Lessons

Lesson Info

Posing Rules

we understand light now so we hope we understand like the key is if the light's good people automatically going to look better but there are certain rules you need to follow and understand and understand why you're dealing them our job again it's not to show people as they are but what they want to be so we want to make them look better there's all different size subjects there's all different types of subjects personality wise but does that mean that we change things for them we still want to shoot the same way we just need to follow rules give you an example what are some of the problems that occur when looking at subjects while if you take a look you can look at me and start what are my problems what are my abnormalities I have one drastic problem one of my eyes is much much smaller than the other which is it my left eye that's good you've already learned something just see you left from your right nice work pal okay my left eye is smaller than my right so do I ever want to see that...

in pictures how doe I correct it do I bring the eye closer to the camera whatever I bring it further away what do you think I want to bring the eye closer or further away which is it lets watch here if we take a look is there a way to get that camera life so they could see what's going on in here and now that doesn't happen if we could just bring it way could do anything magic I didn't want to look at may so take a look look at that eye now look does it look exactly to say does the island bigger small enough you need to see it that's why I'm not telling you the answer and I don't know it self you looking right here looks bigger when it's what closer you gonna bring the smaller I closer to the camera because what's going to happen it's going to minimize the other eye you're even ng them out would that be important to notice it would be huge it would be tremendous you want the smaller I closer to the camera because you even get out does anybody want to see themselves like that what are some of the other things you look for ah bend or a bump in the nose if you have a bend in the nose do you turn it into the camera what do you turn it away from the camera why can't see it I can't see it but if you turn it away do you see that hook so you're turning the bend into the nose are these important and crucial because that's how you going to determine which way someone is supposed to be photographed you may not realize it but I want you to think for a moment one single moment if you look at the photos how many times have you looked at your photos I don't look good in this I guarantee you the photos that you think you don't look good and you probably are looking the same direction the photos that you like you are looking in another direction there's consistency it could be the bend in the nose it could be a crooked smile it could be a part in the hair it could be anything about it but you need to figure that out you need to look for the biggest things are the eyes and the nose which leads me to my next point so if I could have a heart can I have you did I call you zahar of rather than jar you did you look like it's a hard to make you look oh my goodness look at you okay turn here so let's take a look let's study the face bring your foot forward so as we look at her we automatically know are her eyes a pretty equal proportion they're pretty good they're pretty close so we know that so right now we look at her nose is there any benzo where anything not really so I could pick either way to go so I'm going to base it on light most likely so there's certain rules right now cars and ah full face position isn't she does anybody look good and full face not really she's beautiful skin she's got beautiful highlights the problem is I'm making her face look full so I want to put her in a two thirds position so I'm turning a body here why am I turning her body again towards may because of what the light is coming from here so with the light coming from here that would mean I'm going to turn her face to the light correct so right now is she still in a full face yes so he is the first rule I want to put her in a two thirds face view but what makes it tricky is making sure that the nose doesn't cross the bridge off the cheek that is crucial because if the nose crosses the bridge of the cheek can I ask to go lie from main camera again on the screen so I can see what they're saying okay if you look take a look right now how does she look her nose looked bigger doesn't it turn you head back to me a little bit beautiful now tilt your head to your right now take a look that is ah perfect two thirds view off the face we don't want the nose to cross the bridge of the cheek turn your head over look that's nothing that's not a defined view that's not a profile that's not a two thirds of you it's in between so we want to make sure rule number one the nose can't cross the bridge of the cheek understand got that rule number two turn you head back we all love to take images not a subject with their face down correct we can't allow the nose now he's at the perfect height on main camera center is a perfect height because our camera height which we're going to discuss when we start shooting should be slightly above eye level for most of these bye stop portrait okay from the bus stop portrait bring your chin down walk down beautiful down down down down down down down down down big nose we created big nose how do we create it because the nose is starting to cross chin down a little bit beautiful the bridge off the lip that doesn't work does it number one not the bridge of the cheek number two not the bridge of the lip do we understand we don't want to make hard look heavier our job again is bad posing bad lighting equals bad people okay we don't want to