Jeff Smith. Posing Techniques for Location Portrait Photography. 2008

texture of the muscles in his stomach area. Simply turn the subject away from

the main light to enhance the shape of this area.

Let’s imagine, however, that a second man comes in who is—well, we

won’t say he’s overweight, but he’s eight to twelve inches too short for his

current weight. If you show his stomach, you’ll make him look like he’s nine

months along and expecting twins. In this case, the prudent thing to do

would be to hide his stomach completely, which you can do with careful light-

ing and posing, and by pairing dark-colored clothing with a dark background.

As noted above in our discussion of the bustline, you’ll want to eliminate

shadows on this area by turning it toward the main light.

Hips and Thighs.

This is probably the most important part of the body if you photograph

women. While men gain weight in their double chins and stomachs, woman

FLATTER THE CLIENT 53

Here, the subject straddles a log and leans
far forward—another possible pose for con-
cealing the stomach area.

You’ll want to eliminate shadows

on this area by turning it toward

the main light.