People need direction in front of the camera – otherwise they often become self-conscious and suddenly forget how they would sit or stand in a relaxed manner normally. So how do I pose them without making them look all… posed? Glen got in contact with us because he wanted some portraits to give to his nan. He has quite a dark skin tone, and arrived in this dark suit, which made me very happy because I love portraits that combine …
As with the traditional lighting patterns, these head positions hark back to a time when meeting specific technical expectations was considered more important than capturing atmosphere and emotion. Nevertheless, they are useful to consider in your photography as they make you think about the nuances of positioning your subject. Feel free to come up with some more inventive names for them, too… I asked my model, Saskia, to face 90 degrees away from the camera. If she looked straight ahead, …