Female body posing is all about creating CURVES and playing up the hourglass ideal. For men it is more about angular poses I got some male pose inspiration for an outdoor park shoot from this guy on TikTok who’s profile seems to have been delated now : @houstonaaronray
I met up with my pal in the park and here are the results
What I learnt from this shoot – shoot whilst it is still light! The light was falling and I had to bump the ISO up and shoot at 1/60 or 1/30 on f2 and below – which wasn’t great for sharpness (see the pic with Nikhil leaning on his hand). Get to it quick! Chat after or meet earlier.
The hand was OK but more into the body angles and leaning to change the posture of the body. Unlike with women where the back leg holds the weight, don’t need to do this with guys. Next time I would like to shoot him perhaps on a step and experiment with different poses like that – with the hand on the knee and the leg straight out and up on a right angle. Good to go back in and repeat with the same model I think! My thinking is the first 10-20 shoots are all about learning how to pose and correct technical mistakes, and then after that will focus on the repour with the model and building up their confidence and my ability to direct them. Need to lock down what angles and distances work first though.
FYI this was using a new lens I bought on ebay – the Fuji 35mm 1.4 which is one of their magical lens. Works out about 52mm in full frame camera terms. I actually found it OK but would have liked wider for some full body and closer for face shots. Often street photographers like to go with a 23mm and 50mm prime OR the 35mm as a do it all. I think i am going to try using a wider and slightly telescopic portrait lens for my next posed shoot with Nikhil. And earlier in the day. And on steps. A brief is emerging. Marvellous.
Learning Portrait Photography 