Posing for Portrait Photography

In a photograph of two people, the mouth of the higher subject

should be at about the same level as the eyes of the lower subject.

As you add more people to the composition, you may need to select

a different point of reference—it may be that the eyes line up with

the chin, or the top of the head lines up with the mouth, etc.

Keeping this guideline in mind will help you to place each person

within the group.

Start with the Core.

In posing a group, you should start out with the core people. This

could be Mom and Dad, Grandpa and Grandma, a baby—it all

depends on the portrait. Once the core is in place, you can start pos-

ing the additional people around that point of focus. As you add

people, be sure to keep the distances between each person the same

(or at least as close as possible). Start off with a triangular arrange-

ment in mind and then modify it as you see fit.

Your Best Work for Every Client.

One final comment about families and groups. I started my studio

in the little town I grew up in—a town with a population of around

four thousand (not the best business choice I have ever made). I

found the two areas of photography I excelled in were seniors and

families and, to that end, I started studying and developing my skill

in these fields. I became pretty good at posing family groups—in

fact, I thought I was so good that I knew more about posing to

please my clients than they did.

About three years after I opened my studio, I was hired by a

Russian family to come to their home and take a family picture.

They had no problem with the price I charged, but they refused to

come in for a consultation and they said they knew what they wear-

ing in the photograph, so there was no reason to discuss clothing

either. On top of that, they said there was no need for me to come

to their home to look at it before the day of the session, because it

was going to be taken there and that was it. I hesitated before sched-

uling the appointment, but at that point in my career I needed every

dime, so I booked it.

I arrived an hour before the session to look around the home

and determine where to shoot. I was greeted by the grandmother,

who promptly gave me an old photograph and explained that this

was exactly what she wanted. It was five men standing and their five

wives sitting on a plain bench in front of a white wall. Being a pho-

tographer with a healthy ego, I explained to her how many other

ways we could take the portraits to make them more interesting and

beautiful. She smiled, handed me the payment for the sitting fee,

POSING MULTIPLE CLIENTS 111

I thought I was so good that

I knew more about posing to

please my clients than they did.