Enhance the Style of the Image.
Selecting the right clothing and setting goes hand in hand with posing; it is
only when the right pose is combined with the proper clothing, in the proper
setting, and with the appropriate expression, that the portrait attains a sense
of style. Only when everything in a portrait makes sense visually do you
achieve a portrait that really works. Achieving this requires that you look at
every aspect of the portrait and match each element to the others.Flatter the Subject.
A client I photographed years ago led me to write my bookCorrective Light-
ing, Posing, and Retouching Techniques for Portrait Photographers(also from
Amherst Media). She was the person who taught me what my job as profes-
sional photographerreallywas.
This young lady was very overweight... and none of the classes I ever had
taken, or the books I had read, had prepared me for photographing a person
like this. She wasn’t the first overweight person I photographed, of course,
but for the first time I really thought about how this young lady would feel
looking at her images. So I went into her session and I start hiding every area
where weight gain was visible. I used flowers, fake trees, columns, arms, legs,THE GOALS OF POSING 9LEFT—In an architectural setting, more for-
mal attire can support a glamorous posing
style.RIGHT—A casual outfit in an outdoor
setting calls for a casual pose.