Professional Posing Techniques for Wedding and Portrait Photographers [Paperback]

Norman Phillips (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 28, 2005

Combining two disciplines—posing and wedding portraiture—this professional resource helps photographers create flattering poses to build the best possible portraits and highest possible sales. Photographers are taught how to position the head, shoulders, torso, arms, hands, legs, and feet to correct figure flaws, make a client feel relaxed, and evoke a dynamic image that tells a story or defines a relationship. The challenges of shooting on location are addressed with tips for adjusting poses in any situation. A discussion of body language and how small adjustments can change an entire mood provides photographers with the ability to help their clients convey a variety of desired messages, whether elegant, sexy, or playful. Standing, seated, and floor poses are covered along with specific techniques for photographing brides, grooms, and wedding parties.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Simple to understand and easy to utilize...makes this guide a must have addition to your personal library."  —Shutterbug

About the Author

Norman Phillips is a professional photographer and the author of Lighting Techniques for High Key Portrait Photography, Lighting Techniques for Low Key Portrait Photography, and Wedding and Portrait Photographers' Legal Handbook. He is a four-time recipient of the Chicagoland Professional Photographers Association Sweepstakes Award. He lives in Highland Park, Illinois.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Amherst Media, Inc.; 1 edition (October 28, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1584281707
• ISBN-13: 978-1584281702
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 8.4 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #237,729 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good book for broad basics, May 10, 2006

By 

Thomas E. Tweedel (Austin, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Professional Posing Techniques for Wedding and Portrait Photographers (Paperback)

I bought this book after looking at several in the store. My main reason was this was the only book I've found that covers the basics of posing from individuals to whole families. It covers a lot of material in a short amount of space. The text itself is not too in depth. Its more like an outline with specific points and ample pictures. Its well organized, individuals, standing, seated, ground, couples, families, groups etc. In each case he pay special attention to the difference between posing men and women.

Most of the techniques are covered by starting with a not so good pose and then working up to a great pose and then going from the great pose to variations. I found this very useful and informative because as he works through the "adjustments" to the good pose he doesn't just say, move this here, here and here but covers why we want to move from where we are to where we are going. He points out not only the elements that make a good pose but WHY the bad poses are bad. He tends to do this quickly and without going into too much detail, but with the accompanying pictures if you pay attention you see there is a lot of information in there on what makes poses good and bad without giving a dry list. I'm not an expert (I don't know what I don't know) but he seems to have covered all the basics. Using what you learn here will give you a good foundation upon which to build.

I found it best to read a section though to get an idea of where its going and then go back and re-read and take notes.

So the pros of this book are that it covers a lot of material in a very short, efficient manner. The pictures are good and demonstrate what he is talking about. Its not too dry or technical, it flows well. Its more comprehensive than most books for its size and topic.

The Cons are few as long as you understand that the scope of the book is not the end all be all guide to every posing situation. It's a starter. Two minor picks I had were that the text flow and the picture flow didn't always match up. You'd have text referring to pictures on another page. Also all the models he used were atonomically perfect for the most part and not "Real" people that most of us photograph. But those really don't detract too much from the material. My main wish was that it was longer and more in depth but there is enough there to keep me busy for hours of study and practice.

If your looking to get better at posing for most occasions and your not already very knowledgeable on the subject this is a great book.

25 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good but not Great, February 24, 2006

By 

David Asche "ATLDC9" (Atlanta) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Professional Posing Techniques for Wedding and Portrait Photographers (Paperback)

I just finished this book and can say that my #1 issue with it is layout. The idea is to show poses and tell you what is right and wrong with them but almost always the image in question and the text are not visible on the same page so you have to flip pages to see the image you are reading about. Another issue is that in later chapters you will read posed according to the rules we established earlier in the book but I don't feel that the early chapters clearly define all those rules so I wish the text was specific to each image.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Outdated photography, Decent text, January 24, 2008

By 

Erica N. Herron "Erica" (MD) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Professional Posing Techniques for Wedding and Portrait Photographers (Paperback)

First things first -- the photography in this book is HEINOUS! The wardrobe, the poses, the lighting, the overall quality of the images led me to believe that this was published in the early 90's, when in fact it was published very recently. I even saw the classic "Napoleon Dynamite" pose amongst its pages.
So I figured this photographer would have nothing to teach me, given I (and every other photographer I know) was producing photographs of far greater quality the first day we picked up a camera Freshman year of college. But the text is actually quite enlightening, giving you some handy advice for flattering your clients' figures that is really indispensable. Since I currently am doing production photography (5 minutes per set to do creative shots for an entire family), I need a lot of fast, easy poses to place people in, or at least basic rules to avoid costly mistakes, and this delivered.
You won't find a book of poses, or a book of good photography, but you will find an education in how to come up with your own poses.