photography is two-dimensional and that humans actually see the world
in three dimensions.
Framing.Probably the most important part of photography, when
viewing an image through the viewfinder, is the control the photographer
has over the framing (or crop) of the image. It’s this cropping that can
alter the mood, attitude, personality, character, etc., of the image and the
subject itself. A model standing tall in an image sends a different message
than the same model in the same pose photographed from the bust up.
Move In, Move Out.My advice to photographers is this: once you
have the pose you want, move in and move out, preferably with a prime
lens (non-zoom, fixed focal length), and get different perspectives of the
pose. You’ll be amazed at the variation you can achieve with the simple
technique.
Sometimes this type of photographic technique also builds confidence
in your model as she feels your excitement and passion in the shoot. When
I have a model exactly as I want her in a pose, she might feel I’m photo-
graphing her from head to toe, but in reality, I might just be shooting a
headshot. Rarely do I tell a model I’m going to move in for a closeup. If
you tell a model this, she’ll instantly shift her mental focus to “Oh my
God—a headshot!” As a result, her facial muscles will tighten. At that
point, capturing favorable facial expressions becomes much more difficult.
Get Creative.Although I may start with one pose in my head, I also
study and think about other potential variations on that pose—things that
BELOW AND FACING PAGE—In this series of
images of Sheila, the session started out
as a full-length, lying-down pose. With-
out having the model move at all, I then
tipped the camera and moved in closer
to the model to create the bust-up com-
position seen in the vertical image. Each
pose can normally provide at least four
possibilities, so don’t get stuck on one
cropping format. (Camera:Canon 5D;
Lens:Canon 85mm f/1.2L, USM lens, ef-
fective focal length 85mm;ISO:100;
Shutter speed:^1 / 40 second;Aperture:
f/4.5;Lighting:Hensel Integra Pro Plus
500 monolight fitted with a 7-foot
Chimera Octa57 octabox;White bal-
ance:6000K)