Men - where to put their hands?????

Ann McRae

So a work colleague of my dh needs promo photos, pronto, and guess whose name came up? Of course, this is perfect practice for me and I willingly agreed yesterday. Shoot scheduled for 9:30 a.m. tomorrow. Spent a bunch of time today reading about where to position lights, masculine vs. feminine posing etc etc etc. Tonight, played with the new lights in my basement, with the dh as 'model'. Well, no matter how I moved him, or instructed him, I did not succeed in removing the pickle that must be stuck somewhere in his dear body!

Anyway, I am uploading my pics to this gallery - unedited. They are meant as lessons in changing angle of model relative to light, changing distance of light from subject etc.

My space is about 70 square feet! The space carved out for the air hockey table...Not ideal - lots of junk all around to boot, so no clean backgrounds. So I am not looking for input on those things - I have no other space right now, and I know they are probelmatic.

I just hope to see some examples of 'corporate' headshot/body shot of men that can show me what to do with their hands!

Equipment being used:
1dMkIIN w/ pocket wizard.
580EX w/ pocket wizard and paramount attachment, behind the exercise bike so it did not become part of lighting.
2 strobes, Elinchrome, with umbrella reflectors. One usually about 45 degrees to subject, other behind me as fill. Changed it up a bit here and there.
17 - 40L for the lens. Could also take 70 - 200, 24 - 105, 50,85 or 135...probably take them all!

My favorites from the evening will be posted when the upload is complete.

ann

Nikolai

Ann,
I went throug the gallery... Noticed a few things here are my thoughts, in a random order...

• Nice looking strobes!
• I actually like the brick wall as the bg, I'd use it "as is" in a heartbeat (with the light modification, see below)
• I also like the leather chair/couch, very CEO looking, I'd move it closer to the wall and sat the subject on it.
• SS 1/30s? Do you plan on ambient light in your basement? One thing you *don't* want in your studio pictures is the ambient light. Most of the strobes are syncing at 1/250s, that's what you wanna shoot at (unless you want to milk it at the frame expense;-)
• One thing umbrellas are not very good at is the light control. Essentially, the light is going everywhere. And since the space is tight (and bright) you're getting a lot of the unwanted reflected light. Cover as many surfaces as you can with some light absorbing material
• What I'd suggest - and in my book it's a difference between a "good studio shot" and a "snapshot with off-camera lights" - is to get one light in the rembrandt position and the second one as a hair/rim position diagonally to it. Set it to +1 stop to the front one. Place some gobo object between it and the camera to avoid the lens flare.

HTH

David_S85

Good for you Ann for stretching your wings and saying yes to this project! And if there's a type of photography that scares the dickens out of me, it would be portraiture.

I found this in my saved website links — its old, but still has good tips on posing people.

Can't wait to see the results.

Ann McRae

Hi Nik, Random answers!
For starters, the shoot tomorrow isn't in my basement, sorry for not making that clear. It is at his place, totally unknown to me.
So, sadly the brick won't be there. I will certainly clean up and use the brick though - it is nice.

I don't know where 1/30 is from - my camera was set on 1/250 or 1/200 tonight.

But I still don't know what else to do with hands!

Nikolai wrote:

Ann,
I went throug the gallery... Noticed a few things here are my thoughts, in a random order...

• Nice looking strobes!
• I actually like the brick wall as the bg, I'd use it "as is" in a heartbeat (with the light modification, see below)
• I also like the leather chair/couch, very CEO looking, I'd move it closer to the wall and sat the subject on it.
• SS 1/30s? Do you plan on ambient light in your basement? One thing you *don't* want in your studio pictures is the ambient light. Most of the strobes are syncing at 1/250s, that's what you wanna shoot at (unless you want to milk it at the frame expense;-)
• One thing umbrellas are not very good at is the light control. Essentially, the light is going everywhere. And since the space is tight (and bright) you're getting a lot of the unwanted reflected light. Cover as many surfaces as you can with some light absorbing material
• What I'd suggest - and in my book it's a difference between a "good studio shot" and a "snapshot with off-camera lights" - is to get one light in the rembrandt position and the second one as a hair/rim position diagonally to it. Set it to +1 stop to the front one. Place some gobo object between it and the camera to avoid the lens flare.

