7
7
CHAPTER
Simple
Posing for
Great
Portraits
One of the most important aspects of portrait photog-
raphy is knowing how to pose your subjects. If your
model looks awkward or uncomfortable, your portrait isn’t
going to be a success. The key to a good portrait is having the
model look natural.
To be a successful portrait photographer, you need to have
good technical skills, but posing subjects is an art form unto
itself. As soon as you start to master the art of posing subjects,
you’ll find that the quality of your work will grow by leaps and
bounds.
Ultimately, you need to create a set of standards that you use
that works best for the types of portraits you and your clients
like to see. Once you develop your own style, by sticking to
your best practices, you will see great improvement in your
portrait portfolio.
Posing Basics
Photographic posing isn’t new; actually, posing has evolved
over the centuries. Some of the best portraits I’ve ever seen
weren’t even photographs, but painted portraits dating back
hundreds of years. In touring art museums here and abroad,
I’m still amazed at the detail and subject matter of paintings
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In This Chapter
Individual posing
techniques
Planning your posing
Posing basics
Positioning parts of the
body
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