"In-studio posing" by Laura Shortt, featured in Shutter Magazine

I was thrilled at the start of the year to be asked by Shutter Magazine to write an article for them on the topic of “In-studio posing”. Although the article I wrote is geared more towards other photographers, I think it contains useful information if you happen to find yourself standing in front of the camera as well.

“In-studio posing” by Laura Shortt, published by Shutter Magazine, Jan. 2021 issue:

Before I jump into the meaty topic of in-studio posing, I want to begin with a premise from which all of my tips in this article emanate. I believe all posing can be broken down to the same fundamental goal: honour who the subject is that’s standing in front of your camera and make them look damn good.

Maternity posing is the only genre of portraiture where it makes sense for the model to cradle their belly (Portrait of Steph and baby Kenna. Hair/makeup by Makeup by Mida).

Now I know what you’re thinking: easier said than done, Laura. But hear me out. There are some key steps when it comes to posing that, if we follow, will help to produce results that are both professional and beautiful.

To begin, when I say honour who the subject is, this means that as photographers we have to walk into the studio with eyes really open when we look at the person standing in front of our cameras. We have to be present enough to take them in and through the process of photographing them we’re going to find that some poses work for their bodies and some don’t, and that’s ok. Take for example the following photos of yours truly modelling two different poses. The first pose is very ‘fashion’ and works best on lean bodies.

It doesn’t work for my curvier shape (it flattens my arm against my body making it appear larger than it is, and my arms are too short to hold the pose in a way that looks natural). But if you tried that pose on a woman with a longer, leaner body type, she would look fantastic. The next photo of me is much better for my body type. My arms shape my figure in such a way to create a nice hourglass figure, which is very flattering visually.

In fact, when shooting female clients, my go-to poses are often ones that flatter and enhance an hourglass shape in their figures.

I find that women usually adore portraits of themselves where I’ve coached them to create an hourglass figure through posing (and where I’m running a business, it’s important that I deliver portraits that my clients are going to love).

That being said, we absolutely do not need an hourglass shape to create an amazing portrait of a woman. Take the following example, which took 2nd place in the boudoir category of WPPI’s First Half Online Competition in 2020.

The subject fills too much of the frame to create an hourglass shape in her figure. However, this doesn’t matter at all because the photo follows other artistic principles nicely to produce a flattering portrait. The model’s right arm is positioned to create a diagonal line within the photo, the model is positioned asymmetrically which is very pleasing to the eye, and in terms of composition, we also have lots of compositional triangles at play. (If you’re unsure of what things like triangles are as they relate to composition, I recommend you do some research on composition in art. Don’t forget: as photographers we are also artists, and having a foundational understanding of artistic principles will serve you well.)

When I’m shooting clients who are men, I usually go for poses that require them to take up space (i.e., their limbs are placed in such a way that there’s some space between the arms and torso as well as space between the legs), as demonstrated in the following photos.

All this being said, it is absolutely ok to break the rules. Take for example the below two photos.

Here, the styling is what informed the poses. I adore this look- a pair of kicky trousers and suspenders. We decided to have fun with the styling and play up the more masculine energy of the wardrobe through posing that I normally do with men. However, it works beautifully here because of both the styling and the energy the model.

It’s also very important to remember that there are lots of people in the world who don’t distinctly identify with either ‘masculine’ or ‘feminine’, and as photographers we have to make sure we are honouring them as well when the step in front of the camera. The idea of creating an hourglass figure for women and getting men to take up more room through posing is a cisgendered one. It works for a lot of my clients, but I also know that there are a lot of potential clients out there that those poses don’t work for. This is another reason why we have to be present for the person we’re photographing. We need to be sensitive to what works for them and what doesn’t if we’re going to honour who they are.

It’s also important to be present and in the moment for our subjects because during their photo shoot they are going to give us moments of magic that we have to be observant enough to catch, as in the photo below.

When I took this portrait I was instructing the model on how to hold the hat when something happened to make her giggle (I don’t recall what made her laugh but I had my camera ready to capture the moment, and the result is this photo).

On the topic of creating magic moments, I recommend that you also get your subject moving. I make sure I allot at least 5-10 minutes every shoot where I simply allow the subject to move on their own. If you ever watch behind-the-scenes footage of Peter Lindbergh at work, he appears to give very little direction to the model. He allows his subject to be free, and the results are profound. I have recently started to do this in my sessions with models, and I’ve found it creates moments of beauty that I don’t think I could achieve through coaching alone. The below three photos were all a result of allowing the model to move on their own, whilst I observed them with my camera (please note: I wouldn’t do this exercise with an everyday client, as it could overwhelm them or make them feel self-conscious. However, I would give them an easier variation on the idea where I show them a movement and then get them to repeat the same movement in repetition a few times while photographing them)

Another key element I’ve found in successfully posing clients stems from remembering the fact that this is probably a very foreign and unnatural experience for them. The first thing I do at the start of every shoot is say to my client, “I’m going to give you a lot of direction and a lot of different poses. What I want you to do is find something that’s comfortable and that works for you within those poses.”

I find saying this usually helps put the subject at ease from the start while also helping them to understand that it’s not only ok, but is actually a good thing for them to move of their own volition. (When I first started out, I didn’t say this to clients. I would start by giving them a lot of direction, and the result was often that they’d make the assumption that they could only move if I directed them to do so. This, as you might imagine, produced body language and expressions that looked both tense and unnatural.) The other thing I make a point of telling them is that they can’t do anything wrong in front of the camera and because of this they don’t have to worry about making a mistake. I’ve found that telling clients this at the start of their shoot is very helpful at getting them to begin to relax in front of the camera, which in turn helps them to fully embody their poses.

Another technique that works beautifully when I’m photographing clients is to mirror poses for them. When I say mirror, I mean we almost end up playing a game of Simon Says, as you can see below.

In this behind-the-scenes photo, you can see I’m showing the model how to pose and they’re mirroring it back to me. I’ve found this to be such a useful tool when photographing both my clients (people with little experience in front of the camera) and a lot of models too.

Like everything else in photography, learning in-studio posing is a journey without an end. And it’s not easy. Everyone has a unique face and body and there’s always going to be some trial and error during a shoot figuring out what does and does not work for them. It does get easier with experience, but there’s also always something new to discover. What makes it easier for me is remembering that ultimately, it all comes back to the subject in front of your camera. Just remember, honour who they are (and make ‘em look damn good).