HTH

Ann McRae

Thanks, David. This is my goal for this winter - portraits!

And it does push me far outside of my comfort zone. I am totally crazy because after I do the corporate shots, I am going to do newborn shots for a co worker, as a baby gift to her!
I'll check your link right away!

ann

David_S85 wrote:

Good for you Ann for stretching your wings and saying yes to this project! And if there's a type of photography that scares the dickens out of me, it would be portraiture.

I found this in my saved website links — its old, but still has good tips on posing people.

Can't wait to see the results.

Ann McRae

Favorites:
The DH:


The youngest son, gussied up for an outing:

BradfordBenn

One of the things to consider is what type of photo he wants. My company's "style" is a headshot (mine), not a 1/2 shot. But for higher ups it is seated at a table/desk often.

Also what is it going to be used for is the other question. An image for an annual report is going to be way different than an image for a bio page, typically.

Ann McRae

BradfordBenn wrote:

One of the things to consider is what type of photo he wants. My company's "style" is a headshot (mine), not a 1/2 shot. But for higher ups it is seated at a table/desk often.

Also what is it going to be used for is the other question. An image for an annual report is going to be way different than an image for a bio page, typically.

This is supposed to be a shot for his own promo/advertising. He is an investment guy. The sample that he may want to emulate is standing with arms crossed. We will see!

Zanotti

Your favorite shot of your husband is great from focus and lighting, spot on. I happen to like crossed arm shots, even for women, but many seem to have issue with that.

My only comment on your husband is that he looks slightly bent over or hunched over, weakening the pose. You may want to watch that for a corporate executive type who wants to radiate power.

Since this is a power shot, look for strong posing positions.


Z



PS: Nice family btw, fun in the basement! Your son acts like mine - when bored pull out the phone and text!




.

Zanotti

A link I found with some simple tips:


http://digital-photography-school.com/blog/portrait-photographys-power-posing-part-i-the-components/



Z





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Scott_Quier

Ann ... here are my thoughts.

• Depending on the purpose behind the portrait, crossed arms can work or not. That posture is very "closed" and off-putting/distancing.
• Hands - if they are seen, they need to be doing something.
• Stuffing a hand ALL the way into a pocket is not going to work. For some, a nice relaxed posture is to hook a thumb in the corner of the pocket or in the belt.
• Hands clasped in front of the crotch - not a goodness as it FORCES the view to look to that location. The two arms angling together, ending in the bright spot of the hands - what else could possibly happen.
• For a guy, shooting square on and from slightly below can be a very powerful image
• For heavier guys, a slight angling works
• Shooting from below, you can get and snooting, down the nose look which can also project a sense of power but it can also be intimidating and off-putting - again what's the purpose of the portrait and what image does the client want to project
• As with children, shooting down on a guy is usually not what you want as it tends to diminish the guy's presence.
• If the guy has a jacket, let him throw it over one shoulder hooking the collar with a thumb/finger as he's leaning on a wall. Here, the other hand could be hooked into a pocket (see above).

I HTH

Ed911

Try this link. It's got some pretty good advice on poses and some other stuff...

http://www.geocities.com/glowluzid/portrait/portrait.html

Nikolai

Ed911 wrote:

Try this link. It's got some pretty good advice on poses and some other stuff...
http://www.geocities.com/glowluzid/portrait/portrait.html

Very nice link, Ed, thanks for sharing!

Ann McRae

Z, Scott, Ed - thank you all. Great advice and great resources. Perhaps we can keep this thread alive with more tips and tricks of the trade!
ann