give that to them so chin up a little bit so now the nose can't cross the bridge of the cheek or the bridge of the left that's a huge important rule now let's take a look at her again she's not she's got she's perfect in terms of the way she looks ok but I can make her look heavier right now her face looks fuller than I really really I wanted to so what I'm going to dio is he is one of the keys one of the first things you've always learned is to pose the weight on the back hip and that's terrific that's great the problem is what happens to the rest of us can we pull back a little bit okay we're going to come down to here now if you look look at mei I know you like that come on a little bit better I understand you touch it you look I don't look good but how can I thin out how come we thin her out okay now mind you if she's a bride what color is she wearing white she is everything going against our especially she's a plus size subject which we're going to get into shortly so we're kicking all again but the key is keeping the weight on the back but we want to push the hip back and lean her forward by leaning her forward what's it doing can the camera see that she's really leaning forward can we go to this camera here to look at her body position look at how much she's leaning forward she's we know we know what a bit more beautiful and now back to center she's leaning no you're fun you're back and we go back to senator how body looks all whacked out from behind she looks like this okay but did you smooth is that the first note on creative live ever did we know you've had other snorts I think tamara's tomorrow tomorrow of course got something she gets going all right so you understand by leaning a forward were thinning a route so we want to always weight on the back leaning forward at the hip what is that doing take a look for me even is a guy here just like this by leaning forward I look stronger and what am I doing look at my midsection if I stand here you see it but when I do this kind of things out a little bit right so the key is weight on the back leaning forward at the front now with the lady stand up straight beautiful with the lady a lady wants to look curvy why are we doing this kick your front foot forward take a look at her body position she looks different she looks straight she looks almost a little too big the bottom but watch how we change her and we take her from looking fuller to making her look sexy bring that front leg up on your tell push it forward a little bit on a curving out leaning forward take a look and back to center open your left shoulder up chin up turn your head to your left a little more tilt your head to your right right there take a look that's a beautiful image of her isn't it look at the angle two thirds light coming into a face not worried about that hot spot because obviously I wouldn't shoot with it when I'm concentrating on lighting but look at the body position works really well there so what are the rules again number one don't let the nose cross the bridge of tone it down please don't let the nose cross the bridge of don't let the nose course the bridge off live make sure that you lean forward from the waste green ford from the waist wait back take a look I was worried about you shooting it again greening back running forward thinning out most importantly here's the other thing relax subjects love to keep the shoulders closed most people have bad posture so what should we do open up open up your shoulders what is it d'oh it stretches her out it creates a better bustline and opens up her neckline doesn't it okay so this is key here so when she's here she does this more dynamic do it girl thinks it's amazing like I understand good take a look here we go attorney hood so now while I'm teaching posing you have a choice on how you do things you could either do one of two things right you could either touch her or you could do what's called mirroring what is mirroring mirroring is where she's copying what I'm doing so watch I could either walk over and be like okay bring you like forward a little bit push your hip back turn your head turn you head here bam got it I's out or it could be ex stand up straight turn your body away from good and what I want to do is go here here just like that good not bring your hand up here good now take your dress you gonna lift it up over your way could take a shot at a girl I'm just kidding okay but you understand why I don't I'm europe because it takes too long I just want to be able to go bam bam here and put her in that position so we understand those basic rules correct now we're going to bring in a very handsome husband so let's take a look at the problem no just the problem is that he's caucasian where are you from with kim tae I have nothing to do with albert had als when they hate mail comes in I'm not a part of this what is wrong with you you're afraid of skin color that's not the problem okay so are you going to turn towards your handsome husband what was your name again sir hynek okay let's take a look so this is a problem the reason it's a problem is not because nick is location is because nick is so much taller than her now you would say ok why is this a problem it's a problem because they look detached when she hugs her husband her arms are going to look bigger she's gonna bring him up so high look she's lost she looks like a little nothing now is that bad do we want to make her look small of course we do but I want to attach them so there's a general rule for posing couples or even groups we want to make sure that the higher subjects lips are at the level of the eyes I need nick to come down to her level I don't mean that in a bad way okay so nick needs to get her to some level how could we do it well I could sit nick but I don't want to do that