Posing for Portrait Photography

bodies than everyone else, they will look like they don’t belong with
the group. To keep people a similar distance visually, look to the face
as a marker.
How close should you pose the people in the group? There are
several factors to consider. First, you might want to choose a close
grouping if there is a baby in the photo, lowering the adults down
to the level of the baby. Tighter groupings are also good for families
who want to create a sense of closeness in their portrait. Because
closer groupings also isolate a small amount of a scene or back-
ground, they can be used when you don’t need or want to show
much of the setting.
If, on the other hand, your
client wants to show more of
the scene or wants large props
(horses, cars, ATVs) in a pose,
then the grouping will have to
be spaced out to maintain a
good composition.
In either case, a triangular
composition is always a good
starting place. It is always better
than having no composition,
which is what I see in many fam-
ily portraits.

Head Placement.

There are some old rules that
have been very helpful to me
when I have worked with posing
more than one person.
The first word of advice is to
never have anyone’s head on the
same level as another person’s
head. This can be challenging
with larger groups, but it keeps
the pose and composition from
looking like a lineup. With fifty
people, your posing options are
limited, and you might have sev-
eral people at the same height,
but that’s just life—and some-
times art must suffer when you
need to photograph a gross of
people.

110 POSING FOR PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHY

In a photograph of two people, the mouth of the higher subject should be at about the same

level as the eyes of the lower subject.

How close should you pose the

people in the group?