Photographic Poses – Improve Your Photos Immediately!
Studying and learning various photography poses is the quickest and easiest route to becoming a sought-after photographer. Even if you’ve never decided to go “pro”, mastering basic photography poses will put pizzazz into your photography. If you want to start getting YOUR share of the oohs and ahhs, keep reading …
The Linebacker …
The most common mistake I see in amateur photography – and in more professional jobs than you might think – is what I call the “Linebacker” pose.
Consider professional soccer players. (The American type, not what we in the US call football.) Size is a major component of their job. The bigger and wider they seem, the better. When they pose for photos, they’ll be facing the camera straight up – with their shoulders as wide as possible. They want their hips and thighs to look great too.
The more frames they can fill, the better – bullying is an object.
Now imagine almost everyone in the world … some of them trying to appear intimidating in their portraits. But, for some reason, we all tend to pose our subjects with their shoulders and hips facing the camera straight up – like a linebacker!
Remove excess size …
To help our subjects shed a “linebacker” look, simply turn their shoulders about 45 degrees toward the camera. This looks natural, and is a much slimmer pose. (And EVERYONE wants to look slimmer – it’s the way of the world!) If you look at the photo, their hips and legs should also be rotated.
Rule of thumb … Shoulders, hips and feet never go straight to the camera.
Avoid the “Sumo Wrestler” Photography Pose too!
While linebackers want to go wide – they don’t always want to look fat! The only photo subjects I can think of actively WANTING to look fat, were Sumo wrestlers.
We almost ALL thought we looked too fat, and “the camera added 10 pounds.” To help our subject visually lose weight, consider what makes us look heavy! That’s the shadow!
We define shapes based on highlights and shadows. If we minimize the shadows, people will look slimmer. So here is a tip that can visually wipe about ten pounds off your subject … Have your model wear dark clothes! Remember that the shadow defines the shape and therefore if the shadow disappears – and so does the weight.
Start using these two photography poses and you will see an immediate improvement in your photos.