O
ver the past seven years I’ve taught almost three-hundred glam-
our, beauty, and nude photography workshops and seminars from
Maui to the Virgin Islands, from Europe and Mexico to Canada, and
throughout the United States. At these classes, the most commonly asked
question is, “How do I pose a model?” That’s a tough question to an-
swer; as in most genres of photography, there are infinite possibilities when
it comes to posing a model for a glamour, beauty, or nude image. How-
ever, there are fundamentals that come into play, concepts and
principles that help a photographer manage those infinite possibil-
ities. These principles are like a road map that will lead to well-
posed subjects.
This book focuses on exposing some of those posing funda-
mentals, along with understanding why the lighting, clothing, di-
rection, scene, and more must also synergize with the pose to
create an effective image. You’ll find some simple poses as well as
some more complex ones. There are even a few “stair-stepped” im-
ages that show you exactly how to get from a mental concept to a finished
photograph. You’ll learn how communication is tied into achieving the
pose you want, as well as how composition, cropping, and lens compres-
sion effect the pose you should choose and the overall process of creating
an image. I’ll show you some of the “master’s secrets” along with the tra-
ditional techniques.
While there are many on-line guides to posing and even posing flash-
cards, rarely do the sources actually tell you how to accomplish the demon-
strated pose or why it might be a good choice for a given model or a given
image concept. There might be a few great poses, usually because the
model being photographed knew what she was doing, but ultimately
you’re given no clear directions. Additionally, few of those guides and
flashcards incorporate the scene (foreground and/or background) or
Introduction..
There areinfinite
possibilitieswhen it
comes to posing a model
for a glamour, beauty,
or nude image.10POSINGTECHNIQUESFORGLAMOURPHOTOGRAPHY