Amelia - how to pose women, tips

One of my Patrons has asked me about working on a set with models and choosing the right poses to shoot.

Even though I have some experience I still always prepare backup plan and keep it on my cell phone. Just in case I ran out of ideas. Especially if you see some amazing photo on the Internet - ask yourself a question "what is so great about this picture". Probably it's a model, but I assure you that if she was photographed in a bad pose and with a bad face expression - the end result would have been drastically different.

So think why this model look good in this particular picture? How is she standing, which leg comes first? Is her body twisted, if yes then towards which side and why? Where is the light coming from and where light is hitting the body? How shades are created on the body? How her hands are placed and how do they look like? What is the body language?

Body language is VERY important because it carries whole lot of information that is subconsciously perceived and translated in our brain.

There is a book by ex-FBI agent Joe Navarro - "What Every Body is Saying" which is packed with useful tips on how to read people and their expressions. Knowing that will also help you understand what your clients are going through. Are they excited, are they nervous? They may be saying one thing, but their body will tell you the truth so you will know how to act to help them. (or help yourself)

So if it comes to posing women, you usually want to show their curves, different shapes, like a river turnings, common term for that is S-curve. 

 

You want to create negative spaces between her body core, and her arms. Otherwise they may look like one pulp potato. Avoid that. If it comes to me, I like to mix my guidance and me showing her poses (some poses I cannot do, and I fucking won't if I don't want to be taken by ambulance from the studio) with models "free roam" / "freestyle". Sometimes they may have some great ideas, plus there might also be something that would remind you of something else that you have seen but you have completely forgotten about - that might work great now.

For me, the way model looks in the camera is very important. It will make or break your photo. If a face expressions is not "compatible" with the current pose/setting then you can throw your camera in the garbage.

Imagine beautiful model, in a pretty studio or a decorated room, lofty style, sexy lingerie...

and she is looking at you absolutely frightened! Lips tight, big eyes! It looks fucking bad! And your viewer is looking at this image and now he/she is feeling bad and guilty of that! Maybe even thinking - what the fuck was going on there on that photo shoot... is the girl alright? Is she alive?!

Secondly, many women who try to look sexy make poses that look like they are being struck by a sexual lightning, or like they are being possessed by some freakish demon. That often looks very unnatural and has completely different effect.

Emily Ratajkowski posing in lingerie or swimwear doesn't need to make silly poses to emanate sex-appeal. It's a gentle balance between being serious-funny-cocky-flirtatious-and vulnerable. I think that makes a perfect recipe for great picture of a woman.  

And I see it all the time and makes me wonder why were these photos even taken? And even published.

So think about that and avoid these mistakes at all cost.
Say funny things, make your clients laugh, and press the shutter button. Amen.

M.