Posts Tagged ‘Posing’
Portrait Shooting: A Few Smart Ideas
If you’re a portraits specialist, you’re in luck: Jason Weddington offers imaginative tips on framing, composing and posing for portraits in one of those unusual articles that’s short on text but high on ideas and ‘meat’.
5 Tips for Improving Your Portrait Photography starts off by advising you to ‘frame tight’ when shooting faces. Ho-hum, what portrait specialist doesn’t know that? But wait— Weddington wants you to frame so tight that you slice off the top of your subject’s head. He says that that maximizes the tug of your subject’s eyes, referring to it as a covert Hollywood trick. Clever!
Talk about eyes, another technique is to get your subject to position the eyes so that the irises are centred from the camera’s perspective. He’s right. This technique will usually result in a portrait that one would describe as ‘hypnotic’ or ‘arresting’; one that makes an immediate ‘connection’ with the viewer. Better yet: Weddington advises that you try to generate catchlights in the eyes and explains how you can do so.
Here’s another tip: let your model stay in the dark for a few minutes. That’ll dilate her pupils. Then open the lights and work fast, whether you use flash, lamps or natural lighting. The opened-up pupils will result in those desirable catchlights and will also contribute to a ‘hypnotic’ or ‘arresting’ face.
“Have you ever heard a subject complain ‘I don’t know what to do with my hands?’,” writes Weddington. Actually, even when they don’t say that, they often behave that way! The solution is to put hands to work and Weddington suggests using “a prop.” A pen is often used.
Another idea would be to go prop-less and ask your subject to pose in a way one sees so often and is so natural, yet seldom photographed: fingers idly drumming on a tabletop or other surface? Goes well with a blank or happy expression! Want a pensive expression? Goes like salt and pepper with clasped hands or someone looking at her palms, fingers curled.
Weddington goes on to describe two further ideas, one to “let kids run wild” and another very valuable one to “shoot into the sun.” That gives you the backlighting and highlights that you don’t get with the sun over your shoulder. Weddington doesn’t mention that you may need a reflector or fill-flash if you use this technique.
This article is complemented by some very nice images that get across each tip and set you up for your own photographs using these ideas.
Ideas from Two Pros . . . and Caveats about Going Pro
One month back we published an article about photographers drawing inspiration from works of art. Coincidentally, earlier today, Gina Milicia wrote, “Some people will tell you that it’s wrong to copy but for centuries, every generation of artist has imitated the masters before them” in an article about ‘5 Fail Proof Portrait Poses’.
It is more of a post than an article but Milicia gives a few sharp and unusual suggestions and illustrates each with a photo. Her post is not so much about static poses as commonly understood but includes dynamic ‘poses’ as well. The aim is to relax a self-conscious subject and get him/her ‘loose’. One suggestion: ask your subject to jump for joy!
Richard Bram is similar to Milicia in that he photographs people but dissimilar in that he shoots candids, “the quirkier moments in the events I was covering [which became the] beginning of the edgier street photographs,” as quoted in this interview with Bram on the Leica Blog.
Bram’s experiences in PR and personal bent are such that street photography is only one area that appeals to him – travel and musicians are also of interest to Bram.
This lengthy interview is worth reading for the in-depth ideas it conveys about a particular photographic approach and style in which the background is of vital importance and whose ultimate goal is to capture “the significant gesture.”
Bram says, “One evening at a party, I told a friend who’d run a fine art photography school in Louisville that I was thinking of becoming a photographer.” If you are harbouring the same intentions, then before taking the plunge, read 10 Myths About Being a Professional Photographer by Ron Longwell.
Many of Longwell’s ‘heads-ups’ are spot-on and to-be-expected, like “Professional photographers get to set their own schedule.” Yet others are equally spot-on but are surprising eye-openers, such as “The market is oversaturated with photographers.” Isn’t it good to know that that is a myth?!
One or two of Longwell’s ‘myths’ are a bit odd. For instance, “I need professional camera gear to be a pro photographer.” Hmm, methinks you do need pro gear if you’re going to be a pro . . . better not turn up at that ad agency shoot with a Coolpix or Cyber-shot – else that may be the first and last day of your pro career!
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