so well lucky in this case she's wearing a full length gown so what we're going to do is nick is going to create a wider base for himself so he's gonna open his legs wider by pointing his back foot forward uh his front foot for it but look he's back with his hip and he's cracking and he's leaning forward I need to get nick down to her level now why is the jurists more important here because if she was wearing a bridal gown would I ever see this gap in here never ever ever ever right so I want to eliminate the gap because I want to be able to tap it basically get them together so nick's coming down to her level now from here the legs cracked when she comes here here and here nick goes here leaning forward turned her head away and chin up come down a little bit lower nick I'm going to make you work hard good chin up a little bit handsome now lean forward lean for nick comport by yourself and turn your head to your left a little bit now don't they look more attached so the idea is in order to get them at the right height we're going to need toe open the base don't say nick spread your legs okay you're going to say nick can you part your legs just a little bit bring your knees together way back cracking me here it doesn't matter if we glean nick forward and if nick is an overweight man is him doing this going to help him it's going to help him now in this case it's not a big deal so let's take a look when I asked them to hug can you hug again get your cheeks together look at what nick did he did exactly what I would knew he would d'oh look it where his hand wet where did it go right to the waist now does it look post looks posed it doesn't look natural but here's the real problem she little girl she's got nice toned arms okay is he making them look better is she making look better so what can we do when the bride has her arm up and it's exposed you see that girl can you do me a favor can you call a plumber because I think this pipe is gonna burst you like that one can you call a vet because this python look sick sorry you better watch out next he's loving me so how could we fix it we're going to bring his hand right on top by doing that what does it do it covers the arm up and here's the other thing look right here attorney had they got closer together the other way they looked attach now going well be nick and love you that makes all the difference in the world doesn't it sorry cheeks together back here so heads together again so here are the rules we want to whenever possible take her back shoulder on tuck it underneath his armpit that's called the tuck the next part is called the roll we're rolling out the front shoulder you have to think one thing when posing a couple that one thing is ve you want to think forty five forty five do we want nick straight to the camera doing what your heart straight to the camera we think forty five degree angle because that's going to thin them out so the tuck back shoulder in why you start important because it's going to do what to who it's going to thinner out it's gonna hide her the role the role is going to be opening up and of course the lean we're leaning forward lean forward lean forward lean forward lean forward now your chin up to the camera turn your head the chin up by leaning forward what are we doing during on the last part which is crucial the cover he's covering her up and he's making a look thinner do we care if the guy in a dark suit his arm looks big he's going to be thrilled is a guy ever going complaint on my bicycle excuse too huge to know we're gonna happen is it so the talk the role they lean very simple concept on the cover you have those things and from this now I haven't worked with the middle but watch how we create a couple opposes nick turn your head to the left neck your chin up nick look at me chin up a little bit so hard your heart I don't know why I'm calling is our turn head to me beautiful lean forward gorgeous just like that neck chin up a little bit eyes right here so now there's pose one we're going to talk about the importance of camera very shortly to dzhokhar put your nose on his cheek chin down turn your head to him chin up a little bit cause your eyes beautiful good neck tilt your head to our next turn ahead to your left neck leaned forward neck eyes appear serious good good now look at each other noses together now look at his forehead beautiful not looking what nick's doing these air rules supposing take a look nick gave himself five chins and he turned his shoulder in open up and now we into a stretcher chan out and now looking at the forehead why do we bring her eyes up to his forehead open him up look at his eyes beautiful now it works in this case because obviously he's higher than her but watch look at his forehead now here's the other thing watch body language pushin lean back stretch do they look connected they look in sync male and female bodies obviously I meant to go together so when you're leaning in push got it so it's very very simple now turn your head back to them beautiful I will not call you beautiful nick no matter how much you ask me did you hear what he said between you and him there's tons of problems here good nose to a cheek stretch it out you turn your head to stretch out your neck look at the difference watch how without touching I'm gonna pull him see that just by and and store there you go lean forward now let's take a look at the key and most important thing let's talk about camera height now unfortunately can I ask you to come off your tripod and do different height so we show and I want to clear you out for one second if you don't mind this is very very important camera height affects everything so what we're going to do if you can come down I want you to go to a low angle of them this is a full length portrait can we show