Tilting and Lowering Heads

[bookloveraz]

I just came across this article today, and I found it interesting that point 2 of the "don'ts" was "Don't let your subjects tilt their heads into each other," and it went on to say that you also shouldn't have them lower their chins. I've always heard that you should do this, but I've never heard a reason for either opinion. Can anyone help me out? Is it good or bad to tilt your head and lower your chin? Thanks!

[cyber3d]

Don't know about tilting heads against each other ... but, lowering the chin is good because it enhances the eyes as they show more of the whites below iris rather than above.

[Liz Caldwell]

Lowering the head will cause the appearance of a rounder jaw line...

These are obviously not high quality portraits, but you can see the difference in the jaw lines... The one where my head is tilted down is rounder, whereas the 2nd one is more angular.

On the subject of tilting into another person, again, it comes down to possible jaw line problems such as wrinkles along the tilted side, as well as leaving a lot of empty space in the neck area. You can still do it, but you'll want one person to be partially in front of the other, as opposed to side by side; that will minimize the amount of tilt needed from each person, and the empty spaces

[Liz Caldwell]

There's also a trick you can use for lowering the head, or just tightening up a jawline in general (the ladies love this trick)... Have them jut their chin straight out... it only works for mostly head on photos, but it pulls all those chin jiggles tight

It's one of those "feels silly, looks great" kind of things

[bookloveraz]

Thank you both for your help! Everything made great sense. Thanks Liz for taking the time to take photos as examples!

[Liz Caldwell]

haha, you're welcome, but I actually dug those pics off my old Myspace page, so it was no trouble at all. It's always easier when you have visual aids. I wish I had a sample of the chin jut, but you'll just have to try that out in front of a mirror

[bookloveraz]

Oh, okay. Yep, visual aids are so nice! I'll try it out later. :-)

[Liz Caldwell]

Wow... while looking for a photo of "the jut" I came across this page: Striking Your Best Pose for Pictures

It's got some great posing techniques, and it's nicely explained for the average person, not the pro photographer... there's some stuff in there I actually never thought about.

[bookloveraz]

Thanks so much! I'll check it out right away.