Secrets to Crafting Top-Quality Beauty Portraits: Posing & Framing

This is yet another article of the Secrets to Crafting Top-Quality Beauty Portraits series. If you haven't read the first three, you can find them here: on compositing, on shooting Beauty portraits on location and in studio.

Today I would like to talk about framing, posing and directing your models when shooting Beauty portraits. While lighting and compositing are very important parts of creating a striking image, the model's pose, facial expression and her body language can make or break it.

When your model or client is in front of your lens, she can't see herself the way you're seeing her through your viewfinder. Even if there's a mirror somewhere in your studio, she still cannot see herself from the same point of view as you are seeing her.

If she is a professional model with a lot of experience specifically in Beauty, then you are in "good hands". Although, you need to always keep in mind, that you are the creator of the image, you are the director and you need to help your model to get into the right pose, so that you can capture her beauty within a smart and visually balanced frame.

There are many things that I have learned from my own experience and mistakes shooting Beauty around the world, and I would like to share some of my tips with you today.

And before we begin, I'd like to suggest that the best way to learn to direct your models into graceful and elegant poses is to observe and analyze a lot of great Beauty photography examples. Study framing, poses, facial expressions and hands placement in images in the leading Beauty magazines, on the advertising posters and promo materials in cosmetics sections in department and specialized stores. On websites such as Pintrest, Behance.com and thousands of others.

Find your most favorite Beauty photographers and study their work. Observing great examples and submerging yourself in the imagery that you enjoy will help you train your eye and eventually it will be easy for you to direct your models into the poses that work.

I am a firm believer in the fact that there are almost no rules set in stone in photography, or any other types of visual arts for that matter. You can always see great examples of how every single rule can be broken. But before you can learn how to successfully do that you must first learn what those rules and standards actually are.

I have collected a whole Pinboard with lots of examples, both great and not-so-great, for you. They will illustrate what I'll be talking about in this article, and you will probably learn even more from reading my comments under each photo in that Pinboard. But first, please read this article, so that my comments make sense to you.

You can find my examples here: Posing & Framing In Beauty Photography Pinboard.

Framing In Beauty Photography Subcategories

There are of course many of them and each subcategory has its rules and specifics. I will mention only those that I am personally very attracted to.

When we're photographing simple Beauty Portraits for private clients (non-models) we usually step back and leave some negative space around our subject. If we're shooting on location we usually include some of the surroundings into the frame.

We're traditionally cropping from the hips (or above the waist) up, but are free to get as close as we want and as the subject's skin condition allows us. Faces typically take up anywhere from 10% of the canvas up to 50% in this type of Beauty.

In Makeup Beauty photography there are usually three main types of framing:

• From top of the shoulders up with a little bit of negative space around the subject's head (face takes up around 40-50% of the frame)
• Tight closeup from right under the chin up to the forehead (85-95%)
• Macro closeup of just one facial feature in the frame (usually an eye or lips) - please see examples in my Pinboard.

In Hairstyling Beauty photography you will normally see more negative space around the model's head and shoulders. The hair is obviously the center of attention here, so the model's face is not necessarily even fully visible (see more examples in my Pinboard). Faces take up anywhere from 5% t0 30% of the frame.

In Celebrity Beauty Portraits the subject in the frame is already 99% guarantee of a successful image (given your lighting and compositing skills are great). You can crop tight or you can leave a lot of negative space around your subject, you can be as traditional or as artistic with cropping, framing and posing as you want. Almost anything goes in Celebrity Beauty photography as long as the images are flattering the subject's beauty.

Shoulders and Hands

Remember that one of our main goals is to make our subject look elegant, feminine and attractive. You can make your model look heavier and wider, if you place her so that her shoulders are directly facing the camera. If you ask your model to turn her torso slightly away from the camera, so that you can still see her further shoulder, she will look slimmer in the shot.

If you lower your camera level and ask your model to relax and drop her shoulders while slightly bringing them forward (so that her collar bones become more pronounced) - her neck will look elongated. Watch her move into that position through your viewfinder and help her by directing until she gets there.

Her hands and fingers should be relaxed and slightly bent in each joint. Or they can be straightened out, pointy and intense, but their positioning and placement must always match the facial expression, so that the overall feel of the image makes sense and doesn't send mixed signals. For example, if her face is soft and relaxed, her hands and fingers should resemble a ballet dancers' hands.

Getting hands look beautiful in Beauty portraits sometimes is very challenging for both the model and the photographer. Sometimes my models are naturally good with their hands. But sometimes it can be a struggle for the both of us, and if I realize that it is too difficult for my model to hold and place her hands and fingers elegantly, I avoid getting them in the frame altogether.

Check out this wonderful video by Joe Edelman "How to handle hands". I personally not completely agree with some of the "good" examples in this video, but the overall message is really helpful. I actually send the link to this video to some of my models to help them understand what generally looks good and what doesn't.

Also please look through my Pinboard and read my comments to see more positive and negative examples on how to position hands in Beauty photography.

More Tips On Posing & Directing

1. When shooting closeup Beauty images, explain to your model right at the beginning of the shoot that because there's so little information in the frame, every tiny detail makes a huge impact. Tell her that you will be watching her and helping her to get into the poses that look most flattering. And that when you ask her to move her chin or hand, or turn her shoulders - her movements should be done in small increments, so that you can capture the best pose before she completely changes it.

2. Have a set of reference images on your smartphone or tablet, so you can always show it to your model during the shoot. It often really helps to show a pose or a facial expression that you want from your model, rather than trying to explain it.

3. It also often helps to name the looks, or feelings and emotions that you want your model to deliver, rather than try to explain what you want her to do with her body parts, lips or eyes separately. For example, tell her you'd like her to look fierce, or careless and happy, or sexy and mysterious. She will figure out how to tilt her head, how to look into the lens and what her facial expression should be.

4. Never touch your model without asking for her permission first. I have seen grown men (photographers) touch young models' uncovered shoulders and arms during the shoots in attempt to place them into a desired pose. It is a big no-no! You MUST gently ask for her permission, or better yet try to explain what you need her to do without actual physical contact. I am a female photographer, yet I always ask for permission before I touch my model's hair to fix it, or their necklace, or the outfit, let alone touching their uncovered skin. You never know how a young girl can perceive your harmless touch, and I'm sure  you don't want to be that creep with whom local moms don't allow their girls to shoot.

5. Don't keep your model waiting until you release the shutter for too long. Keep snapping even if you're still adjusting your camera level or framing, or at least keep communicating with her. I have seen awkward situation when a photographer is silently staring at the model through the viewfinder trying to find the best crop, and her facial expression and pose quickly lose their spark. You want to keep the momentum going. When you lose that flow you make it harder for the model and yourself to get great poses and facial expressions.

6. When you ask your model to put her hands near her face, tell her that she shouldn't really physically touch her skin, only pretend. There are two reasons for that: 1. She will not ruin the makeup by rubbing her hands on her face and 2. Every touch creates a little shadow around the finder on the skin and it never looks good in Beauty photography, unless it is an intentional intense touch or pose.

7. At the end of the day you will learn to direct your models into graceful and elegant poses when you will have a good eye for those poses. The more great examples of Beauty photography you observe, the easier it will be for you to figure out how to get your model into a pose that will work best for each shot.

I hope you enjoyed this article as usual! Please feel free to suggest more topics related to Beauty, Fashion and Portrait photography that you would like me to write about in 2014.

Happy New Year! Wishing you lots of inspiration and great images in 2014!