this on the main screen so that we could see it we forward chin up now let's take a look how do they look they don't look so hot do they open your body up a little bit and lean forward now look at where nick's eyes air going glow camera height means their bodies are shaped like bowling pins bigot the bottom small at the top now can I pull you up to waist level we're gonna pull me in camera up toe waist level right about here and now take a look they're starting to look more in proportion aren't they but let's just say it's a plus sized couple watch what happens when he goes toe eye level or above so come up take a look at the difference in the body now when he's an eye level they're looking better aren't they lean forward at the waist now here's the key a bolt of their eyes right now are currently in the center of the camera so if you watch at home nick turn your head to your left a little bit chin up we don't ever want to look inside the camera we always want to look up above the lens of the camera look up here do you see the difference where they are there above the lens now their eyes are wider open bringing eyes down here now bring them up the camera king hotel that they're looking past all that sees is wide open eyes so camera height is extremely important so if you have an average size couple like them for a full length image you're probably gonna want to shoot right at waist level for a plus size couple you're gonna want to go where up here it makes all the difference in the world you eliminate wait by what by your camera height and buy your posing do we understand so far thank you questions over there did you have a question or good any questions from here good so don't worry I'll put you back there you go thank you okay so we understand that so I'm gonna ask you two to step out for one second can I have my next beautiful young lady okay so let's take a look here all right so we're bringing in off first plus size subject who is obviously not really a plus size subject but thank you for volunteering coming forward a little bit so here's one of the keys she's already helped me out hasn't she she's helped me out in the sense she's wearing black so for a subject who's a little bit plus size or even a subject who's very placid where do you think my camera height is going to remain for almost the entire day up because by bringing the camera hide up what's going to happen I'm gonna bring her face closer to the camera which is going to do what it's gonna minimize her body that's what's key now I do have one negative already going should put on heels which made her higher than may I'm not in love with that so when I'm doing the close ups I will have her removed at least one hell why is it bad that she's higher than me I need to get above her to get her toe what I really want so we keep it simple but the thing is we just had a car and now what was your name again gretchen okay now what's the difference do I change anything no because gretchen didn't come to me and say okay I'm a little bit plus size I don't know what you could deal with me I know my picture's can't look like that if she comes to me and says that I have to make those pitchers looked the way she so she came because she liked it she fell in love with the fairy tale so my job is to do the same exact thing isn't it so it's all the same that's why people say well you can't do flow posing with a plus size subject off course I could duplo flow posing with a plus size subject you bet I can off course I could do the same exact things now will I go to the extreme witton term to the sexy posing that'll be something we discuss because she may or may not be comfortable with her legs now what I have that discussion with heart the answer's no based on what she's wearing she has new nothing is uncomfortable to wear to work the magic girl so that's important me because of the way she dressed that told me the story she's like I feel sexy and that's what I want to show so the key is we do the same thing so watch here here now in forward and turn your head here now let's take a look turn your head a little bit now let's take a look at what the biggest problem with gretchen is it has nothing to do with weight it has to do with this right here that hair is going to try me out of my freaking mind I hate it why because I know that what it's doing is causing a shadow but the key here is the camera height so watch may I have julia may have that stool right over there if you don't mind please remember I told you about camera height being the most important thing so watch what we set up if I take a head and shoulder portrait over turn your head to your right beautiful tilt your head a little bit to your left chin down a tad now tilt a little bit to the left turn to the right now let's take a look what's the strongest light in this image right now nope look in her face if you look at it from main camera this side its broad so what should I do she doesn't have any abnormalities with her eyes or anything like that so turn your head this way beautiful turn your body this way I'm sorry got a bit more now you're gonna back up a step right death kick that leg in front turn your head to make a little more chin down let's take a look at her shoulder is her shoulder rolled out no drop your shoulder separate from your body a little bit and turn your head to your right now when she drops her shoulder she's getting the wrong idea of what I want I want have leaning forward but I still wanted to be the high shoulder do you see the difference touching makes I was trying to explain and I was being detailed but I wasn't getting what I wanted so take a look here turn your head to your right tilt your head to your left turn your head to your right chin down good can I have the reflector to do we have it and