Styles of Posing

Lifestyle
The lifestyle pose evokes a sense of everyday living with common body movements and facial expressions. To succeed at the lifestyle pose, each model must be able to recreate moments of happiness, love, anger, and hope. The key to the lifestyle pose is to bring a sense of lifestyle and the emotions that correlate to the body language.

Movement
The movement pose captures a specific action, such as running or jumping. Because this pose is most often used for a marketing photo shoot—the model is used to promote a product. A model must be able to smile and laugh or capture the emotion of the given action when using the products in the photo shoot.


Portrait
This modeling pose emphasizes the face of the model—and relies purely on facial features. Many portrait photographs are close up and emphasize details of the model’s face. If you are scheduled for a portrait photo shoot, make sure to pay extra attention to your skin and drink at least 8-12 glasses of water a day. It is also important to pay attention to your posture and shoulders as these play a vital role in creating a great portrait.

Body
Full-length photographs require body poses. Models are encouraged to shift weight between hips and make arms and lengths into asymmetrical stances. Putting your entire body into character during full-length poses and utilizing the correct angles to accent the body lines to best suit your figure.

Helpful Tips

Breathe: Although sometimes concentration enhances a good photograph, obvious concentration can distract and often ruin a good photograph as well. Do not hold your breath for a modeling pose; always remember to breathe and appear at ease.

Posture: Bad posture is an unrecognized flaw in many people. However, for models, posture is a harmful flaw. Always remember to keep your back straight and your shoulders up. Slouching affects the mood of the photograph and enlarges the appearances of your stomach. In addition to your back and shoulders, always remember to flex your stomach muscles. Despite your weight or state of shape, your abdomen will appear more toned if you flex.

Limbs: Symmetry is officially out in the modeling world. When posing, make sure to differentiate your arms and legs with asymmetrical poses. If you have one arm long and straight by your side, make sure the other arm is bent. Whether a big or small angle, the bend will make the modeling pose look more real, less artificial. Continue the asymmetry to your legs. If one leg is locked straight, give the other leg a casual bend.

Camera: Although the camera is the ultimate focal point of a modeling photo shoot, great models do not look directly into the camera. To enhance the quality of your photo shoot, look away from the camera with a mix of head and eye poses. Looking off to the right or left side, or tiling your neck to either side can help you avoid direct eye contact with the camera. In many cases, your head and neck can remain stationary in your modeling pose—and your eyes can do all the work. Head and eye positions, coupled with personable facial expressions make for great model poses.

Sitting Poses: If you are sitting down during your photo shoot—don’t think it’s ok to slack off. In fact, sitting photo shoots require a lot of extra work. If you are sitting down or reclining, it’s important to put your eight on the back of one thigh, rather than distributing your weight equally on both thighs. If you roll one hip up from the ground or surface, shifting your weight will be simple. This pose results in a slimming effect that you don’t want to miss out on.

Cleavage: To make sure your best assets shine, there are a few basic guidelines to follow. Based on two distinct poses, a forward lean and a backward lean, any model with any breast size can maximize cleavage. When leaning forward, either bring your arms together at your waist, keep your arms straight at the elbows and clasp your hands together below your waist, or simply cross your arms. When leaning backward, raise your arms about your shoulders and head, keep your arms apart, and always slouch for the best cleavage results.

Smile: If you have a naturally beautiful smile—show your pearly whites with pride, just not every time. If you smile in each modeling pose, modeling agents will notice your lack of versatility, not your smile. To add variety to your modeling poses, try switching up your smile with a cute frown, a bratty bout, a friendly laugh, or even an edgy scowl. Your facial expressions can make or break your modeling poses. Let your smile show, but make sure to show what else you can do.



Pre-Assignment Consultation

What you can expect and how you can prepare for the consultation:
The pre-assignment consultation is an important part of the process. This allows us to understand your needs, build a suitable package that brings your vision to life, and answer any questions that you might have. The consultation typically lasts 30-45 minutes and we make every effort to make this a fun part of the process. Below is a list of questions that will help you to be prepared and have a solid understanding of what it is you seek from your shoot. Our focus is ensuring you get the most from your shoot with us and we hope this information is helpful in shedding some light and further raising your awareness of those things that can make the difference.


Some questions to help you prepare:

How many outfits would you like to include as a part of the shoot? Having an idea of how many outfits will help determine the right package for you. Generally we recommend 3 to 5 outfits for a shoot as provides a decent variety. We will always recommend that you bring at least 2 extra outfits to the shoot so that we can help to determine the best outfits to be used. Each outfit should consist of the outfit, undergarments, shoes, accessories, and jewelry as well as any items you feel might go well with the outfit (such as small props, etc...)

What would you like to receive in the way of end results? A big part of the package that we create for you will be based on what you seek in the end results. This can be one or a combination of products; such as digitals on a cd, prints (5"x7", 8"x10", 11"x17", 16"x20", 20"x30", 24"x36"), canvases, photo books, calendars, posters, metal prints, or even a special photo box that locks.

What concerns do you have? We want to ensure this process is fun and rewarding for you. We find that discussing your concerns at the consultation will help us to provide the best experience possible. Every individual is different and we find concerns can vary greatly from person to person. Whatever your concerns might be they are safe, confidential, and free of judgment so please do not hesitate to speak up.

How can we help to ensure you get the most of your shoot with us? The more prepared that you are, the happier that you will be with the end results as will receive exactly what you want. We work with individuals who simply leave it up to us and this is not an issue but if there is anything we can do, provide, or accommodate; please let us know.

Do you have any specific requests regarding hair and/or makeup? A vital part of the process is the result of your hair and makeup. Our staff is very talented and provide an outstanding level of service. Many clients leave it in their capable hands to ensure they look their best yet we encourage you to mention any ideas that you may have as well as if you have any known issues with certain types of products. Some might want a very specific hair style or certain color as a part of their makeup; the shoot is about you so please let us know what we can do to make the most of the experience.

Do you have any examples of images that show the types of images you seek? We encourage you to bring any photos that might inspire you or the results that you seek from your shoot. If you do not have anything specific in mind as of yet, this is not required yet we want you to know that you are welcome to bring anything that will help us to understand your vision.