body within the composition of
the frame. They did not, how-
ever, show how to make each
person within the group look
good individually and as a piece
of the whole composition. This
should be the standard you use
to judge your success: whether
it is a single body or a group of
bodies, each part must look
good both individually and as
an element of the overall image.
In this way, you will achieve the
look the client wants.
Capturing the “Real” Person.
Working with seniors, as we do,
90 percent of all the portraits we
take are casual poses. Seniors
and parents typically want por-
traits that capture the “real”
them. Many photographers en-
tering this market may find this
hard to believe, considering all
the senior photographers who
show samples that would be
classified as glamourous posing
and feature seniors in swimwear, push-up crop tops, and the like.
While some photographers might enjoy taking and looking at
portraits done in such a way, parents are unlikely to spend their
money on portraits that make their seventeen-year-old daughter
look like she belongs on a men’s calendar. In almost twenty years of
photographing seniors, I have had only three young ladies that
wanted to be photographed in swimwear. Two were at the request
of the mothers and one was for a pageant. As you can see, this type
of portrait doesn’t exactly generate big business.
The desire of our clients to capture the “real” person is the rea-
son why we always have clients select the poses and backgrounds
that most impress them in the sample books. This way the client
selects what is right for them. We also ask clients to bring in clip-
pings from magazines that show posing they like. These are ideas
that are handpicked by your target audience—which is much better
than getting ideas from photographers who are trying to fill seats at
a seminar instead of showing the less exciting ideas that actually sell.
34 POSING FOR PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHY
Each part of the body must look good both
individually and as an element of the overall
image. In this way, you will achieve the look
the client wants.