giving direction

juliec

hey guys,
i'm pretty new to doing portraits, even though i've always loved taking pictures of people. but i find myself nervous when it comes to posing people. like i don't completely yet know how to convey the picture i have in my head so that it translates to film (er, well, computer)... any ideas? do you all have any tricks? what are some of your favorite poses?

i_worship_the_King

EDIT:: AHH!! I didn't see this was your first post! Welcome to dGrin! We're so glad you're here!

I admit, I'm terrible at this too. Usually I spend about 30 minutes before a shoot cruising over the 'People' forum and/or checking out sites I have googled in advance for poses. I try to latch on to 2-3 and strive to make up at least 1 on the fly.

Plus, for me, it's really difficult to change shooting environments when posing people. For instance on day I may be asked to shoot someone outdoor, alone, and the poses will be completely different from say posing for a senior pic, or for a formal line of people like at a prom where the shots are kind of cookie-cutter. A quick review always seems to help though!:D

sweet caroline

I usually start with asking people to sit or stand comfortably "over there". I take a couple shots, while talking to them, then say "let's try..." And I adjust them. I need to develop some standard poses I pull out to avoid wasting time. I think the more I do this, the better I get at recognizing what looks good.

I have a family to shoot today of 7 cousins, ages 7-14. I'm definitely nervous about the posing! Kids need more direction in some ways than adults.

Caroline

ivar

Hi Julie,

Welcome to Dgrin

Let me start by saying that I don't take 'formal' portraits, or even a lot of posed portraits for that matter; I try to only shoot 'candid-like' shots.

When I am around a person that I want to get a photo off, I don't get my camera out right away; I try talking to him/her or even someone else if there is someone else around. It's mainly to let the person relax a bit, even if you know him/her very well, most people are still a bit 'nervous' when you come in with a big camera in front of your face. It also helps to look at the person and see what angle looks good, etc. I do usually keep my camera close so that I can take it and snap the moment that I think I may get a decent shot.

Nikolai

Julie,
it's a very good, but rather loaded question, since the there is no single answer that would cover all circumstances. Posing professional models in the studio, posing a family for a beach shot and and posing B&G during the "formals" require totally different approaches, and those three are just samples, the list goes on an on.
I think the best advise would be to scout for samples and make notes (mental or written) on what works and what not. Any major photo forum with people/portrait/wedding section (including dgrin) would provide hundreds of such images, and if this is not enough - just google images for some random female or male name and enjoy the endless list...
Once you have an idea, you need to start shooting, and with practice will come your own set of rules of what works with whom and what not.
And of course there are tons of workshops

jeffreaux2

Nikolai wrote:

Julie,
it's a very good, but rather loaded question, since the there is no single answer that would cover all circumstances. Posing professional models in the studio, posing a family for a beach shot and and posing B&G during the "formals" require totally different approaches, and those three are just samples, the list goes on an on.
I think the best advise would be to scout for samples and make notes (mental or written) on what works and what not. Any major photo phorum with people/portrait/wedding section (including dgrin) would provide hundres of such images, and if this is not enough - just google images for some random female or male name and enjoy the endless list...
Once you have an idea, you need to start shooting, and with practice will come your own set of rules of what works with whom and what not.
And of course there are tons of workshops

.....that is very well put Nik.

...and....what about infants who don't...quite...er...speak the language yet?

Nikolai

jeffreaux2 wrote:

.....that is very well put Nik.

Thanks, Jeff:-)

...and....what about infants who don't...quite...er...speak the language yet?

Dunno, but that's why I don't normally work with the underage crowd (well, not *only* because of that ;-P )

sweet caroline

With babies, they are all candid shots! They don't hide anything, they don't get self conscious, they don't care about pleasing you....

Caroline