Posing Techniques for Glamour Photography

While I don’t shoot a lot of “teeth” pho-

tos, I do capture them from time to time—es-

pecially when my subject has perfect teeth.

Perfect teeth are a big asset, but even if your

subject has them, if she can’t provide any-

thing but a forced smile, you’ll have to for-

get about the teeth and concentrate, instead,

on her overall facial look. In glamour pho-

tography, it’s always about the look; even

subjects with not-so-perfect teeth photo-

graph well if handled properly.

The Eyes.

Finally we’ve come to the part of the body

that I leave for last—even though it’s proba-

bly the most important part of any pose and

certainly the most important part of the

image itself: the eyes. I save the eyes for last

because I don’t want the eyes to become dis-

tracted once I have them where I want them.

Once I have everything else posed in an ap-

pealing manner and have asked the model not

to move anything, then I can shift my focus

on the eyes. Basically, I will ask the model not

to move anything else but to subtly change

her facial expressions as I shoot.

My approach to glamour photography is

to ensure that the eyes are the main point of

interest, while everything else on the set or

scene becomes secondary. I also keep in mind that the shape, color, and

texture of anything else in the frame can detract from the eyes, so I avoid

emphasis on inanimate elements.

Avoid Canoeing.As noted on page 20, I try to avoid canoeing as

much as possible, although it is acceptable in some cases (especially in tight

facial shots; see page 65). After all, the great Hollywood glamour pho-

tographer George Hurrell often had his models’ irises swimming in white.

Models with larger eyes tend to work best for this kind of image because

the entire iris shows; models with smaller eyes tend to lose some of the iris

when the eye is captured in this way.

Direction of the Eyes.In glamour photography, the model will nor-

mally look directly at the camera—after all, glamour photograph is about

Hawaiian Tropic model Kristen accentuates her eyes by turning her head
a bit. This prevents the irises of the eyes from appearing centered in the
white portion of the eyes. This also prevents the "deer in the headlights"
look. (Camera:Olympus E-1;Lens:effective 54mm;ISO:100;Shutter
speed:^1 / 125 second;Aperture:f/3.5;Lighting:available window light;
White balance:6000K)

THEHEAD,NECK,ANDFACE67