Advice For Models
The Amateur Photographer's Guide to Posing a Model.
Our Model Advice:
1 Always have a friend with you at shoots. Never go alone. Unless it is a reputable photographer.
2 Before the shoot , Phone the photographer/model. It is best to talk to the person direct rather than through emails.
3 On the day of the shoot, once again phone the photographer/model. Just in case the shoot has to be cancelled (i.e. illness)
4 If you have to cancel. Please phone the photographer/model
5 Make it clear if you (the model) has tattoos, piercing's or scars.
6 Do Not use PO Box addresses, as people cant get your home address from them.
7 Do not give out your home phone number or address unless that is where the shoot is taking place.
8 When contacting a photographer/model, state your location, (i.e. London), type of work you do, and if possible your web site address.
9 If you do not have an email address, you can get one from www.hotmail.com, as well as others.
10 Yahoo Groups are also a good means of promoting yourself.
11 As models, be prepared to get a lot of junk mail, these will include abuse (calling you names), people asking for nude photographs (you will not hear from them again), false bookings (people booking you, then not turning up) and so on. A lot of first time models are surprised at this, but unfortunately this will happen.. Also many people think that models are also escorts, so you may be asked for sex too. (Some models are also escorts, but not all).
12 Before you book a studio, I suggest you go along and have a look first. Some studios are just horrible, (poor lights and so on).
13 If you need to travel, you may find these sires of some use. AA Road Planner, National Rail, National Express This should cover you for road, rail and coach.
14 At shoots, keep a mobile with you.
15 If you do travel by car, get some sort of breakdown cover.
16 Breast implants -
17 When joining web sites that need passwords to access, please do not keep the same password for each site.
Basic Pinup
There are of course an unlimited number of ways to pose your model. You may decide to let the model do her own posing or you may establish the pose and let her make gradual modifications to it as you take pictures. I prefer the latter.
All photographs including the female form can be broken into geometric shapes. Typically we want to accentuate the length of the legs, the roundness, fullness or pertness of the breasts. The softness and roundness of the buttocks, the delicate quality of the hands and fingers. And the framing ability of the hair and most importantly the variety of shapes and colours in the face. Behind all of this most likely is Freud's Id (actually your id) pushing for primal gratification causing what is artistically pleasing to the eye to become erotic and sexual. Luckily we learn to keep our Id monsters in check...
The most important body posing tips:
1. Point the feet wherever possible (if it's sensible). Two things happen when you
do this, the leg line is suddenly lengthened by the approximate length of the foot
suddenly making the legs appear longer by perhaps 6 -
2. Flatten the stomach. This is very important especially in leaning forward or upside down (doggie) positions. The idea is a flat but not concave or gaunt belly. Ribs should only show slightly if at all. When you flatten the stomach pull air into the lungs and upper chest which will facilitate the flattening. This technique is closely linked to and performed at the same time as the next posing tip.
3. Throw the shoulders back, and thrust the chest out. Fill the lungs and upper chest with air and remember the last tip to keep the tummy flat. Learn to breathe while keeping the tummy flat. Do not hold your breath!
4. Slightly arch the back.
5. Spread the fingers slightly (where sensible) about 1/4 to 1/2 inch.
Okay... Let's give it a try and let me build a typical pose. Imagine you are sitting on the edge of a sofa with your legs extended and feet on the floor. Watch your posture and sit upright! Let's start by picturing the camera in front of you but moved to your left side by about 45 degrees. With the legs extended point the foot nearest the camera with the toes slightly touching the floor so that a straight line could be drawn down the leg all the way to the toe. To break up the composition a bit (we do that sometimes) bring the foot farthest from the camera back to the sofa and either point the foot or bend the toes on the floor whichever is most comfortable. Place your hands on or near your knees and arch the back slightly. Now is the time to take that breath of air into the upper chest and thrust the bust out, pull the shoulders back and flatten the tummy (don't hold your breath, keep breathing). Look at the camera, smile and HOUSTON WE HAVE A PICTURE! Now keep the same basic pose but move the hand nearest the camera to the top of your (left) breast (with the fingers slightly spread) and we have another picture! The hands can then be moved to hide the breasts or nipples then cup or hold the breasts, moved to the hair, etc.... The varieties of this pose are endless. At this point I would not have just 4 pictures but somewhere around 20 or 30 pictures all taken as you slightly modify the pose and I try different camera angles. That's it, your first pose. A piece of cake (cheesecake).
Summary (in one line):
Point the toes, arch the back, and flatten the tummy, chest out and shoulders back with fingers slightly spread.
Why do we care about these 5 posing tips so much?
My pictures are intended to produce a satisfying sensation in the viewer. The details of what makes a good picture is so complex that we won't go into detail here but it is physiological and how we relate to various representations of geometric forms (triangles, circles, rectangles, etc.,) colour, photo theme and their interaction (or how they work together). There are rules (I prefer to call them guidelines) for picture composition and while it's best to abide by them occasionally an "emotionally moving" picture can be made by breaking the rules.
For the new amateur photographer:
Physic physiological? For example, picture a pyramid in your mind and you consciously (or subconsciously) visualise stability, power, endurance, etc. The Egyptian pyramids is an obvious example but how about a line of marching solders with trim waist and wide shoulders implying an inverted triangle or pyramid or the Roman fighting wedge formation (Phalanx). So, thinking of men we see triangles (especially the equilateral) and rectangles. When we think of women we think soft, curves, delicate, sensitivity and we visualise circles, curves, (hearts formed by her breasts or buttocks).
Colours induce different feelings in each of us and are often referred to as advancing or receding colours and sometimes will determine what is foreground and what is background in a picture. While a photograph is a two dimensional object illustrating a three dimensional world we learn by adjusting the interaction of forms, lines and colours we can reproduce what the eye and mind sees and bring about those pleasurable feelings we all want when our pictures are viewed. Deliberate mental manipulation can be accomplished such as placing two lines side by side of equal length but with the tops of the lines closer than the bottoms. Some folks will see exactly that... two lines with the tops slightly closer while others will see two parallel lines running off into the distance (such as railroad tracks) thus representing depth or distance. That's about as deep as I want to get into composition and its mental interruption as there are many books available that explain it much better than I do. My intent is to show that we truly are influenced by more things in a picture or photograph than we realise.
Backgrounds:
Complementing, neutral and contrasting. Women we perceive as soft and round are often photographed in front of a complementary background such as flowers, the curled wrought iron of a bedpost, pillows, and soft furniture or if a contrasting background is used it could be the jagged rocks of a stone quarry or the rusted hulks of a automobile junkyard. Each of these will trigger a different mood from the viewer.
The choice of backgrounds and the physiological application of geometric shapes and colours are the responsibility of the photographer not the model. The model is mostly concerned with her body, expression, and pose.
Audience:
It would be remiss of me if I didn't encourage you to remember who your audience
is or more specifically why they are looking at your pictures and what do they want.
Sure, you can utilise the rule of the "golden rectangle" and place your nude figure
in the right third of the picture with a field of flowers and it will probably be
a nice (or even a great) picture of a field of flowers that happens to have a nude
over in the corner and will be adored by photographers, artists and such but considered
boring by the consumer that has come to your web site to see beautiful women not
beautiful fields. If your audience wants erotica with an attractive model as the
central subject why not give it to them? Save your artsy-
