Posing people for portraits

[kcfoto]

Hello,


I am having my first "official" shoot at the end of the month and was hoping I could get some tips as how to pose people? This will be an engagement shoot, so I figure it will be easier than if I were only working with one person. I like candid styles of photography, but so far all my friends who have modeled for me have needed a little push in the right direction in order to get a more relaxed and natural photo. Any tips on positioning?

The location will be in a downtown area, so it's very urban.


Thanks in advance!

[SandeeWig]

hi kcfoto. There's a sticky at the top of this thread with a downloadable pdf of various poses for males, females, and couples. Should be helpful.

And, Welcome to DPS!

[kcfoto]

I will have to think quick on my feet and try to remember this, thanks!

[SandeeWig]

Originally Posted by kcfoto

I will have to think quick on my feet and try to remember this, thanks!

LOL! I know how you feel. I've done one engagement shoot and prior to that looked at that PDF...for a while. I also spent a week on flickr (searching "engagement" tags and groups) to get a feel for various poses and what I liked. Talk about overwhelming! But still, it's a great start.

Here's the link to a few from my shoot.

My advice would be to talk w/ them before you start shooting, especially if you don't know them. I had never met the couple I photographed, but they were a friend of a friend of mine. I told them that I had some specific shots in mind, and that otherwise, we'd go with the flow. My personal goal/preference was to capture their love for one another in the images, so I told them that I would periodically yell out "kiss!" and they had to kiss each other. This made it light-hearted and fun, and I think put them at ease with me.

I made a list of the poses I wanted and used it as a guide sheet as we moved around the location we'd picked out. I shot over 400 images in a couple of hours, and came out with over 50 that they absolutely loved. I figured it wasn't bad for my first real shoot with my brand new dslr!

Good luck and be sure to share some with us if you can!

[kcfoto]

Yeah, making a list is something I have been thinking about doing.
I really enjoyed your photos

I will definitely post some of the good ones to share with everyone!


Thanks for the encouragement, I am so nervous!!

[SandeeWig]

No problem. I wish you the best. I also meant to mention that this wasn't a paid shoot. They had been referred by a friend who knew I wanted the practice, and I was up front about the fact that I wasn't sure - no matter how many images I took - how many good ones we'd get. They were very understanding.

So, I am curious since you mentioned your friends have been modeling for you...is this something you're getting into full time? Will this be a paid shoot? Do you know them?

[kcfoto]

Yes, very much so! I started experimenting with photography almost a year ago and realized that I had found my passion. I knew that this was going to be what I would be doing for the rest of my life.

It will be my first paid shoot, very modest, but nonetheless paid. I actually put up an ad on craigslist.org and they responded within a few days so I do not know them. It will be quite the experience

Flickr: Kim Crowder's Photostream

That's my link, if you would like to take a look.

[SandeeWig]

Cool! Thanks for your link. I checked it out. Nice diverse set of images you have there. I especially like the black and whites on the first few pages.

I'll be keepin an eye out for your engagement shoot. All the best!

[kcfoto]

I know I've said it like ten times now, but thanks again!

[SandeeWig]

no problem!