Lesson Info
9. Verbal Cues for Posing
Summary (Generated from Transcript)
The topic of this lesson is verbal cues for posing during engagement photography. The instructor, Pye Jirsa, shares examples of cues from fellow photographers that can help create intimate and natural poses. He emphasizes the importance of knowing your clients and tailoring cues to their personalities. Additionally, the instructor discusses the significance of understanding and exceeding client expectations and the importance of being a positive and respectful photographer.
Q&A:
What is the importance of building relationships with peers in the photography industry?
Building relationships with peers can provide inspiration, guidance, and support in your photography career.
How can verbal cues be used to create intimate and natural poses during engagement photography?
Verbal cues such as "tease her a bit with an almost kiss" or "whisper into her ear what body part you like the most" can elicit genuine reactions and create intimate moments between the couple.
Why is it important to understand and exceed client expectations?
Frustration is often based on unmet expectations, so understanding and exceeding client expectations is crucial for client satisfaction and success in the photography business.
What is the significance of loving your work and adoring your clients?
The instructor emphasizes the importance of approaching photography with a positive mindset and genuinely appreciating and valuing each client. This mindset can lead to better photographs and a successful photography business.
How can seeing the beauty in clients and bringing it out contribute to success as a photographer?
Recognizing and highlighting the inner and outer beauty of clients can result in stunning photographs. This positive approach can also lead to a successful and fulfilling photography career.
Lessons
Class Introduction
12:56 2Posing Guidance for Him
08:14 3Posing Guidance for Her
09:02 4Foundational Posing
05:11 5Posing Touch Points
05:55 6Couples Body Language
09:52 7Posing Three Point Check
05:22 8Posing Tips with Demo
08:05Verbal Cues for Posing
06:27 10Mood Board Tips
06:59 11Posing Questions
06:54 12Camera Settings Quick Overview
18:32 13Location Scouting
02:24 14Seeing the Light
17:34 15Shoot: Natural Light in Studio
14:50 16Homemade Soft Box
12:43 17Shoot: Wrapping Natural Light Around Couple
10:56 18Shoot: Flat Natural Light
06:24 19Special Effects Intro
09:13 20Shoot: Backlighting
18:07 21Shoot: Using Sparklers
09:59 22Shoot: Sparklers and Spray Bottle
13:01 23Shoot: Backlight with ND Filter
12:38 24High Speed Sync vs ND
04:27 25Shoot: Fog and Spray Effects
15:28 26Simple Lightroom Workflow
25:10 27Processing Black and White Images
16:50 28Culling and Presets
09:34 29Editing Using Presets
13:04 30Post Processing Q&A
05:46 31Flash + Ambient Balance
13:25 32Photographers Need to Practice
09:00 33Outdoor Engagement Location Scouting
12:22 34Meeting the Clients
11:27 35Basic Engagement Shots
16:59 36Getting into the Creative Shots
17:43 37Using Photo Mechanic to Cull
12:41 38Culled Edits in Lightroom
17:25 39Editing After Using Tilt Shift Lens
22:05 40Photoshop Editing for Print
23:34 41Engagement University Shot
21:35 42Daylight + Flash
23:44 43Engagement Picnic Scene
19:42 44Composite Street Shot
10:47 45Day For Night Engagement Shot
06:27 46Natural Flash/Bounce
04:10 47How to Make GIFs
17:22 48Simple Composite - University
09:38 49Intermediate Composite - Downtown
18:40 50Simple Background with Reflector
17:05 51Final Thoughts
10:53Lesson Info
Verbal Cues for Posing
Truth tangent, we're gonna do this a lot. I know I like to go on tangents, so I just built them into my show. So your peers are gonna be one of your greatest assets in your career as a photographer. This is one of my firm beliefs. I'm gonna give you guys several examples why throughout this entire course but honestly, the people sitting next to you in this class, become friends with. The people online, become friends with. This whole old business of being competitors in this industry, yes, we are competitors but we are also friends. And when I worked in corporate America and I had friends that were in KP&G and other competing firms and everything like that, we still helped each other. It wasn't a thing of, "Oh, I can't help you because you're doing this same thing at a different company." We still help each other. So I get so much inspiration and guidance from friends and I want to show you guys some cues from some of our close peers. So, on the count of three, look at each other a...
