Jon Souer - Posing for Portraits

The idea of a portrait is draw the eye to the subject's face. Especially in a head and shoulders portrait the image should allow your personality to shine through your face and eyes. This is true for both formal portraits and glamour type portraits. High School "Senior Photos" can be slightly different, with more freedom in the posing style. It is the photographers' job to work the equipment, control the light and capture the image; it is your job to present the look and feel of the layout being shot.

Brightly colored clothing and bold patterns are a distraction, not a creative element. (Solid darker tones will make you look slender. Brighter tones can be used to accent your best features. Example: light color on a dark top will help brings the focus to your face.) Legs and arms should be covered for the same reason, the bare skin on the face should show in contrast to the background of the clothing. (For "Fashion" photography the opposite is true; the face and body needs to be downplayed to show the clothing or accessories being modeled. The posing is about the same but the lighting and camera angles will be different.)


Shiny jewelry will draw attention away from you and alter your look, limit the size and amount of jewelry unless that is the look you want. (It can be hard to keep hanging jewelry in line with the rest of the pose.)


Hire a makeup artist and you will be surprised at the kind of subtle differences correct application of make up can make. A makeup artist can also give you (Either male or female models) tips on how to look your best. (You don't really think all of the people in fashion photographs just look like that all the time, do you?) When posing you should always strive for good posture and SMILE.


1. Sit with your body facing to one side (Right or left depending on the look you want.), almost but not quite at right angles to the camera. (A 90 degrees straight on shot is jokingly called a "Football Shoulders" shot and should be avoided.) Hold in your stomach and twist at the waist to bring both of your shoulders in view of the camera. (By twisting at the waist your abdomen will look thinner and more toned in the portrait.) If you carry a few extra pounds stick out your chin a little to avoid the appearance of a double chin. (By projecting the chin out toward the camera and using a slightly higher camera position a double chin can be nearly eliminated.)


2. Raise the leg closest to the camera (be carful with short skirts.), causing the torso (and the shoulders) to tilt slightly away from the camera (especially important for females). Bring your arms and hands out into your lap area, keep your elbows close the the side of your body. Separate the hands with the little finger side of the hand toward the photographer and place them between joints. Let your hands fall naturally into position, you want to look like yourself, not a doll in a store. Keep your fingers slightly apart and pointed away from the camera lens. If the hand is above the waist, the fingers should be directed upwards, if below the waist the fingers should be directed down. (The sides are much more graceful than the flat of the hand. Fists are masculine, open hands are feminine.)


3. Now lean forward from your waist (This may not feel like a normal way to sit, but it will eliminate the static look of straight vertical lines while giving the portrait a look of life and excitement. More or less lean can dramatically alter the size and look of the chest area for both men and woman, adjust for the type of image you want.), hold your shoulders back, keep your stomach flat, and turn (rotate) your head to line up with an imagery spot about two feet to the side of the camera then turn your eyes the rest of the way to look at the camera. (Men: Tip your head to the lower (masculine) shoulder. If you tip to the high (feminine) shoulder the look will be more feminine. Women: Tip toward either shoulder, but the feminine (high) shoulder is more appealing.) Do not confuse the "Tip" with "Rotation" rotate first then tip. (Males: the eyes should be closer to the direction of the nose, head looking closer to the camera. Females: the eyes should be slightly more whites of the eyes on one side than on the other, head turned slightly further away from the camera. All: Look to the centerline of the portrait, adjust the shoulders as needed to match the head.)


Take direction from the photographer and break the sight line of the joints in your body by bending and twisting, move your feet, knees, shoulders, arms, hands, and elbows to different positions. (Each should be at different high levels for a more interesting and dynamic look than when placed side by side. Woman: Gently flowing lines Men: Bold sharper angles.) Whenever possible, try to "point" (putting the foot in the same line as the calf) your feet. (The traditional reason for pointing one's feet is to tighten up the calf muscles, making the calf look more toned. An additional benefit of extending the lines of the calf into the foot is to give the illusion of longer, leaner legs.) The pose for a head and shoulders portrait, or a full body shot should be treated the same. Control all the joints in your body because the position of body parts outside the shot will have an effect on the look within the shot.


