Because of our experience, professional photographers know that there are certain tweaks we can make when posing our clients that will dramatically improve their appearance in pictures.
Sometimes I want clients to hide their hands (everyone hates the way their hands look in pictures, even when they have beautiful hands… I don’t know why, but it’s true.)
Sometimes - ok, almost always - I want clients to lower their chin more than they think they should (they worry about causing a double chin, which is rarely the case!)
Sometimes (a lot of the time!) they worry about their hair, their clothes, microscopic (or imaginary) blemishes that will take me 2 seconds to remove in photoshop — even the most beautiful models are constantly worrying about their appearance.
Constantly reassure your client! When you take good pictures, you are capturing a mood, and with digital photography, people have the ability to relentlessly zoom in to see features of interest. If there is worry in the eyes, people will see it. Same with tension in the shoulders or the neck.
Remind your clients what you see when you look at them. Joy, life, spirit. Remind them what people will see when they look at the photographs - someone they love! These little reminders will make your pictures extraordinary, because the joy and confidence of the subject will come through in every little detail!
In this picture, Hannah was understandably nervous about putting on an old fashioned bathing cap (she has beautiful long flowing hair in real life!) I explained that I wasn’t trying to hide her hair, I was just trying to showcase the sweetness and beauty of her face and eyes without the distraction of her beautiful hair. We talked it through and I kept talking while I was shooting - showing her shots as I was shooting (I shoot with my camera tethered to a laptop so that I can show clients things in real time.) She leaned into it, and I couldn’t be happier with the results.
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