nd say a color. Let's see if you both name the same color. One, two, three. Always gets good laughs. This is from Trevor Dayley Photography. Tease her a bit with an almost kiss. So perfect for an intimate, close shot. Think about all the different poses and connection points and everything like that we've talked about so far as you see these images. That's from Christina Zen. Fantastic film photographer. Get them in close and then say, "Breath each other in." Oh my gosh, that works so incredibly well. This is from Crystal Stokes. And these are their images by the way, in case you guys were wondering. I don't know. It's kind of intuitive, right? In a manly voice ... I love this. In the manliest voice possible, give them a kiss and then pop your heel like a Disney princess. He means that he says that in a manly voice. That's from Jerrit Pruyn. Fantastic. Whisper into her ear what body part you like the most, and what you're gonna do to it later. Ning Wong. Ning's a local buddy of mine and Ning is a funny guy. Again these go down to knowing your clients, right? Know your clients. Get up in her Kool-Aid and rub your nose oils all over her. I love that. (audience laughs) Nicole Chan. That works so well, I've done that before. It works very well. So, a lot of the ... Some of my favorite cues are the ones that are like, very overly literal. When they're in close to each other, you're like, "Yeah, just smell her pores." And saying stuff like that will totally get reactions that you want out of it. So, Jay Cassario. Lean over and whisper something dirty in his ear, something that will let you slide for dragging him out on this engagement shoot. I love that one cause a big part of my focus is on the guys. To make sure the guys are having a good time and that's a great one. For the guys. Think about the first time you made love. Laughter almost always ensues. The "Think about the first time you made love." I could not pull that one off, I'm sorry. But Alicia D'Amico could totally pull that off. I'm like the pervy Persian guy going, "Think about the first time you made love." That does not fly for me. Know your personality and what works for you. When was the last time you were this close to his eye? I love literal stuff like that. That's from Jon Lemon. JC Lemon. Nuzzle his/her cheek like a cat and say, "Meow." That's a good one too. Kara Miller. The right cues can get you anywhere, people. Including right here. (audience laughs) This was ... (laughs) Kenneth's face. Let's study these poses for a while. So that Jon Lemon ... Oh yeah, this was the funny thing. I was like, "Should I put their names up there? I don't think I want everybody knowing their names." And I'm like, "Yeah, I kind of want everybody to know their names." (audience laughs) So, that's Jon Lemon, that's Lear Miller, that's Phillip Van Hostrand. (audience laughs) This was during a little practice lighting session. Truth tangent, all frustration is based on unmet expectations. This is for a book on marriage actually, I like to read, as you guys will figure out. But this is probably the most important thing that you guys are gonna know when it comes to planning and communication. That there is no, nothing that's going to basically upset or dissatisfy client like that. If they have an expectation that you do not meet or you do not change, prior to actually going and taking their business, then you're in trouble. So, this is an excerpt from our wedding workshop series. Understand expectations, you want to understand, tailor expectations and then exceed those expectations. I'm gonna show you guys how we do that. Oh, in the meanwhile, this is Trevor during a shoot jumping. And the whole thing with this PSA, this is a photographer service announcement that if you get caught behind the scenes in a photograph, that you need to have the expectation that it's going to be put into another photograph later on. Having the right expectations, guys. Love your work, adore your clients. I know we are getting towards the end of our segment. I wanted to briefly say right now that it's very difficult to make it into our studio as a shooter. Very easy to get kicked out. The number one way is to not love what you're doing and to love your clients. We don't allow things like, any sort of negative speak towards a client. "Oh, I got to go out and do this shoot." Or, "Oh, I got to go and do this." Or, "Oh my gosh, have you seen my clients? I got to make them look good somehow." That kind of stuff, we do not tolerate. And the whole reason for that is ... Jerry Ghionis had an amazing quote. "If you want to be a better photographer, be a better person." Right? And it's one of my favorite quotes because how can you possibly go into a situation to take pictures of somebody and to make them look beautiful, if in your head, you're thinking that they don't look beautiful? Right? So, this is one of our biggest philosophies in the studio is that if you can see ... We all have beauty in us. We have inner beauty, we have outer beauty. And if you can see that as a photographer and you can bring it out, you will never lack business as a photographer, okay? And you're also gonna be, generally, a good person by doing that.
Class Materials
Bonus Materials with Purchase
Ratings and Reviews
CPR Photography
I think Pye Jirsa is one of the best, if not the best, instructor for photography on Creative Live. He is very personable, smart and approachable. He has a perfect blend of personality (comments, laughs, tangents..) to the amount of instruction. He asks the questions for you, because he knows you are thinking those questions right then. He's very good about identifying settings, gear, etc.. and not leaving us in the dark about how he "got the shot". He goes into great detail. His instructions flow, but are linear, which is helpful. He's very organized, and you can tell that he really put a lot of work into his presentations (slides, video, test shoots, live teaching, graphics, etc..) I have been listening to him for like 10 hours straight, and still haven't gotten tired of him. He keeps things moving, He's very funny too. Nice job, I've learned so much. :)
a Creativelive Student
This course was AMAZING. I'd say int he past year or two I've fallen into a slump. Uninspired by my surroundings and uninspired by my clients. As a result, it showed through my work. My posing suffered as well and more than a handful of times some of my shoots became more than awkward. Then I bought this course and watched most of it in the course of a day. I walked away inspired, blown away, and renewed. The next day I walked into an engagement session confident. I gave my couples a quick overview on posing and then we just had fun in front of the camera. Immediately afterwards they texted me about how amazing their shoot was and how relaxed I made them feel about posing. The photos turned out fantastic to say the least. I've since shot several more engagement sessions and each one of them has been amazing. If anything, this course should inspire photographers to think outside the box and provide you with the necessary skills to take incredible engagement photos. Thank you Pye and Creative Live! I cannot speak more highly of this course. I should also state I purchased Pye's Natural Light course on SLR Lounge: this course is a wonderful addition to that. If you already own the natural light course and are hesitant about purchasing this one, don't. Buy it and reap the benefits!
Laura K.
Hands down one of the very best, most informative classes I have watched on CreativeLive to date (and I've watched a lot of fantastic classes here!!! so many great ones to learn from!!). Pye's instruction on the six basic poses alone was worth the price of admission - but there is so much more than that included with this course. A lot of what I learned can be applied to wedding photography as well. Purchased the course and have found it to be worth every penny. Will be rewatching it again next week to help me internalize all the information. Pye's a great photographer, teacher, and mentor. Thanks for the awesome course!!!
Student Work
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