Tips for a great pose
Advice and GuideA great picture is not only for nostalgia, but it is very important for people like models and celebrities! A great picture will promote you tremendously in your career especially if you are a newbie in fashion as well as the entertainment industry. To make a great picture, it takes more than a team of talented specialists such as make-up artist, hairstylist, creative director, art director, image consultant, and of course most important the photographer. So how do you work up a great pose for the camera? Let’s look at some tips below:
Break symmetry
Standing still with arms at your side and looking right into the camera really looks boring and dull! If you read fashion magazines then you will notice that the models always twist their body. They will raise one hand higher than the other and the feet also point to a different direction or stand on different levels. By doing so, it makes the photos taken look interesting, dynamic and lively. This is called “broken symmetry” in photography terminology. You can learn these posing tricks by studying the models’ poses from magazines.
Stay in your light
The photographer will normally have one light brighter than the others. You’d want to point your chest and face towards that light so that the important parts of your body are \well lit. Sometimes the photographer may tell you to point your body in different ways; this is because the photographer wants to emphasize the different parts of your body.
Framing
You must know how much of you will be shown in the picture. If you are taking a full-length shot, your posture, arm placement and leg position are very important to make the photo look lively. If you are taking a tight head shot, you can just concentrate on your face expression.
Hitting your mark
The lighting set-up is always designed for the model to be in a particular spot. You will be thrown off from the camera focus if you move away from your position. It will also destroy the alignment of the shot and distort the perspective. Most of the times the photographer will ask you to hold in a difficult pose that might make you feel uncomfortable and “off balance”. You need to hold this position well because it will look great on film! So practice your balance!
Understand what the photo is saying
You must have the idea of what the photo will convey. This will help you to know what expressions, gestures, poses and feeling to present! For instance, if you are shooting for commercial work, your facial expressions are important to communicate the emotions. You can practice your posing, expressions, etc in the mirror everyday.
Besides the aforesaid, communicating and creating a good rapport with the photographer will also help in the final outcome.