Tag Archive for: posing

Using props… the chair

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Often people ask me “what is the perfect prop?”
Well let me start by saying that there is no perfect prop.
However if I had to choose one I would say it’s chair…
Now don’t get the expensive posing chairs you sometimes see in studios and online, in my opinion these are nice but also very overpriced and will limit the way you can shoot for the simple reason they are often not the most attractive chairs.

 

You can not only incorporate them into your set, but you can also make the model pose more dynamically. In other words add a lot of play into the shoot.

 

My favorite way to get chairs is to visit the second hand stores and get the more damaged, ugly, vintage looking chairs they have, the first advantage is that they are often cheap (hey I’m Dutch :)) plus they (in my personal opinion) have way more character than a new one. PLUS.. when you’re done with them… well you just cut them open and you have a second life for the chair.

 

Today some images I took during the test session with Marieke with 2 of our chairs.
Some might be considered NSFW so beware.

Marieke Jansen Oktober 2 2014 (49 of 107)-Edit

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Playing with hair and expression

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Sometimes a portrait can be incredibly simple but effective.
The next shots were done during a workshop with just an Elinchrom beauty dish with grid aimed at the model under a slight angle. The power for me in these shots is the very subtle expression enhanced with some wet hairs.

 

Now whenever you’re stuck in a session and don’t have the creativity to do something really cool with accessories etc. just wet the hair of the model and start playing with that, the longer the hair the better of course, the results will probably please you.

_DSC0146-Edit

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The glamour pose

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One pose I can’t get enough off is the ones you see in this post.
A lot of people ask me for a glamour shot but often the models are not experienced models so posing can be a bit difficult. With this pose you can really work some magic with inexperienced models, now add a really good model and you have (well at least in my opinion) a great powerful shot.

 

The trick is to shoot this from a low angle and as wide open as possible, you could for example only use the modeling lights from the strobes if you have too much power. I used a very narrow beam of light by using a reflector with grid, but the same pose actually also works really good in hotel rooms (on the bed/floor etc.) with broad natural light.

 

The main thing you have to take care of is the way the “angle” works, find the curves in the body and let the model play with her arms and chin, I like the pose best when there is a lot of tension in the body of the model.

 

So the next time you are asked for a powerful “glamour shot” think about this one.
Good luck.

Marie November 21 2013-130-Edit

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Using the sun in the shot

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Yesterday we looked at using the sun as the main lightsource, but today we take it one step further.
When using strobes (and even without) you can really play with including the sun into the shot, in the next series I used the Elinchrom Ranger RX to fill in the model while using the sun (in the frame) as a strong backlight and creating some interesting lens flares.

 

In these shots I also lowered the brightness of the sky to make it more dramatic, you can do this with a lot of power like the Elinchrom Ranger RX, but also with speed lights and the use of HSS (HighSpeedSync). As long as you lower the brightness of the sky in comparison to the strobe output.

 

Now we could of course just shoot Marie posing and rely on a great model, cool clothing and great light… but that’s not what the viewer will remember in the end. One of the most important things in a shot for me is the inclusion of a story, this can be done with adding props, sets etc. but also very simple by just giving some extra attention to the pose like you can see here.

Marie November 21 2013-74-EditIt can be just as simple as this, but as you can see when you see the rest of the shots, this image really tells a story while the other ones are just…. well nice. So the next time you’re on location try to not be afraid of the sun and give some extra attention to the posing of the model and lift your shot from ok to WOW.

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