I'm just going to ask youto hold it underneath so let's take a look right here turn your head now which side is short which side is board shorts side is on the other side so what I'm gonna do right here is bring this right underneath good turn your head to your right a little bit this way towards me you're doing terrific good turn your head so we're leaning a forward so let's take a look at what we get when we keep the camera height at the same level chin down a little bit beautiful good now I want you to look right over here can you tilt your head a little bit to the left and now can you push glasses up a little bit and turn your head this way good right there looking right there you're doing terrific smile and beautiful nice and happy let's take a look don't move so I'm going there so let's take a look at my really getting what I want at the same level besides the explosion being off because I've got the change from manual I think okay not working is it so watch how I change the whole complexion of the way we look at her good chin to mate don't worry I won't fall down turn your head to the right a little bit bring the reflector up just to tell good tilt your head here turn your head good looking right at me beautiful stay there you are doing terrific smile and gorgeous nice and happy now let's take a look are we able to then her out changed everything was okay there we go okay so now let's take a look can I walk you forward to me a little bit beautiful right there now turn your head to the right tilt your head to your left cropping is everything remember we spoke about this up a little bit with that good turn your head to me just like that you are doing terrific hold it right there beautiful absolutely gorgeous stay there smiling beautiful take a look look at the difference here in the way she looks and cropping does what it changes and adjust yes sorry that's not exactly gonna raise me up to the same level I was at hey can we get a shoebox hold on let me see you can flip it can you make sure I don't fall down albert come hold me okay but you get the point by shooting down raising the camera height it changes everything so let's take a look right here let's bring you onto the wall over here good now I'm going to do turn your body sideways a little bit bring that right leg infront turn your head here push your back side against the wall you know back side against leading it's hot good turn head you're doing terrific chin up a little bit bring that armed role that shoulder out now let's take a look at the legs is she helping yourself no she wants to be curving so we're gonna bring the right leg forward a little bit more little bit more open up good chinna and what I'm gonna do because I'm not thrilled with the lighting on getting because I'm gonna add just a touch of light from right over here okay so we're gonna add our daylight back okay turn your head now wean off now relax your software with just relax chin down eyes down okay opening up the body understand we want to open up the body as much as we can turn your head to your right a little bit shin down so can I make her let me ask you does my camera height always have to be higher can I shoot from the ground up on her mike cannon everything depends on cropping doesn't it so watch what we do leaning forward a little bit beautiful turn your head to your right eye's down take a look so I'm going to come down I'm telling you once you know a rule what can you do break it so watch what we do I'm gonna come down lower turn your head to your right a little bit beautiful chin down lean forward at the hip a little bit more take a look at what we're doing we're pushing her weight back to the right side were cropping her out and we're making her look smaller inside that's a pretty nice image of her isn't it because we're giving mohr leading space okay now eyes up turn your head to your right lean forward off now chin up turn your head to your right till the top of your head to your left turn to the right no no no not so much do you see why I don't do it this way doesn't work as well does it okay eyes right here looking straight up now how did don't move okay you can see it from main camera how do I fix the problem do you know a problem see she's got glare on the glasses so watch what we do in order to get rid of this we need to do what way need to compensate by raising the light up chin up now I need to see it may be different from this angle looking straight out beautiful straight up perfect lean forward again from the waist turn your head to your right tilt the top of your head to your left chin down chin down that a girl looking right there looking straight out smiling beautiful happy teeth come on it's baked tilt your head to the left a little bit okay why that last minute tilt does anybody know people at home on notice if they were watching her inside because your face is fuller what's happening is filling up so we're tilting to the left to get rid of that okay we're keeping it very very very simple at that point everything we do is about leaning forward at the waist can I have the seventy two two hundred lent now is this the ideal lens that I'd want to use for this the answer's no okay so let's take a look at what happens when we put a couple together nick can I borrow you for one second jack are you all right if I use him thank you so let's see what we do here now obviously we have two different size people here height wise and also body wise so what can we do how do we do it let's bring her against the wall here slide up against the lawyer you're going to turn in right here nick kick your left leg in between harlot good spring it on there now you're gonna bring your hand up tonight here here now push your hips back lean forward you saw this this morning but watch what happens