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.
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"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.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
40 of 41 people found the following review helpful
Format: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.
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
Format: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
Format: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.
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.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Really Bad
Sorry, I was hoping to find a constructive or gentle way to title my review. However, I just can't. The photography in this book is bad (frequently bad light, bad subjects,... Read more
Published on December 12, 2009 by Brandon
posing techniques, Norman Phillips
I like this book alot. I keep going back to it. It's about posing your subjects and not about using the camera to take the pictures or shooting in exotic locations. Read more
Published on May 31, 2009 by Richard Albeck
Excellent learning tool
An excellent choice for those looking to improve their posing skills. The guidelines for doing so are well explained and easy to understand. Read more
Published on September 28, 2008 by Dawn Johns
Mike
Decent book, but may be a little too simplistic for the advanced photographer. I found some good ideas, but was looking for a little more direction on difficult people to pose,... Read more
Published on August 17, 2008 by Michael D. Sackett
Good Posing Techniques book
this book has very good samples and ideas about posing.. just dont see only pictures..take your time to read it all and practice with a friend or model. hight recommended
Published on November 24, 2007 by Juan C. Camacho
Very Disorganized!
Sample pictures do not have a clear description of which poses are good or bad. You have to read text which is usually in different pages to determine the expalantion of the... Read more
Published on July 12, 2007 by Abner Santiago
Not at all what I had hoped..
This book did not have the creative and interesting posing techniques I had hoped for. Outdated is the best word I can think of to describe this book.
Published on March 26, 2007 by Jennifer
Utterly disappointing, do not buy this book!
I cant begin to describe how utterly useless this book is. The title suggested a book that would provide eduction and insight to posing for portrait and wedding photography: the... Read more
Published on March 10, 2007 by Darryn McKay
Best one I have read
My model (daughter) and I use this book as our posing bible.
It has improved the appearance of our photos one hundred percent. Read more
It has improved the appearance of our photos one hundred percent. Read more
Published on February 16, 2007 by S. Hale
Perfect
This book was just what I was looking for! All of the tips and hints throughout the book have made me a more conscious photographer. Read more
Published on November 8, 2006 by S. Phelps
Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
If we want our subjects to look good and to present them in a flattering way, there are four basic posing methods that we need to use: the formal, naturual, and exaggerated styles, or a hybrid method that combines elements of the three former posing styles. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
tapered look, floor poses, lighting pattern, triangular composition, seated poses, head pose, feet positions New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
If we want our subjects to look good and to present them in a flattering way, there are four basic posing methods that we need to use: the formal, naturual, and exaggerated styles, or a hybrid method that combines elements of the three former posing styles. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
tapered look, floor poses, lighting pattern, triangular composition, seated poses, head pose, feet positions New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 1
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2
books
cite this book:
- Wedding and Portrait Photographers' Legal Handbook by Norman Phillips in Back Matter
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