props. A lot of good that will do you if your
client wants a gorgeously posed photograph
in front of her new Porsche!
Even fewer of these guides address the
impact of lighting—and lighting can change
the impact of a pose without the body itself
moving a fraction of an inch. For example,
while the physical pose might be the same,
the lighting for a model’s head-shot comp
card (her promotional calling card) would
usually be totally different than the lighting
for a Hollywood-style glamour portrait. As
a result of this change in lighting, though,
identical poses could take very different fla-
vors. Here’s another example: for some
time, I’ve been working on a “one light”
challenge, creating a collection of erotic im-
ages in an editorial style. When photo-
graphing a nude model with her legs apart,
however, using the wrong lighting (i.e.,
eliminating strategic shadows from the
image) can lead the image to be viewed as
pornographic rather than editorial. At the
same time, knowing how to light a classic
nude image of a model laying on her side in
such a way that her upper thighs don’t ap-
pear “thick” can make a traditional pose go
from horrible to appealing.
There is no substitute for a great pose
paired with a proper foreground and/or
background (plus great lighting, composi-
tion, cropping, and a harmonious expres-
sion, of course). It all has to come together
in one frame to produce a truly top-quality
photograph.
Posing is an art—and it’s just as full of
passion as any other art. It can send a mes-
sage and even tell a story. In some genres,
such as fashion photography, the pose is designed to accent something
other than the model, like the clothes that she is wearing or the product
she is holding. In glamour, beauty, and nude photography, every elementStaircases help add leading lines, and the best angle is normally shooting
up (a low angle makes the model look taller and thinner, while a high angle
down will shorten and add weight to a model). The rails also give a model
something to hang onto. Here, grasping the railing allowed Sheila to lean
back, creating a nice S-curve along her body—as well as diagonal lines in
her arms, neck, and face. Notice how Sheila used one leg, the one closest
to the camera, as a support leg and the another as an accent leg. (Camera:
Canon 5D;Lens:Canon 70–200mm f/2.8L IS, USM lens, effective focal
length at 115mm;ISO:100;Shutter speed:^1 / 25 second [slow to capture
some of the ambient light coming from a glass door];Aperture:f/7.1;
Lighting:Hensel Integra Pro Plus 500 monolight fitted with a medium
Chimera Super Pro Plus Soft Strip and a Lighttools 40-degree honeycomb
grid placed in the front of the box;White balance:6000K)
INTRODUCTION