posed portraits-whats your banter?

fontmoss

fontmoss

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Dave
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How do you get folk to look natural and at ease when doing posed work?
I'm going to try my hand and see if I can pull together some decent shots but what do you say to make folk feel at ease? Just have a bit of a chat and a laugh or more directed stuff-look this way etc etc?

i can imagine it's totaly different for kids btw but wondered how much it varies with adults?
 
making people smile is what works for me.:D i have a few things i do and say ..


it all depends on the people your shooting " everyone is different" if you chat before the shoot you can normally see what kind of personality someone has and work on that..



if all else fails tell them to look through the lens to see your eye.. then ask if they saw you wink :lol: you would be supprised how many say yes... works a treat on kids:lol:


md:thumbs:
 
Last time I was in studio I met the model the weekend before and had a chat and a coffee. On the day of the shoot we spent the first half hour laughing and joking, talking about any old rubbish until we felt comfortable enough, then carried on talking about any old rubbish all the way through :D She seemed comfortable enough, and it helped me relax a bit too :lol:
 
As above really, just take time to talk to them first, crack a few jokes and I usually end up saying 'bad joke come included' as it's almost a dead cert that my jokes are only for laughing at and not with, which helps the models relax as I'm quite hapily making a fool of myself lol
 
Funnily enough it turned out I'd met the model 3 years ago...while I was seeing her best mate. It was her that rang me up and told me not to bother driving to see her mate because she was about to bin me :lol: The laughter when she told me she recognised me was certainly a tension cutter lmfao
 
I've heard a good tip (especially if it's not a professional model) is to take a few pictures then go and "adjust" something on the model - move their hair a little, brush imaginary dust off their clothes, etc. - then they feel like you're trying to get them to look their best and you're "on their side" as it were, and they relax more.
 
Itti said:
I've heard a good tip (especially if it's not a professional model) is to take a few pictures then go and "adjust" something on the model - move their hair a little, brush imaginary dust off their clothes, etc. - then they feel like you're trying to get them to look their best and you're "on their side" as it were, and they relax more.
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Unless you're a male photographer and it's a female model, then that's a big no-no :nono:
 
Personally i would not touch anybody in anyway that I was shooting .:nono:

But thats me


md;)
 
Well just use your common sense. :P Moving their head slightly does a similar thing and can't be misconstrued. (I don't think making minor adjustments to their hair is likely to be misconstrued either, unless they're naked. And unless you're "brushing dust" off her breasts... :P )
 
..MD.. said:
Personally i would not touch anybody in anyway that I was shooting .:nono:

But thats me


md;)
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:shrug: Well, I've not tried it as I haven't done any photos like that but just passing on something a pro said had worked for him. :shrug:
 
Itti said:
Well just use your common sense. :P Moving their head slightly does a similar thing and can't be misconstrued. (I don't think making minor adjustments to their hair is likely to be misconstrued either, unless they're naked. And unless you're "brushing dust" off her breasts... :P )
Click to expand...


Any touching can be miscontrued, best just not to go there....
 
Sorry if that sounded funny from me it was not meant to.;)

I would aske the model to flick there hair or tilt there head . get them involved and chat all the time making them feel good.

md:thumbs:


reason as above
 
im glad this thread has been revived, i need help with direction. Going to use mates as guinea pigs but ive no idea how much involvement and direction i should use? i know most will come with experience but some tips and ideas would be grand ta.
 
:thumbs: Using mates is a reat way of learning.

I would suggest making a list of poses that you want to try and get at least say ten. This will make you have to think about posesing them and getting them to do what you want . talking all the time is good imho If someone is pointing a camera at you it can feel like a lifetime for them to press the shutter .
This is where i find most people" non models " feel the most at unease

so make a list and try and get those shots . if all goes well and you get them any others would be a bonus.

fun fun fun should be the order of the day


md:thumbs:
 
just general banter is good! find something both you and the subject are interested in, then there shouldn't be any of that awkward polite chat:lol:

the other thing I would suggest (and this does help in my opinion!) is getting the subject to "under-smile"

I have read this in books and seen/tried it in practice and it does end up getting a better shot on many occasions if you want it to look natural (also works for you if someone has asked to take your shot at a wedding off-guard!) Basically- ask the subject to smile how they would normally for a photo, and then ask them to "tone it down a little", or just slightly less. really helps.


-someone also said on these here forums to ask the subject if they were gay???? apparently the look on their faces are great for a shot?!?!:lol:
 
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