Of course, high heels also tend to add sex appeal
to the image.
Avoid Distortion.One of the things to avoid
when posing the feet is placing them too far for-
ward. If they are closer to the camera than the
model’s body, this can cause distortion. If the as-
signment calls for this kind of pose, subdue the
effect by using shadows and dramatic lighting. If
a model has larger feet, have her wear simpler
shoes or heels; the simpler the shoes, the smaller
the feet will look. (Note:Knowing how to make
a bikini-clad model with big feet appear to have
more average feet can provide for immediate
sales; enlarging small feet, however, can cost you
the sale—and even reduce your reputation as a
photographer.)
Grooming.As you study your model’s legs,
your eyes will take you to her feet. If she’s bare-
foot or wearing open-toed shoes or sandals, make
sure her nail polish matches the set, clothing, and
her fingernails. Look for bad manicures; if you
spot bad toenails or ungroomed feet, have the
model wear closed-toe shoes or heels and politely
suggest a pedicure at her next salon appointment.
Even if your subject doesn’t plan on going bare-
foot, I still recommend a full pedicure before a
shoot. You just never know how the session will end up and it’s always
best to be prepared. (Note:Sometimes even toe rings can take away from
an image, so be cognizant of jewelry.)
Keep an Eye on the Clothing.Shoes aren’t the only clothing item
that effect the look of a model’s calves, buttocks, and legs. Therefore, it’s
important to observe the effect of the model’s clothing (or lack thereof),
to ensure that it accentuates the pose, rather than detracting from it. When
your subject is in a short dress, miniskirt, panties, bikinis, or nude, you
will want to emphasize poses that showcase the toes, calves, legs and
thighs.
Once you have all these parts where you want them—the waist, hips,
legs, and feet—and are sure that the pose fits the model, move up to the
next section: the torso.
Keep the Body Narrow and Parallel to the Camera
I always like to look at my models as being geometric
planes. If a person is standing facing the camera, the
model’s body creates a rectangle. However, that rectangle is
actually three-dimensional. If you were to measure the fur-
thest body point away from the camera to the closest body
point to the camera, you could determine the depth of the
form.
Now, if the model were to extend her arms outward on
each side, keeping them parallel to the rest of her body, the
width of her form would change, but the depth would not.
If, however, the model were to extend her arms so that one
was in front of her body and the other was behind her body,
the width of her form would not be changed, but its depth
would increase dramatically—it would probably at least dou-
ble from the original width.
It’s precisely this increase in depth that leads to a dis-
torted view of the human body when photographed through
a lens (especially a long telephoto). When working with a
shallow depth of field, you’ll also have out-of-focus hands
and arms if you focus on the face of your subject.
Imagining the model as a geometric plane helps me to
keep the plane as narrow and parallel to the camera as pos-
sible. This is critical to preventing distortion and eliminating
out-of-focus body parts. On occasion, of course, I might also
use a medium telephoto lens at a wide aperture to employ
this distortion to my benefit—but only if it enhances a mood
that I’m trying to convey.44POSINGTECHNIQUESFORGLAMOURPHOTOGRAPHY