here turn your head look down nick turn your head to her a little bit more little bit more it's kind of cool in front of the wife neck you're quite the guy stretch your chin out eyes down drop that shoulder beautiful and take a look now I'm at the same height okay so we're leaning forward take a look serious nick no smile let's take a look at what we get I should change the correct white balance to her don't even look it up did we send her out because what are we doing in essence there right where you are let's talk about what we're doing here in essence what we're doing is we're hiding a portion of her back here behind him okay so now let's figure something else out how camera angle can make a subject look bigger a small can I bring you both up to me uh if you bother bother you you could take home office what okay sorry one of the most important things that you're going to see me talk about his camera tilt people think the only reason I tilt the camera so that I could do something completely different than anybody else that's not the real reason I do it why do you think I do it let's take a look at the same image without capital coming close you're going to give a hug here we're here let's take a look here cheeks together turn your head a little bit and now lean forward chin up a little bit nick good just like that roll the shoulder so let's look at them now this is kay my camera height again would clearly be above eye level right turn your head a little bit to the right beautiful now I'm going to set up my life the right way okay so right now in here good hold on one second let me just get to where I'm walking for excellent now lean forward a little bit beautiful chin down attack good so let's take a look right here smiling ice right up here happy teeth come on nick you're faking it chin up a little bit don't move this is without any tilt whatsoever don't move I want you to look at what not tilting does okay who's the most dominant part of that entire image her him watch this I'm going to eliminate a good portion of her probably thirty percent amore just buy this take a look at this this is a forty five degree tilt we're tilting forty five degrees to the guy tenoch watch what happens lean forward okay lean forward stretch it out a little bit both of you turn your head to your right just a little bit gretchen good perfect gretchen chin down glasses up sorry chin down orbit lean forward smiling beautiful happy teeth I want you to look at the difference that just a little bit of tell us tell me it's not dramatic who became dominant uh he didn't I eliminated any weight that she may have had by getting rid of it with that camera tilted and I that makes all the world of difference nick you could slide out one second so watch can I have that stool back if you don't mind I want stand on it actually the stool I'm sorry I wanted to sit on it is not okay sorry thank you safety first you all heard about the creative live kind of new thing all the money they got I was about to own it if I fell off this thing aunt of course amanda had to watch out for mae would have been set turn sideways a little bit now let's take a look here leaning forward a little bit body is a forty five degrees to the camera watch how I change now mind you this is an ideal lighting because I'm getting shadows under her chin not what I really want but we'll deal with it it's not about lighting right now it's about posing waiting for chin down a little bit watch how easy it is to take this and make it again more interesting I'm not going to move her I'm goingto change this four different ways without ever touching her just minor little thinks turn your head a little bit looking right at me chin down eyes here look at my hand smiling beautiful happy don't move look at this camera tilting towards the direction she's looking there's image one coming don't move beautiful light right does she look thinner now let her down a little bit now watch what we do we're going to go she's gonna look at me with her eyes I'm going to go straight camera but to make it just a little bit more intriguing watch what we do look at me beautiful good stay right there hold it I'm almost set serious lips did you hear that what happened come on tell me I forgot to exposure lock on the ice so a went off the black so it's gonna look like that watch what we do by the way I didn't do that a purpose I just wanted to see if you guys heard it good here we go I should say I did do it on purpose good good just like that look in a raid here beautiful now take a look don't move she hasn't moved yet watch how this happens there we go we got the first image we're cutting her in half nice soft image now look down beautiful good just like that chin down a little bit lean forward eyes down hold it right there you're doing great stay there almost actually don't move so we have one image then we have to image then we have three image here comes image for look it may shine up turn your head to your right a little bit good chin down a tad now I'm going to go horizontal pull your glasses up a little bit beautiful eyes up smiling gorgeous happy and take a look going to c very simple very easy and now you have a couple of different ways take a look ok meaning for it but I screwed up my exposure to stay there one more one second beautiful there we got perfect don't move eyes right on me beautiful turn you head slightly to the right chin down order but perfect and there's our image and now if you take a look so we go from there to here but are we cutting her out here's our crop on this we're going to cut right through her chin and make it into a panel type crop okay so everything we do in order to reduce weight is what leaning forward at the waist it's the same basic concept for all of it forward hip waist leaning forward