How to pose people with no modelling experience
Wednesday 19 September 2018, 15:15 by Elja Trum | 7,732 views | 2 commentsThis article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.
Posing your model is often a difficult part of a portrait shoot. Especially when the person you're photographing has no experience as a model at all. Photographer Julia Trotti gives five tips in this video.
The tips Julia mentions in the video:
1. Communication
It quickly becomes very awkward for the model if you don't talk to them. Try not to give all your attention to your camera, but focus mainly on talking to your model.
During the shoot, you can ask questions about what they like and things like that, but it also helps if you simply explain what you plan to do, what you're doing, what you'd like to try and what result you're trying to achieve.
Also make sure you let your model know that they're doing well, even if you think it could be better.
2. Use your surroundings
Include the surroundings in your shoot. For example, by asking them to hold something. It's also a way of keeping the model busy with their surroundings instead of focusing only on the shoot itself.
3. Movement
Ask your model to move. That feels much more natural than simply standing still for the photo. This way, you get spontaneous images.
4. Let your model sit down
It's quite difficult for a model to come up with lots of different poses while standing. Letting your model sit down adds a whole range of new possibilities. As a photographer, you can also play around more with different angles now.
5. Avoid eye contact
Looking directly into the lens can be difficult for inexperienced models. You can use an accessory such as sunglasses, but you can also simply ask the model to look away.
Via: FStoppers
About the author
Elja Trum is the founder of Photofacts and online photography course website Photofacts Academy. He has been writing about photography since 2006. Elja is also the author of (Dutch) books on composition, black-and-white photography, flash photography and portrait photography.
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2 comments
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guest wrote on Thursday 20 September 2018 at 19:20 | replyShort and concise, useful even for experienced amateur photographers to outline the main points once again. I'll have a further look around your site.
Translated from Dutch. -
Alexander wrote on Tuesday 25 September 2018 at 17:17 | replyAlso make sure that if you want a model to wear different clothes, there is a space where this can happen without you having a view of it, that inspires more confidence than having someone change clothes while you are there.
Translated from Dutch.
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Photofacts; everything to do with photography!
Would you like to take better photos and keep up with what is happening in photography? Photofacts publishes articles that teach you something about photography — from a product announcement to a practical shooting tip or a look at a website. Photofacts covers photography every day and is a hobby project of Elja Trum's that got out of hand. The articles are written by a team of volunteer authors. If you would enjoy writing one or more articles for Photofacts, do get in touch.More about PhotofactsPhotofacts is made possible in part by
