand's pretty good, but will you put this elbow back even further? Elbow back. So see here, it's on your hip? Oh, got it. Just like that, just a little bit more. Right there. Back, that way. Perfect. And then with your hand on your head, can you maybe do, let's see. Yeah, just hide it behind your head. Let's see if that improves it. So I'm like, these are kind of looking for, let's see. Alright, let me get down low. And whenever you're ready. (camera snaps) Okay, now. So that worked for me except, and you'll see in a second, back arm, yep. And so she can see it, but she usually can't see it. And bring your hand a little bit more on your waist. Yeah, just like that, perfect. Okay, so same thing, and pop out that back elbow. Go for it. (camera snaps) And you'll see. We talked about essentials, as I said before, about posing is one of the things that I always want is elongating, so that's pretty close. So instead of head down so much, I'm gonna have you put, exactly, so she rolled her head back. See how much longer her neck got? Well, it's endlessly long when she does that, it's amazing. So exact same thing. Perfect. Whenever you're ready. And pop your back elbow out just a little bit towards me. Yeah. No, your right elbow, pop it out. Good. Perfect. (camera snaps) And lean back when you do this. And whenever. (camera snaps) Perfect. And one last one, and just kind of give it more of a lean, little bit more dramatic. (camera snaps) Good. So that would be maybe close to what I would do for something like that, okay? I had her wear as form-fitting clothes as possible, but all of this changes based on what the person's wearing. So it makes a little bit of a difference. Maybe I would have her kick her foot in, for one, and do something like this. Like that. I've done that pose tons of times. Let's do... Let's do... Like this one's a little funky. Can you just do like... I do this a lot where I'll go, "Oh, so can you?" And then it looks good when they do it. Whenever you're ready. (camera snaps) And one more time. Good. And I'm gonna have you bend your arm just a little bit more. Soft hands. Actually, back in is good. Like that. And turn your hips away from me a little bit. Just a little bit. Yep. So do that same exact thing. (camera snaps) Perfect. Okay, so this is my, I do fashion, graphic stuff. But let's say that instead, how about, can we do say a little softer? So let's do something with soft hands on your face. Good, okay. So see, this is how I would direct. You know, they will kind of get that language, but what I said is I want something softer. So instead of this, everything I've been doing so far has been graphic and hard lines, I said something like this. It's more curve, it's more soft. And most models don't just put their hand up, a lot of them kind of move into it. Models all have different styles. Some just don't stop moving and that's their thing. Generally, models are taught or told when they're shooting in a shoot, they shouldn't hold a pose more than three seconds. So they either have to switch it or relax cause you start seeing the tension as you hold it. It depends on what the shoot is. Everybody's different. So let's do that again. And do this, yeah. Just like that. Perfect, good. So she's already kind of feeling with those, so that looks nice. I just want to bend that way. Perfect. And I'm gonna have soft hand on the front. Good, right there. Perfect. So this, the reason I'm doing this is I can do kind of soft. Yeah, put your hand on the side this time. Great. So I don't want this. This is too hard of an angle. So remember the foreshortening thing, you're not supposed to put your hand back except for in fashion, making it a little softer, elongating it a little bit. So just do that for me perfectly. Just like that. Tuck your knee in. That one. Yep, perfect. Just like that. And pop your elbow out just a tiny bit. Good. (camera snaps) I moved. One more time. (camera snaps) Perfect. Okay. So I could do something like that. And I'm gonna have you just pop your hip as much as humanly possible when you do it, like kick, kick, kick, kick. Good. Yeah, just like that. Yeah, that was perfect. So rest your hand again, you were just kind of resting your hand on your hip. Do you mind if I? I'm just gonna go right here. And kick, like, make it painful. That was good. Oh, except for I know you're possibly a little bit injured. Okay, so now I have crazy curve, just like that. Great. (camera snaps) Okay. So these would be general ways to direct, trying to accomplish different things. Let me see if you guys have questions so far. I don't really have a question so much, I should stand up, sorry. It was just funny. As soon as you told her to go soft, your eyes immediately went softer. So good for you on doing that. But even just giving them a word, their whole body changes, which is good. Yeah, which is why for my mood board, when I show somebody, I say okay, this is where the publication that it's kind of similar to, it would be in whatever, and we're going for angular and aggressive, we are going for soft and demure. So, for example, can you just stand real soft like this and can you put your hand stroking kind of down this way? Okay, see how much softer that got? Okay, so put your hand across this time. Alright, I would say this is more closed-off and you don't see fingers and it's kind of protective. This is soft and elegant when you kind of have long fingers, soft down the arms. Yep, just like that. Something like that. And I don't need to include her whole body. I could just include this part. So at that part, a lot is expressed by her fingers and I don't need to always have graphic. And then raise a shoulder up and tilt your head that way just a little. Perfect. So soft hands. So those are the kind of things that every different body movement you do means something else. I almost, this is a difference, I almost never pose models sitting on the floor. I might recline them in a chaise or have them lay up something, I don't know, whatever it may be, whether it's a railing or something like that, because sitting isn't usually elongating. I don't know. I don't get that drama. And I'm not worried about sitting cause, oh, okay, I have people sit cause I want them to be comfortable and that's how they feel naturally. This is, they pose for what they do, so I don't usually do sitting poses. I would say most of the time when people show me fashion poses for sitting, it lacks whatever their goal was, unless they're going for sexy, and then it's laying and there's curves, but I would say fashion, I usually do more standing or reclining than just sitting. I'm gonna do a chair shot now that I said that. I meant sitting on the floor. Can I have a stool, please? How often do you let your models just free pose and then capture as you see, versus actually posing them as you are now? I tend to try to read the person. Can I have the little stool? I try to read the person and see if they are posing the way that I need them to. Most of the time, no matter how great they are, I don't do free posing cause I don't know what to expect and I can't quite anticipate it. That being said, sometimes, you just have people that I'll put on the beat of the music based on how much I want them to change their pose or how I want them to move, so if it's slow music, it's posing something like that. Or if it's more aggressive, they're changing on the beat. So I can kind of set the mood for how much I want them to change. Oh, even though this isn't posing, it's kind of related to this for how models read. When I talk to models, one of the things I say is one of the best sounds in the world is the sound of a clicking button. When they don't see a flash or a click, they assume they're doing something wrong and they change pose. So if for some reason your camera's not working or if you're just recomposing, say, "Okay, hold it there, that looks great. "Okay, hold still, right there." Cause otherwise, if they don't hear, they're like, okay, that wasn't right, I'm gonna do something else. I'll see that a lot. Yeah, right? Good, okay. We haven't talked about this. So just keep that in mind. It's kind of posing-related. Okay, now that I said that, I'm sorry. I think I do need something taller. I'll do this chair. I know, I know, I know. I forgot, she's like, two feet taller than my former subject. Okay, we'll do that one. Let's do chair posing. Okay. So I'm not gonna say anything to her. We haven't talked about this. I'm just curious. Can you sit in the chair and pose in a fashion-y way? Okay, I'm not looking. Okay. Alright. So if I look at her, there's a couple things you could do. If you're going for that kind of dramatic, like, I don't care, I still look hot when I'm slouchy look, which you've seen it, I would kind of crop in here, like I'd crop in closer, cause right now, I don't want shot straight on. But for my style, okay, here's what I'm gonna have you do. I'm gonna have you tuck your left leg back. Good. Tilt that foot to the right. Okay, notice, foot forward, it's angling forward, it's not working. So turn to the side, everything's getting longer. See how much longer that's getting? Okay, now I'm gonna have you put your hand, or your right elbow on your right knee. Good. And then put this hand on your hip. So I can do all these dramatic angles. That is for my graphic style. If, however, you were going for something sexier, you would make it more, perhaps, would you lean back on the edge of the chair? Okay, good. Perfect. And then so maybe you would put your hand out here cause I'm elongating. Here, everything was pulled back, okay, so it wasn't balanced. But if she puts her hand out here, now I have elongated. So it depends on what you're trying to do. But I'm looking, I don't want anything straight towards camera, I don't want anything slouching, everything is elongating. If I want it to be a little sexier, I could put hand up, something like this. You know, whatever. So let me see if there's any questions from you guys since this is my thing. Okay, so I'm just gonna take three more pictures so we can move on to beauty, okay? Every time that she moves, she locks in the pose and just like if it's going against all the portraiture rules, like I would never, ever, ever, ever do to the normal person, but for her, it's just like, if she locks in, you're doing great. (audience laughs) It's exactly a right picture to take. Yeah, and so this is something a little different for me as opposed to everything else that I said. When I'm shooting fashion, I don't pose and move around cause their job is to pose. What I do is I find my composition, I set my light, and then I work with them. However, with a lot of non-models, I get the pose right, I'm like, okay, I've got a pose that works. Let me work around it, versus I can keep tweaking and it doesn't exhaust the person. That's what we're working together for. So models, I mean, when we say creative team, we're on a creative team together. We are part of the same creative team. We're both working for the same goal. So I keep that in mind, as well. So I'm gonna just have you do one more, kind of lean forward, yeah. Do that one. Perfect. And I'm gonna have you move your hand, just your elbow. You can do that same thing. Put this hand to your elbow on this one. Yeah. Okay. So I'm gonna lower my light, and then we'll switch to beauty. Okay. Perfect. And I wouldn't have, ideally, a black chair behind her and black clothes, you guys will get the idea, though. You'll see that this a fashion pose. (camera snaps) Right there. (camera snaps) Perfect. So imagine, she's sitting on the edge of a cool chair, a cool stairway, whatever it may be, so it's kind of a fashion pose. If I wanted it to be more graphic, I'd put the hand back. If I wanted it to be softer, I'd put the hand here.

