52_poseguide1

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PhotoPlus Septem

PhotoPlus September 2011 ber 2011 ||11

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our

guide

to…

Over 50 great poses for shooting

your own pro-looking portraits

Perfect

Portraiture

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Learn some fun and creative poses for improving your people pictures

A

nybody with a Canon D-SLR can take a portrait. You just get somebody to look down your lens and you press the shutter button, right? But to capture top-quality portraits like the pros, you need to put some more thought and preparation

into your shots. Once your Canon is set up, and exposure and lighting are sorted, it’s really down to your composing and the model’s posing to work together for the best results. In part one of your free portrait posing guide you’ll learn all the skills you

need to instantly transform your portraiture. From how to set up, shoot and style your own photo shoot to injecting some creativity and working on connecting and collaborating with your subjects, these are essential skills you’ll need to take portraits like the pros.

…w i t h a f u l l -

l e n g t h r e ﬂ e c t o r

t h i s s i d e t o

b o u n c e l i g h t

b a c k h e r e

Digital version available to download and print at: http://downloads.photoplusmag.com/52_poseguide1.zip

W e u s e d o n e

ﬂ a s h h e a d a n d

l a r g e s o f t b o x t o

l i g h t o u r m o d e l

f r o m t h i s s i d e …

W e ﬁ xe d o u r

e x p o s u r e i n

Ma n u a l m o d e

a n d fo r a l l o u r

p o r t r a i t s i t w a s

1 / 6 0 s e c a t f / 1 3 ,

a n d I S O 1 0 0

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Portrait posing guide

W o r k w i t h y o u r

s u b je c t w h i l e sh o o t i n g

t o e n s u r e g r e a t

e y e c o n t a c t a n d

a n i n v i t i n g s m i l e

F o r a l l o u r p o r t r a i t s

w e u s e d a C a n o n

E F 2 4 - 1 0 5 m m f / 4 L

I S U S M , b u t a n y

s t a n d a r d z o o m l e n s

w i l l d o t h e j o b

O n e k n e e a n g l e d

i n fr o n t o f t h e o t h e r

c a n a d d e xt r a

c u r v e s t o t h e b o d y

T r y o n e a r m

r e s t e d o n

t h e i r h e a d

– t h i s a l s o

s t r e t c h e s o u t

t h e s t o m a c h

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Invite your model to sit comfortably – a chair can act as a versatile prop

T

o get the most out of your portrait subjects, you need to learn to connect with them as you shoot. Building up rapport with people is one of the quickest ways to get the best poses and expressions out of them – and it will transform simple

snaps into portraits like the professionals. But don’t expect to get top shots straight away. It will take a while for you to get your eye in and for your model to settle into the shoot. So don’t be disappointed if the ﬁrst few shots aren’t that strong. Build up slowly,

relax, take your time, and remember to have fun and to keep the mood upbeat. Offer clear feedback for how you want your model to position themselves, showing them your shots on your LCD as you shoot, and you’ll soon get the results you’re after.

H a n d s

p o s i t i o n e d

o n t h i g h s

f o r a d d e d

s e n s u a l i t y

S i t t i n g si d e w a y s s h o w s

o f

f m o r e o f t h e i r l e g s !

T r y s i m p l y g e t t i n g

y o u r s u b j e c t t o t i l t

t h e i r h e a d t o o n e

s i d e fo r a b e t t e r p o s e

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Portrait posing guide

S i t t i n g b a c k w a r d s

o n a c h a i r a n d

si d e - o n t o y o u

c r e a t e s a m o r e

d y n a m i c b o d y

p o s i t i o n

S t a n d i n g o n t i p - t o e s

ﬁ r m s u p c a l f a n d

t h i g h m u sc l e s

R e l a xe d h a n d s

= r e l a xe d m o d e l !

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Try shooting from low down and up high for more creative portrait shots

W

hen shooting from down low on the ground and pointing back up to your subjects (as illustrated in our examples below), you’ll need very high ceilings and tall stands for your backdrop to go high enough when shooting indoors.

Alternatively, use a ﬂashgun and shoot outside, using the sky as a colourful background to your portraits instead.

Another top tip is to keep your studio space clean. If you’re shooting full-length portraits with people’s feet in your shots,

then be careful to keep your ﬂoor and backdrops spotless – otherwise you’ll have to spend time cleaning up and cloning out footprints and dusty marks in Photoshop afterwards, as we ended up doing for some of our portrait shots!

S h o o t i n g f r o m

l o w d o w n

w i l l m a k e

p e o p l e ’s l e g s

s e e m l o n g e r

G e t y o u r s u b j e c t

t o f a c e a w a y

f r o m y o u t h e n

l o o k b a c k o v e r

t h e i r s h o u l d e r

G e t t i n g p e o p l e t o

l o o k d o w n a t y o u

d i s p l a y s a m o r e

d o m i n a n t a n d

s t r o n g e r l o o k

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G e t t i n g y o u r

s u b j e c t t o l o o k

u p w a r d s m a k e s

t h e m l o o k m o r e

s u b m i s s i v e

a n d i n n o c e n t

Y o u r s u b j e c t ’ s c h o i c e o f

c l o t h i n g a n d f o o t w e a r

w i l l h a v e a d r a m a t i c

i m p a c t o n y o u r p o r t r a i t s

U s e a s m a l l s t e p l a d d e r

t o g e t a b o v e y o u r s u b j e c t

t o s h o o t d o w n f o r m o r e

c r e a t i v e p o r t r a i t s

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Zoom in for full-face shots and experiment with different looks

I

f you’re shooting in a home or

professional studio, why not try shooting tethered to your computer? We used Canon’s free EOS Utility software and connected our Canon D-SLR to our computer with the USB cable that came

with our camera. Shooting this way enables you see your shots instantly on a big screen to review them more accurately – then you can instantly work out what to do to improve them, whether it’s to move a light closer, to turn it up or down, to add a reﬂector, or

change your exposure for brighter or darker results. It’s also very handy as you can give clear instructions to your subjects to pose in a different way by showing them on the monitor what you’d like them to do differently for the next round of shots.