26. Studio Portrait Photography 1: Posing Your Models

This lesson is all about advising you on how to make a great portrait photo. This lesson covers lighting, posing, and other considerations, and comes from video tutorials by Daniel Norton.

Studio Set-Up for Portraiture

Daniel Norton uses a Nikon Z62 at 1/200, ISO 100 (lowest in its normal range) – this eliminates ambient light, which Daniel considers ugly – the flash is the only light the camera will pick up. It also gives the most dynamic range, and the least amount of noise. The aperture depends on where you are. Outside on a sunny day Daniel decreases the aperture more to block out the light. In a darker room, you don’t have to. For the lens, 50-100mm is ideal, Daniel uses a zoom lens within that range. He also uses a grey backdrop, Prophoto B10 X+ flashes, and a 3’x4’ soft box. It’s a gentle light, to the skin tone and texture. The larger the light, the softer it’ll be. You may consider a net filter to further soften your subject. A net filter is different than doing it in post. A white net softening filter gives a softness and glow to skin, a black net gives more contrast and softness, and a star filter is useful for sequins.

Daniel uses TTL metering. When you’re moving lights around it’s easier. Once you get happy with your set up and lighting you should switch to manual mode.

It's Where You Stand

Basic Tips on Posing:

1. A sitter is not a prop. Do not treat your sitter like a prop. You don't want a bland, empty expression, you want to present a character, brimming with life, charm, personality - something! Talk to your models and get them to reveal their true character. Catch them off guard, shoot without warning. Wait till they stop posing - no one looks real when they try to pose for the camera. See if you can't create a story in a single picture.

Johnny Eager Robert Taylor, by Clarence Bull, 1942

- Just look how one raised eyebrow can create a story

Portrait of Ezra Pound, by Richard Avedon, 1958

Portrait of Jill Bennett, by Brian Duffy, 1961

Portrait of Man Ray, by David Bailey, 1965

Portrait of Mick Jagger, by Jane Brown, 1977

2. Hands can be problematic. If the hands look uncomfortable, and your model's not sure what to do with them, it can become a distraction. Try to have the pinky side facing the camera. Try to avoid the palms showing as they're big and bright (depending on the lighting).

Portrait of Georgia O'Keeffe, by Alfred Stieglitz, 1918

Portrait of Georgia O'Keeffe, by Alfred Stieglitz, 1920

Portrait of Bjork, by Jane Brown, 1995

3. Watch out for foreshortening that can distort the sitter's proportions, especially with elbows and knees. It can look awkward.

4. Your sitter needs good posture - not too stiff or rigid, but no slouching! Balance comfort with confidence.

5. Don't overly control your models. Consider an informal approach. Get a conversation going, help loosen up your subjects, make them forget they're being photographed, so you can get something genuine - photos like these don't happen by just giving instructions:

Vicomtesse Jacqueline de Ribes with Raymundo de Larrain, NY, by Richard Avedon, 1961

Portrait of Tom & Courtenay, by Brian Duffy, 1960

Rep. Adam Clayton Powell, congressman for NYC, by Richard Avedon, 1964

6. Don't be afraid to experiment. Your photo need not be conventional, realistic, or anything. Go wild, have your sitter jump around. Don't worry about looking silly. 

Twiggy, with hair by Ara Gallant, Paris, by Richard Avedon, 1968

Imagine how silly Twiggy must've felt tossing her hair around during this shoot, but wow, what a photo!

Here are some inspiring poses to get you going:

(check back later for update)

Studio setup and Settings for Couple's Photo Shoots

These notes are based on this video by Gavin Hoey on Adorama.

1. You can still take great photos with a simple white background and a camera-mounted flash – nice and simple.

2. set your camera so the ambient light does nothing – 1/250 to sync with your flash, f/11 so you get both people in focus, and ISO 400. Test without the flash to make sure your shot is black before adding flash. Use TTL mode so you can walk around with the camera and it fixes the exposure for you. Check if it’s bright enough – you may need to add +1 stop to the TTL so it’s bright enough.

3. Turn your flash so it faces up and away from your subject – this gets rid of harsh cast shadows behind them.

4. If you take your flash off the camera, you can set it up on a C-stand and add a soft box. Place the light in front of your subjects so that there aren’t too many shadows on the side, and one person doesn’t cast a shadow over the other.

5. With couples, you want your light farther away because it’s more even, so no matter if your subjects pose close together or far apart, the lighting is still even.

6. You might want your couple to wear matching clothes.

7. Posing is an issue – most people will just stand side to side, like a police line up. Turning them both to one side makes for a much nicer picture.

8. Give your subjects props to use in order to distract them, so they stop posing and start interacting – you want them having fun so they make a happy memory. You can give a camera to them to pose with – it doesn’t have to work.