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Relax and breathe normally so your photos will look as if you just happened to be sitting this way when the photographer walked up. Also, please SMILE! (Smile with your mouth open, revealing your upper teeth, but not your lower ones (practice in mirror if necessary). You will look (and feel) like a tool when the picture is being taken, but in the actual photo you will look very cheery and lively.)


4. From this basic set up be bold and experiment with variations. Different facial expressions - serious, excited, in anticipation, smiling with teeth showing, smiling without teeth showing, smile with just your eyes, sexy, intense, laugh, for a dramatic impact on the mood of the shot look away to an imaginary horizon. (When you cast your eyes to the left or right, you create an air of mystery. When you look up and away, you are annoyed. Tilt your chin slightly down and look straight ahead for a sexy look.) Change to a differnt location or change the background.


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Changing the angle of the head - slightly tweaking the angling of the face can have a tremendous impact on the look and feel of the shot. Alter the head and shoulders along with the eyes. Both rotation and tip can be adjusted through a range. (Keep some white showing on both sides of each eye. Keep the chin pointing down or extended slightly to control the shadows on the neck.)

Try new positions - Rotating to directly face the camera or look off to the side, move hands into shots, try looking over the back of a chair, lay down, stand up, turn to profile, etc. . . (When standing place the weight on the back foot and shift the hips to bring the other leg forward and in line with the camera. Bring the knee closest to the camera up slightly amd twist it in front of the leg you have your weight on, Point your forward foot then bend at the knee and bring the it back behind the forward knee. Just light put your toes on the floor for balance, keep your weight on the back leg. This will give a pleasing "S" curve to your body. When lying down keep the body in a plane at right angles to the camera. Think about perspective and depth of field. Any body part (foot, leg, hand, arm, finger, etc...) that extends toward the camera will appear larger then the rest of your body. ) Add a few accessories like a hat or scarf to kick up the interest of the shot. Use Black and White to convey timelessness.

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Make Suggestions - Never be afraid to try out some of your own poses with your photographer. Most photographers are glad to hear your ideas and try them out.

Add more people or pets - When doing groups of people each person needs to consider the above. If a pet is going to be included, add the animal last.

Now that you have learned what to do, consider these things you should avoid while posing:

Don't hold your breath during a pose. Natural breathing will show as a more alive and dynamic portrait.

Don't hold your position like a statue. In most pose situations you want your smile, neck, arms, legs, wrists, hands, etc. . . to be relaxed. If the situation allows, keep moving slightly all the time.

Don't always use the same smile. You should have a good variety of smiling and serious looks. But, sometimes you will want to give a large, open-mouthed laugh. If you are supposed to be happy, look the part!

Don't Blink! Do not pay attention to the flash. Blink between exposures. Some models get into a habit of anticipating the strobes and start to close their eyes when the picture is about to be snapped. Concentrate on the pose, your body language, hand position, etc. . .

Avoid misleading body language. Body language and expressions come naturally but the language you are projecting might not be what your photographer wants in a particular pose. You need to consciously focus on ways to project the image being shot with your entire body, not just your face.

Don't point anything at the camera. A camera records images as flat (2-Dimension) photos, however, we all live in a three demionsal world. The effect that makes objects close to the camera look big is called "Forshortening" and should be avoided. This is the same reason that you can feel awkward when directed to pose. The camera only records the flat image so in order to make the image look real a pose that is not typical of everyday positiining is sometimes necessary.

Don't be critical of yourself. When you look at your final images find positive ways to improve your posing by identifying your strengths and uncovering your weaknesses.  Work to improve your strengths and minimize your weaknesses.

Thank you to all the peope that have made this page possible: Joe, Jamel, Heidi, Tia, Sharon, Ellie, Sarah Beth, Sarah Lynn.