The Basics Behind Posing Your Subjects

After a while, landscapes are really just a matter of metering your light, exposing correctly, and composing to position lines in appealing perspectives.  The same goes for many other types of photography too.  Whether you are talking about candid street photography, event photography, and even architecture – it’s all about timing, composition, and exposing for the light.

Portraiture though, brings a unique set of circumstances to the table though.  The timing is much more controlled, lighting is managed more strictly, and little is left to chance.  Yet, even in these controlled environments, many photographers have trouble because of the fears associated with guiding and instructing people on how to pose.  It’s understandable, considering all that goes into posing your subjects, as well as the fact that some subjects aren’t the best at being guided.

To those ends – here’s some basics to start with in posing your subjects.  For starters, focus on the face – it’s what we all gravitate toward anyway, and body posing can be very complex depending on a persons body style.  By focusing on the face, you can really highlight that which we all look at anyway.  Here’s the simple secrets to posing a persons’ face: Continue reading “The Basics Behind Posing Your Subjects”

A Few From the Fire House

Nothing tip-related, tutorial-esque, or educational today, just thought I’d share some photos from one of the local photo clubs I participate in regularly.  One of our members is the on-staff photographer, and was able to get us permission to take photos for an entire session.  We even got one of the guys to get in his gear and do some shots with us.  Devin is the guys name and he totally was cool with our posing instructions and everything – this guy even kept this super heavy fire hose on his shoulder for like 30 minutes while we had him stand and pose, looking in various directions and holding his head a certain way.

So, without further ado – here’s a few samples/selects from what I am affectionately calling:

The Fire House Shoot

Fire House 1

Fire House 2

Fire House 3

Fire House 4

Fire House 5

 

And to close out the series, one that struck me while there was a scene that reminded me of why we have these courageous men to serve and protect us…

Fire House 6

 

The poses that Devin struck were directed courtesy of yours truly (stop back in later this week for more details on the posing techniques I used), and all post processing was done using your favorite photo editor (and mine):  Adobe Lightroom!


Adobe Lightroom 3

Thanks to Tim Tonge for organizing the event, and to the brave men of Castle Rock Firehouse for tolerating our presence for an afternoon!