way outnumbered: Breathe Thru Your Mouth...And Other Posing Tips

A lot of photographers like to advertise how they never pose their clients and all their photography sessions are natural. Well that's all great for them but I think one of the advantages I can offer my client is that my sessions are very very posed!

My clients are paying me to make them look their absolute best and typically that just doesn't happen naturally. It's a scary thing to be set in front of a camera and it's even scarier when you feel abandoned in front of it. So many of my clients have said something like "Just tell me what to do." before we even begin the session. Luckily I assure them quickly that I'll be in control the entire time and let them know exactly how to behave to achieve the most flattering looks.

I've learned thru the years that posing my clients actually takes a lot of skill and learning! When I'm at a session there are a million things pulsing thru my brain at once....I'm concentrating on my lighting, my camera settings, the background...but then I have to set aside all those things and guide my client into a flattering pose that accentuates all the good stuff, and diminishes all the not-so-good stuff. And I have to do this in a simple, easy-to-understand way so the client doesn't get confused and feel like they're doing something wrong...or worse, feel like they look stupid on camera!

The biggest trick to posing though is making it look unposed on camera. After I finally get all the hands and arms and hips and everything else just where I want it, I have to get them to look fantastic and NOT self conscious right before I make that click. I've learned so many great tips for achieving that so I wanted to share one that I use quite often for close-ups. I call it the "Can you breathe thru your mouth?" tip.
Yes, I'm quite technical:)

I love to get great, dramatic close-ups of my models which usually means their mouths are closed with their lips together. But sometimes that look can come across as too stiff or without any personality. So I'll keep my model in the exact same pose but I'll ask them "Can you breathe thru your mouth?"

Almost every single time I ask that my model will open their lips just the slightest bit and their expression changes completely. That's when I'll shoot.

I did it here...

And here...

It's not that it always produces a better photo or expression, just a different one. Which means that both myself and the client have more options. I like options.

Here's a few side-by-side comparisons of portraits taken with the closed mouths and then 2 seconds later after I've asked her to breathe thru her mouth. Thanks to the lovely Shelby for being my model here...