Class Materials

bonus material with purchase

Keynote 1
Keynote 2
Keynote 3
Beauty
Boudoir
Bridal Couples
Bridal Parties
Bridal
Children-Multiples
Children
Couples - Different Height.
Couples
Families
Fashion
Female Seniors
Folding - HowTo
Groups
Male Seniors
Maternity
Maternity-Dad
Mature Couples
Mature Men
Mature Women
Men
Parents Children
Plus Size
Same Sex-Female
Same Sex-Male
Women Posing

Ratings and Reviews

user-305e84
 

I would highly recommend this class! I have been shooting for some time now and I've been pretty satisfied with my pictures from each session. A few weeks ago, I happened upon this class and thought it would be nice to get some new ideas. I then took the ideas from this class and applied them to a maternity shoot. I must say it took my pictures from good to amazing!!!! My clients bought them all😊 Thank you Creative Live for offering such amazing classes to help any level of photographer learn and grow!

Ruth Ganev
 

Lindsay is such a great teacher. She doesn't overcomplicate things - so that you can really learn. She also reviews things again and again - only in different contexts - that make total sense. I have learned so much from watching this course of lessons. I went to a natural lighting portrait workshop a couple of weekends ago - and was able to put into action what I have learned. The models loved my photos, too. She keeps things moving, is clear and to the point. I highly recommend this class to anyone wanting to become better at posing. It is so rewarding to look back at my previous photos and understand what doesn't work and why, and also to see things improving. She is a natural teacher - the course is not boring - you will learn tons!

Maya Tleubergen
 

I really love it! Thank you, thank you, Lindsay! Beautiful girl with a huge talent to teach! I absolutely love it! Worth every penny!

Student Work

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