R. J. Kelly - Professional Poses for Models and Photographers (MPSQE * Master Pro Secrets Quick & Easy Book 7)

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Imagine booking a beautiful model who shows up on the day of your shoot and you discover that she doesnt know how to pose. You could cancel the shoot and consider it a waste of time, preparation and expense. You could look for an emergency substitute. You could coach the model. Or you could show the model images of poses that you would like her to do. It is difficult to coach a model. It is much easier to show an image and have the model imitate it. Many new models run out of poses quickly, but when shown a series of poses, many models are inspired, pick up on the flow, and can produce some surprising results. By selecting a set of poses as part of your planning and having this book on hand, you will be more prepared to salvage a difficult situation.

This guide contains hundreds of poses, all numbered for easy reference. The poses in this book are suited for many genres of photography including fashion, editorial, lifestyle and casual everyday photography. These poses can be done by almost anyone from beginners to professional models with little or no practice.

Unlike many scrapbook type of posing guides that look like a random assortment of images from magazine clippings cropped in various sizes and in many different ways, posed by many different models, many in seemingly similar poses, done by many different photographers under many different settings and lighting conditions and wearing a wide variety wardrobes, this guide was created specifically with a plain background so that the most important element, the pose, is the center of attention. Most portrait photography are not productions with highly paid well-proportioned models, makeup artists, hairstylists, set designers, lighting assistants and other cast and crew. Of course many photographers would dream of one day being able to take charge of such a production. But the reality is few photographers around the world have the budget or the team for such a production. The millions of other photographers are casual photographers, hobbyists, serious non-professionals (people who do not make a living as photographers), artists and even professional photographers, such as Nature photographers, who would like to advance their skills in portrait photography or just to take a good and interesting portrait. For these millions of other photographers and models those images may be more elaborate than needed and may even be distracting for the process at hand: that is in creating their own original images.

All the poses in this guide are full body poses. This may lead some photographers to look elsewhere when they want to shoot a head and shoulders portrait or a waist up portrait. The legs seem so unimportant to these types of photographs. The reality is sometimes they are unimportant. But without the proper positioning of the legs, the tilt and balance of the rest of the body will not be the same. The poses in this book are complete poses for the model. The photographer should shoot from different angles and compose the photographs as needed.

With all the ubiquitous electronics available these days, every model and photographer should have a set of poses with them at all times for their photo sessions for when they start from the cold, when they get stuck, and when they need just that little reminder or inspiration to get things going. This set of poses will fulfill that need for many models and photographers.

People come in different shapes and sizes and very rarely, if ever, do we have someone with a body built perfectly for photography. A photographer, therefore, must know enough about body physique to position the model in such a way that would give the most flattering photograph. The model must understand herself enough to align her body in such a way as to create a beautiful image. There are many techniques to creating a pose that would be considered aesthetically pleasing to most people, but one must remember that not all techniques will work with all people. This is part of the challenge of portrait photography. Individuals are unique enough that sometimes we will not know what will work until we try. Here are some common techniques that models and photographers use to produce consistently acceptable images.

To make the model look taller in a standing pose, shoot from a lower position, such as a crouching or a sitting position or even lying on your stomach. Some models like to hold their heads up high, which is a part of having good posture. But when shooting from a very low position, be careful that the models head is not raised so high that the only part of her face that is captured in the photograph are her chin and nostrils.

The arms and legs should be posed parallel to the camera. If the arms or legs are pointed towards the camera or away from the camera, this will create a foreshortening effect. Pointing towards the camera will make the hands or feet appear larger than they should be and pointing away from the camera will make them appear smaller than they should be. Both will cause the limbs to appear shorter than they really are.

There should be a continual shifting of the weight from one leg to the other. Have one leg slightly bent all the time. This will create a more dynamic pose as opposed to having the body weight distributed equally on both legs, which creates a static pose.

One side of the hip should be slightly lower than the other side, as well as one side of the shoulder should be slightly lower than the other. Shift both the hips and shoulders together, or shift them in opposite directions. This again creates a more dynamic look. If both the shoulders and the hips appear parallel to the ground in the photograph, the pose could be considered static.

Posing is all about curves and lines. Dynamic poses consists of C-curves and S-curves. By shifting the weight from one leg to the other and having one side of the shoulders and hips lower than the other a C-curve or S-curve is formed. The more shifting of weight there is the larger the curves.

Women wear stilettoes for three reasons: to make them look taller, to tilt the hips to add a curve to their stance, and to create a smooth line from the ankles to the toes. If the model is posing bare feet, the model should point her toes when possible to make the lines transitioning from the ankles to the toes smooth instead of an abrupt angle.