arms to support the face and/or shoulders. The process is very similar for re-
clining seated poses or poses that have the subject leaning forward.
Glamorous Posing.When I hear “sexy,” “glamorous,” “alluring,” “attrac-
tive,” “as beautiful as possible,” or “like the girls on the covers of the maga-
zines,” I turn to what I call glamorous posing. Many photographers see the
phrase “glamorous pose” and think of images that have the clients’ breasts pop-
ping out of their clothing or a guy with his shirt off, exposing his muscles—but
the same emotional responses these images create can actually be generated in
a head and shoulders pose that reveals nothing more than the hands and face.
Essentially, glamorous poses are the opposite of resting poses. Resting poses
show the person as they really are; glamorous poses show the subject as they
wish they were.
The idea behind glamorous posing is to give the client something like what
they see in beauty and fashion magazines. Our clients are exposed to the coolest,
sexiest, most appealing images ever created. Every month, in every magazine
they pick up, they see images created by some of the world’s best photogra-
phers. Still, many photographers never understand the impact that these im-POSING 89To learn how to create resting poses,
watch how people position themselves
when they are relaxed.