Posing—sitting vs. standing

The body speaks volumes in small nuances of positioning. I often will pose people standing as well as sitting.  The skeleton provides the framework for the body. A sitting position will naturally bend limbs like arms and legs. A limb that is bent also provides visual interest since it is less static.

If you ask a person to sit, s/he feels like they are “doing something.” Yet this helps them relax. More often than not, a relaxed subject will allow you to “see” into their persona. This makes for a better portrait.

If there is a height disparity in subjects (2 people in the scene/frame) it often alleviates the difference when they are seated.

If you choose to show hands in your portrait (I often do since I feel that hands can help provide storytelling fodder about the subject) make sure you deliberately position them with care. A seated position naturally allows for positioning in a lap rather than dangling arms at the side.

Some people photograph better standing but make sure you try a seated position too. I think you’d be surprised at results. It goes without saying that if you are using studio lighting that you must adjust your lights, but it’s well worth your time to try a seated pose.

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Run & Gun

Run & Gun isn’t especially evocative of professional shooting. For some reason, it brings snapshots to mind and casually pointing your camera at something that you happened to pass by. I can assure you —  it takes a fair amount of skill to get this kind of shooting to turn out.

This type of shooting is ideal for multiple speedlights. It’s on location and you will get a variety of shots. More than a static set up with studio strobes. There isn’t enough space in tight areas to drag in studio strobes. Plus, you get 10 minutes to do the shot. In tight areas, there may only be one angle to take the shot and shadow casts are on walls. Angling a shoot through umbrella downward will help get those shadow casts to fall to the ground out of the frame.

I took photos of some prominent position people, everyday people, headshots, working candids, working posed shots in all contexts and settings. Here’s a few.

For this one above, I used a shallow depth of field to blur out the distracting brochures in the background. Three Nikon speedlights were used to shoot everything. Sometimes I used modifiers like a Lightsphere or two, sometimes bounced lighting off walls and ceilings. If the walls were green (some were), I’d use a modifier or ceiling to bounce. Green would find its way into your scene as reflected light and add an unwanted color cast if you bounced it off a green wall.

I had lots of help. I enlisted people to hold my speedlights, but I also found it convenient to use a collapsible light stand and Westcott 43″ folding umbrella as one of the modifiers. It diffused the light better than just bouncing it.

Can’t say enough good things about the Westcott collapsible umbrella. It fits right into my backpack and is a shoot through umbrella.The stand I use is only 22″ I can carry in one hand. It extends to 8′ in height when opened.

Three speedlights were ideal to handle almost any condition within the locations.

If you’re putting together a speedlight kit, consider the weight and size of your load. Compact and simple to set up items are the mainstay of this type of shooting.

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Pressing Matters — Posing People

My formal training was for illustration. I had never dreamed that 4 years of figure drawing would help me as a photographer who photographs a lot of people. We did study the textbook Gray’s Anatomy for Artists. The human skeleton is the supporting framework for the attached muscles. Skin and clothing cover muscles, lending shape to the form. Viewers will detect in a minute when something drawn doesn’t “look right” in a drawing of the human body but often cannot identify the “why.” Drawings can be telltale, but cameras aren’t supposed to “lie.”

Posing stools vs. chairs
There’s nothing like a great chair as a prop, but what’s all the push for “posing stools” about? Do stools pose themselves?

Simplicity ranks highly in portraiture for the attention on the subject/person.  A person may look entirely different seated than standing. Many people are focused elsewhere when posing for you. A person can be more relaxed if seated so you’ll consider sitting them on something as well as different poses. If there is a great disparity in height and you’re photographing two people, it’s a frequent solution to have them both sit so you can photograph them together as a single subject without interference in composition. Stools take up less space than chairs and you can move your subjects closer together if more than one person.

Sitting can force a person to support their weight on their own structure that is the backbone. Remind them to arch their back slightly and not slump.
Chairs
If you’re using a chair, you’ll notice that the thigh area of the leg will rest on more of the seat portion of the chair. This has a tendency to flatten out the thigh against the surface and make it spread wider. It’s never flattering. Even a skinny thigh can appear wide if pressed. Move the model forward some and allow the lower leg to support more of the weight. If the foot is on the floor, the weight distributes to this endpoint. Chairs are normally a fixed distance seat to floor.

Posing Stools

A posing stool has a smaller surface area in the seat. This naturally helps the model resist the temptation to inadvertently rest thighs on the entire seat or slump into the backrest portion like a chair would have. You’ll still need to observe that the person doesn’t find a way to press those thighs against the seat. The adjustable stools for height are good so the model can rest the sole of the foot on the floor. Adjustable stools will accommodate variances in height. Adjust it for the height of the person. Keep them comfortable. If the knee is much higher than where the join of the leg attaches, you’ll need to adjust the seat height upward. You don’t want a person with knees scrunched up unless it’s obviously intentional.

Help the person in front of your camera. They are reliant on you to communicate what you see and to direct them. They will certainly be happier with the end results if you can mention what you see and how to correct it before the shutter release trips.

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Speedlights, grid and softbox

After shooting with other modifiers so much, I decided I need to use my softbox(es) more often. These images are illuminated by two speedlights. Softbox—camera right, one SB800 with a grid spot on it—camera left, to make the light travel in a straight direction for the spotlight/hair light. It was also good to see how my new 85mm f/1.4 worked. I’m still not practiced with it just yet. It was hunting a little bit with all the ambient lights turned off.

I’m experimenting on getting nice hard edges to separate the subject from the background. I was able to feather the light with the softbox more than I thought possible. RJ is the model who was very patient with me. He has a variety of looks, even apparent in the same session. We’ll do some environmental portraits when the warmer weather sets in.

Apologies, WordPress was crabby last night and didn’t insert the images or tags.

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