If you are shooting a girl with long flowing hair, make sure that the hair is laid correctly, otherwise it will be very conspicuous. If you do not use the services of a makeup artist or stylist, be sure to remember that hair lying on your shoulders looks sloppy and terrible. You can ask the model herself to fix her hair, but it is better to do it yourself (after asking permission) or entrust it to a makeup artist or stylist.
How to fix this situation?
- collect hair;
- throw everything to one side in front or behind;
- throw all your hair back;
- make all the hairs in front;
- take a pose with hair.
2. Working with a face:
- There is no need to try to make the model smile if this does not correspond to the atmosphere and mood of the shooting, or if there is no reason for that, since it will still not look quite natural, because in the photographs a person can give out empty eyes;
- To avoid the double chin you need to “pull the head out of the shell”, like a turtle, slightly pull it forward and up (this may seem stupid or unusual, but it is effective);
- If you are photographing a person looking at something in the distance, then make sure that his pupils are visible, not the squirrels. Better to ask the model to look at an object behind you;
- Before taking a photo of a person in profile, pay attention to his nose, or rather to its size. If the nose is too large or long, change the angle;
- If your model decides to tilt her head to the side, it is best to compensate for this by slightly tilting her body to the same side.
3. Working with a body:
- Standing straight in front of the camera makes anyone look bigger. A small turn to the side will help to become thinner;
- In no case let the model press her hands to the subject, to her sides, as this only makes her arms thicker. It is better to raise them a little or put them on some object or part of the body, for example, on the hip or waist;
- One of the hardest to pose is the hands. To get a good shot, you need to relax your hands, especially your hands. Do not turn the brushes entirely towards the camera, otherwise they will increase in size and look like claws;
- Make sure that the model does not point her elbows and knees towards the camera, this does not look very nice;
- Try once again, making the frame, not to chop off the hands and feet of the person;
- Watch the posture of the model, it is also an important element of posing and the guarantee of beautiful pictures (posture is what a person most often forgets about);
- Remember that you can look thinner by pulling in your stomach: this makes the model thinner and is especially good for sitting and lying poses;
- If you want to use a pose where her fist is located near the cheek of the model, then make sure that it does not occupy the entire face and does not look large.
Two more ways to make a person thinner:
- Advise to wear black clothes (if the location or genre allows it);
- Place the camera slightly higher than a person or climb a chair or ladder, i.e. shoot from the top angle.
A few more basic posing rules to keep in mind:
- The neck should always be visible in the pictures;
- Always in full-length shots, try to remind the model that you need to pull the sock a little, whether she is barefoot or in shoes, but you do not need to strain the calf muscle, this only thickens the leg;
- To make legs appear longer when shooting in full growth, take an angle from below, which allows you to visually lengthen them. But it is better to shoot from above only to the waist or shoulders (if you shoot a person in full growth from above, then his legs will look much shorter).
A photographer will need knowledge not only of photography itself, but also of video shooting, psychology, marketing, color, makeup and fashion, as well as the ability to choose an image and determine how best to shoot various types of faces and figures.
The role of the photographer is to convey the beauty and personality of each person through the camera lens, i.e. to focus on the best person, on his merits, and hide what he did not want to see in the pictures, in other words, his shortcomings. It is important to show the true essence of a person and what he really is (in the case of glamorous, advertising and fashion shootings, this will not work).
Whichever type of face or figure you have to shoot, try to avoid wide-angle lenses and lenses with focal lengths greater than 200 mm, especially when taking large portraits. These lenses distort perspective quite a lot. It’s another matter if your goal is to specifically convey this or that person: to narrow or expand it.
This information and helpful tips are sure to help you achieve the best results on shootings.