Portraiture for new photographers Portraiture for new photographers | Page 26

POSING THE MODEL
In movies, you’ve seen photographers give directions to the models: do this,
do that, make love to the camera, etc. This is NOT how to properly pose
a model.
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A model has to feel comfortable and safe to give her/his best results.
Even if you think that complimenting a model’s appearance is a good
thing, I’d suggest for you to restrain from doing so. Some models
( especially younger and unexperienced ones) might take your
compliments for harassments. I’d suggest you’d comment on the look of
the picture instead (“I really like the pose on that one”, “your eyes are
elongating the picture in a nice way there”, “I like that shadow on your
face on that one”, etc.) I’ll make you seem more professional and the
model will enjoy knowing what makes for the best results.
You CAN tell the model that her posing is great but don’t comment on
how much you like his/her body / face and NEVER say that she/he looks
sexy ( even when you are shooting nude or lingerie)