shift his or her weight to the leg
closest to the camera with one leg
crossing the other. This creates a
slight lean that looks very natural
in most cases.
Clothing can also contribute to or hinder
your efforts to illustrate a thinner appear-
ance to your subject. Baggy clothing doesn’t
help. Be creative in those situations where
your subject is wearing a pair of baggy
pants, a baggy shirt, or a loose fitting dress.
Have subjects lean a leg on a chair or lean
on an object to thin out their appearance in
the portrait when wearing baggy clothing.
Positioning the arms and hands
Working your way up, you can use a number
of tips and techniques to properly position
your subject’s arms and hands. Using the
body to make up the main composition,
positioning of the arms and hands add to
the desired look or style of the photograph.
You want to make the person look his or her
best.
Tried and true positions for the shoulders,
arms, and hands include:
✦Triangle pose. If you’re not shoot-
ing a full-length portrait, a com-
mon technique to properly frame
the portrait is the triangular pose.
Try filling the bottom of the frame
with your subject’s arms folded,
filling in the bottom of the triangle,
where the arms and shoulders lead
up to the triangle’s peak, the per-
son’s head.
✦Shoulders diagonal. Shoulders are
going to be a major anchoring point
for almost all of your poses. As a
rule of thumb, your subject’s shoul-
ders should never be positioned
horizontally across the frame. Have
clients position their shoulders on
a diagonal position to add interest
to the portrait.
✦One arm away from the body. To
complete the body portion of your
portrait, have the subject positioned
with at least one arm away from his
or her body to help define the mid-
section. Within this parameter, arms
can be positioned in many ways.
For waist-up portraits, having the
arms leaning on a chair or other
object gives a relaxed appearance
to the portrait. Try having subjects
shift their weight to their elbows
and relax their forearms.
✦Hands relaxed. Hands are often
the most overlooked part of the
body in portraits; however, paying
attention to the detail when it
comes to posing a subject adds to
the quality of what you’re trying to
achieve. Hands are important, and
you want to ensure that the sub-
ject isn’t wearing any unusual
bracelets or rings that can detract
from your portrait. Be tactful, and
ask the subject if they can remove
any distracting jewelry or accessory
that may not work for the portrait.
Additionally, make sure the sub-
ject’s fingers are straightened and
relaxed. You don’t want fingers
curled under in a portrait.
There are exceptions to every
rule. Always gauge what you
ask of your subjects by their per-
sonalities and what you know
about them. That pinky ring
may be a family heirloom or
that brooch a special gift. So,
use your best judgment when
setting up your portraits.
Note
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