Posing Fundamentals

A CreativeLive instructor refines a model's floor-sitting pose: legs turned sideways against foreshortening, front leg lowered and back knee raised, one hand on a knee and the other crossed over. She checks posture, negative space, curve and what sits closest to the lens, then brings out inspiration images.

Jerry Ghionis demonstrates how to move a woman from a flat-footed firing-squad stance into shape: feet together, one knee in front of the other, poses kept age-appropriate, softness plus strength for executives. He directs Rainey silently, having her mirror him, and shapes hands by rolling wrists into ballet-like positions.

Jay P. Morgan lists ten posing steps: pick a pose, fix anything unflattering while shooting, use hands and arms, hold posture, stop slouching, add a hop, keep talking, take more frames, change camera angle and lens, and add a prop. He then compares Tamron's 70-180mm, contextual 35mm and 28-75mm.