body or on some element of the scene. The support leg is straight and the ac-
cent leg is less dramatically posed than it might be in other styles.
Additional Clothing Concerns.
I have two additional clothing suggestions. First, make sure that it fits prop-
erly. Clothing that is too baggy will add weight/width to the client, and this
is only good if you have thinner guy who wants to look bulkier. Conversely,
too-tight clothing will show every bulge and line. Proper fit is especially im-
portant in standing full- and three-quarter-length portraits, since more of the
clothing will show and there’s less you can do to disguise problems.
A second area of concern is the contrast (or lack of contrast) between the
subject’s clothing and the background. This is a major factor in posing when
the subject is standing, and especially in
full-length portraits. Ideally, you want
the areas of the body that show weight-
related issues to blend into the back-
ground while important areas, such as
the face, legs, and cleavage (if showing),
contrast with the background. This will
draw the eye to only these places.
The idea here is to coordinate the
background to the clothing and hold
the viewer’s eyes where you and your
client want it. For example, let’s imag-
ine you are designing a portrait from
the ground up with a client who will do
exactly what you ask. The client has a
fair complexion wants a full-length por-
trait that focuses on her long legs. What
would you do? Ideally, you would put
the client in darker tones, but have her
wear a short skirt with high heels.
Then, you would select a scene that is
dark enough to give separation to the
subject’s skin tone without contrasting
with the dark clothing. If you did this,
the eye of the viewer would be drawn
to every area of skin. With a long-
sleeved top, the only areas of skin visi-
ble would be the face and her long legs.
Now, this is in a perfect world where
a client listens to what you say. In the
88 JEFF SMITH’S POSING TECHNIQUES FOR LOCATION PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHY
In this image, the subject’s contrasting out-
fit is matched by the tones the appear in the
background.