Urban Session (need advice and input)
JulieLawsonPhotography
Registered Users Posts: 787 Major grins
This is my first session with a guy. I'm not at all sure on how to pose guys. My brother-in-law came with us today, (The "model" and my bil are best friends), and he helped me by holding the new reflector and actually had some really good ideas on backgrounds.
This is only a few so far but thought I would get some input from you all.
1
I wish this would have shown more of the doorway, but there was construction equipment on the camera right.
2
3
This is only a few so far but thought I would get some input from you all.
1
I wish this would have shown more of the doorway, but there was construction equipment on the camera right.
2
3
0
Comments
I agree, centering the dorrway woulda been better. Uncross his arms. He's wearing a dress shirt, tuck it in. Point one of those feet toward the camera.
2- again.....no crossed arms.....makes him appear quite uptight about the idea of photos. Im not digging the gradient blur from the bottom of the frame.....or the square to the camera lean he is doing. Also, you have two sets of shadows.....the natural shadows(I presume) on the brick at his right(camera left) and the shadows from your portrait oriented shoe mounted flash rimming the edge of his body at his left side(camera right). Douse the pwer of the flash to lose the new shadow, or use a flash bracket to get it above the camera. Better yet.....get the flash off the camera altogether!
Also, he seems to be taller than you, and you probably should be shooting from a step ladder so you arent shooting up into and under his chin. I would ve used a ladder for these for sure.
3-Interesting background....though Im not a fan of the ADT signage, I do like the worn and aged looking signage on the other side. It has a slight tilt that could use straightening. His hands look nice, and the fact that you are shooting downward here flatters him better than the other angles. What if...though...instead of one kneeing it there on the pavement he were simply sitting naturally on the ledge below the gate?
In all of these, his shoulders are very square to the camera.
Your exposures (Im uncalibrated at the moment.....several hundred miles from my desk)look to be correct. Not really camera settings causing issue here, but as you hinted....the posing and camera angles could use a bit more help.
Jeff
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I like 1 but 2 & 3 don't have a nice background.
In 1 the composition is to the left & down. 1 could of have received a straight shoot it at the door. He lacks some naturality also there.
Edit: Oh. Construction
so I will basically lump all mine togetherrather than going from pic to pic...........
Your subject seems to be over exposed (way to light especially in 1st pic......oh damn I wasn't to do that was I?)
He is stiff in all of them.......some where I have heard a saying on posing.....if it bends.....BEND IT........
Hands and arms.....try not to cross unless you are going for a stern look with eyebrows raised and so on.....also do not let your subject do the fig leaf.....that is where the hands are folded over each other in front of the subject (looks like Adam holding a fig leaf to cover himself)....these are the 2 poses that should never be done unless it truly will fit into the scheme or theme of the shoot.
with leaning against walls and door ways.....99.9% of he guys out there will have to put a foot on the wall or door......it might just be a guy thing, but we seem to do it.......so that may have helped to relax him.....also tell jokes, talk to your subject..... have your helper talk to the subject.......
When talking always have your eye glued to the viewfinder and be ready for some great expressions.................................
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#1 - The shirt. Not the right shirt (it's too long) but I disagree with tucking it in. Your client is a big guy and tucking the shirt in for a shot like this would not be flattering. A better idea would be some sort of (untucked) polo shirt. How do I know? 'Cause I suffer from some of the same issues!
#2 - Crossed arms. Gradient Blur. Lean. There's a bit of list to port in the photo as well - straighten your horizon on the framing of the door. All of these detract from the image. A man leaning is alright, this is just a bit too much.
#3 - This is the best of the group. I think I would crop a bit from the top and left, placing him closer to the lower left quadrant of the photo rather than having his head dead-centered in the image. Jeff is right about the kneeling position. It doesn't look quite natural. Sitting on the ledge would be a better idea ... maybe turn his body from the camera just a bit? The light here is just about dead on. You have nice strong side light (without blowing anything out) and the fill is just about perfect. Straighten your horizon ... or introduce more tilt to make it look intentional.
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Thanks Scott. I hope that he finds something that he likes from this session. He knew that I have never photographed a male subject. Unfortunately I have a lot of him with his arms crossed. I just didn't know what to do with his arms/hands. I am glad to know that most of the images are exposed correctly. I just need to learn more about posing guys.
Thanks so much guys for your help and advice. I appreciate it.
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