March 29, 2011

Get Her to Pose For You | Tip #2

Long before I met my husband I did some actual modelling. I worked with a couple different photographers at the time - one of whom won an international award with a photo he took of me. I learned a great deal in those days about how to work with the camera and the photographer - because those are two very different things, believe it or not.

I know some people who get very nervous once a camera shows up, and so it does take a bit of time to learn to be relaxed and forget as much as you can that someone is taking pictures.
Posture & Angles

The biggest tip I can pass along from these early days to anyone who has to be in front of the lens is know your facial angles. For me, now that I am no longer a teenager, is how to keep my chin at a flattering angle to prevent the appearance of the dreaded ‘double chin.’ And trust me, even if you are a ‘perfect weight’ stunning woman, the way the neck flows into the jaw line will create a double chin regardless. It’s the way we are built. Even those size-0 underwear models.

When I get a little absorbed in a photo session - because let‘s be honest, it‘s not a typical thing to be standing around in your living room on a Tuesday afternoon dropping your knickers - my photographer will occasionally remind me to lift my chin. He knows that the better I look in the photos, the better results for you guys, and the better I feel about it from all points of view.

If you have to remind your lady as you take the photos, don’t sugar-coat it - BUT don’t say “lift your chin cause you got two chins.” Trust me on this; say that and you won’t even be taking family vacation snapshots at Disney World. My photographer just says, simply “Chin up” and keeps shooting … same with the “Suck it in” for these days as I’m not in the same shape I was back a couple years ago. But that’s changing ;-)

And give direction to her. Tell her when a pose isn’t working, and compliment the crap out of her when they are. Someone I know personally that owns a very good digital camera sometimes forgets about these tips - so make sure you remind her to ask you how she is doing as the session progresses.

Which brings up a good point here. No one is perfect, and no home photo shoot will ever match those Playboy sets you like so much. Unless you’ve got several thousands to drop on a stylist, props/backdrops, lighting (more on lighting coming up). Having said that, it pays to look at magazines like that - together - to find poses that you like and then can try to mimic in your own session.

A couple other tips about angles:
  1. Don’t have her stand square to the camera. Turning the hips and shoulders will make a person seem slimmer and create more flattering lines.
  2. Remind her to keep breathing naturally.
  3. Get her to use a variety of facial expressions and don’t always look at the camera.
  4. Have her use her arms - hands on hips, breasts, above her head - instead of just hanging down on the sides.
  5. For great cleavage, have her: lean forward; bring arms together at the waist and clasp her hands together at the waist, keeping her arms straight at the elbows; or cross her arms.
Andee     xoxo

2 comments:

Bill P said...

with you as a subject how could anyone take a bad photo

6_Shooter said...

Nice blog you got going Andee. I like how you recommend honesty between the photographer and the model. That has to be one of the key points if you want good shots. There must be good communication to get good results. One thing you might want to include if you're writing more on models is model releases - for everyones sake, get the proper permission!