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POSING STYLES
Classic Fashion — These poses were developed as a style up to the 1960’s. They follow good compositional design and function to make one look attractive. This is the style most used in catalog modeling.
Anti-Classic or High Fashion — A rebellion against the classic posing started with the
1960’s rebellion to look unique. This has intern become its own stylized look that is seen mostly in fashion editorial. This style breaks compositional lines and goes for distorted, awkward, deformed, and yes even ugliness.
Commercial Print – Most often the pose is tied to direct non-verbal communication. An ad has an advertising message that needs to be stated and how the model is positioned carries the statement.
Glamour — This area has its own unique set of poses. It is built on classic fashion and good design and emphasizes the sensual and sexy.
Hit: You can search all posing sample on any search engines
HOW CAN YOU LEARN TO POSE
The best suggestion is to work on posing by practicing in front of a full-length mirror and doing test shoots. To figure out what to practice look at fashion magazines to see how to stand but keep in mind most of the poses are breaking the rule and you need to be learning the rules. Look at fashion catalogs for poses. Pay attention to tilt of the head, position of the hand, and turn of the ankle. These little things can make a big difference. Just as with facial expressions your body posture can relate to an emotional word or phrase. Body posing is easy to show someone but it is hard to put in words.
With both expressions and with posing it is also good to practice with props, products, and wardrobe. Props might be a floppy hat, a long shawl, and a beach ball. You want to practice reacting to the prop and using the prop. The reason for doing photographs is to sell something; it is good to practice with a product that might be sold. Practice holding the product so it shows well and you don’t cover the label. With fashion you are selling the clothes, practice showing important features. Show off pockets, collar, belt, how the garment moves, what ever makes the garment interesting need to have attention.
Look at a lot of magazines and practice mimicking the poses in front of your mirror. This may sound childish but its not. You may discover your grace or find out you can’t do more than be a stick figure – either way doing this as practice will only help you when it is for real.
MAKE-UP
Make-up is an art. If a shoot has a budget for a make-up artist and a good one is available then just sit back and let them do their magic. On a shoot without a budget for a make-up artist or in smaller markets where one is not available, it may well fall upon the model to do their own make-up. Even when you have a make-up artist it is necessary that you know of any corrective make-up you may need.
There are some great books available for learning make-up. You may also find theatrical make-up classes taught at some community colleges. Don’t go to the cosmetologist at the local department store as they may be fine giving some pointers for street make-up, but make-up for photography can and is quite different. This is especially true for black and white photos.
Make-up for black and white photography can get strange as color no longer matters. It is only the lightness and darkness that matters.
A big part of learning make-up is just trying it in front of a mirror. Study a book or magazine then try it in front of a mirror. Eventually, you have to get in front of the camera with your make up on and see how it looks.
SMILING
Use the mirror to practice your smile too. There are many different types of smiles i.e. the coy smile, the broad happy smile, the snidely smile etc. Practice going from a straight face to a smile because when and if you do get in front of the camera while there is chaos around you the photographer will say “smile” right in the middle of it.
HAIR STYLING
Being able to do things with your hair can be a great help. Of course it is great when you have a professional hair stylist who can do some fabulous looks and keep every hair in place, but there may not be a budget for a hair stylist. It may fall to the model to be able to do their hair.
Most photographers will say that shoulder length hair is the most versatile. It can be put it up, pulled it back, combed to one side, fluffed, curled, or just left natural. Short hair locks in one look, end of story. Long hair can be fun to work with but not quite as flexible. Being able to restyle your hair can be very helpful on a shoot. Check various magazines to see what they are doing and practice in a mirror. For most modeling purposes you don’t need to be incredibly creative with your hair, just able to redo it to offer several different looks.
WARDROBE
In smaller markets, on lower budget shoots, and for your composite and portfolio you will need a basic working wardrobe. A range of basics would be good. You should have a business suit or wardrobe for interviews, cold calls, and modeling. As part of your wardrobe selection it is best to know about fashion. If you don’t, learn first before you start building or selecting your model wardrobe.
