88POSINGTECHNIQUESFORGLAMOURPHOTOGRAPHY
Another effect of simply changing lenses to a higher magnification is
tighter framing of the subject. This tighter framing works great when a
model’s full body is included in the pose, especially if she’s sitting in a
chair or on a ledge. If the model’s body is more profiled, with the face
turned toward the camera, the body itself will form an imaginary diago-
nal from the head to the feet, usually from the upper corner of the frame
to the lower, opposite corner. While the image itself is a frame, the body
too forms a frame within the frame, keeping the viewer’s eye revolving
around in a circle of the rectangular frame of the image.
Long lenses are also helpful in tighter cropping of the pose itself. When
cropping the body, remember to always crop above the knee or the elbow.
Otherwise, your subject will look like she’s an amputee. There are some
exceptions. For example, sometimes I’m doing a glamour nude shoot and
I see body parts that form nice abstracts from the model’s pose, so I’ll
move—maybe even adjust the light—and capture the abstract image.
Other possibilities with longer lenses include cropping just above or
below the bust for a more headshot type of image. This type of shot will
place emphasis on the subject’s face (and a good photographer will pose
the body so it’s comfortable, resulting in a model with a happy face). Ul-
timately, it’s the face—and more specifically the eyes—that will tell the
story in this kind of image.
With a long lens you can also combine tight cropping with lens com-
pression to create a full-frame, tightly cropped image that is more oriented
toward one specific area of the body.
Direction of the Pose.
Natural Direction.The styling of the set can also force the photographer
to pose a model in a certain manner. Take, for example, a photograph of
a model straddling a bicycle. If the bicycle is facing in one direction,
chances are the model will be posed in that same direction; we normally
don’t ride a bicycle backwards. In this type of an image, the model could
place her hands on each handlebar, then lean forward slightly to create an
S-curve with her body. It’s best to keep your model’s face turned basically
in the direction of the action, too.
Cropping.Another indicator of direction when posing comes from
the cropping and composition of the image itself. Often I will have a
model “look” in one direction, then crop out unwanted parts of the image
from the opposite side of the frame. The idea is to leave room in the di-
rection the model is looking into, giving her somewhere to go. One of
the worst mistakes a photographer can make is to have a model looking in
one direction then crop in that direction, either by centering the model in