Making Better Pictures: Walking the Walk

Giving directions. 

It’s probably not only one of the quickest ways to cause confusion, but is also the fuel that stokes the fire of most  arguments. No two people will probably give the same set of directions to that all blue house that’s just one block over. This very dilemma is the same in photography as it is in life.

You’ve set the date and time for the shoot. You’re at the location. Your equipment’s all set up. Your subject takes her place in front of the camera. And then you realize that you don’t exactly know how to tell her what it is you would like her to do. Sure you’ve got a mental picture, but she can’t exactly read your mind. She stands there, growing uneasy with each passing second as you fiddle with your camera in the guise of appearing to do something productive.

If this has happened to you at some point, then take solace in the fact that you are (definitely) not alone.

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Icarus Was Winging It Too

Well, I would like to believe that a shoot (whether assigned or not) starts with a concept, a theme of sorts, around which a plan can be devised and then executed. Improvising is well and good if your initial (or even backup) plan falls apart, but one can’t simply show up and hope for ideas to fall from the sky.

So, you should already have a plan, which should include a number of poses for your subject. Lucky for you if you’re shooting someone who’s either a professional model or has a modeling background at least. But, unless you’re a sought after fashion photographer, don’t hold your breath. Most often, you’ll be working with subjects who won’t know how to pose; or worse, a few people who actually have a full repertoire of ‘proper’ poses.

Walk Like an Egyptian

You want your subject to angle their body towards a certain direction, tilt their head slightly upwards, separate their arms from their torso and so on.

And you finally blurt out, ‘Form an S-shape with your body!’

In your head, you’re thinking of all those glamorous girls on the cover of Cosmo. In her head, she’s probably thinking S like a hieroglyphic snake.

Talk Is Cheap

At some point, you will develop the knack to give directions and successfully build and refine different poses. But, until you do (or even when you already do) you should be able to act out for your subject whatever it is you want them to do. No matter how difficult or absurd it may seem.

As the legendary Joe McNally once said, 'I never ask my subjects to do that which I wouldn’t.'

Acting out your own instructions achieves two things:

1. Your subject now has a clear image of what you would like her to do.
2. It breaks the ice. Your subject will no longer be afraid to make a fool of herself because you’ve already done it first.

 
I didn’t say I was going to do it better than the subject, but now she has a starting pose that she can work with and improve.

 
Did other people stare at me when I stuck the large flower over my ear? Yes.

Did I get great smiles out of my subject? You bet.