31/01/2016
While most posing tip tutorials usually focus on the female form, there isn’t that much information available about how to properly pose men. And even when you do find a guide, it is more about listing some poses and seldom do you see somebody explaining the why. Why is it that we need to pose a man in a different way? Talking about the why and laying some ground rules would not only help photographers understand classic male posing better, but also serve as a. guide in creating their own poses and variations.
Before we even get started, it is important. to first. identify the goals when posing a man vs posing a woman.
When a man thinks about the best version of himself,
he doesn’t think about being pretty, cute, or showing
off his nice hourglass body. A man wants to be strong,
fit and tall while oozing coolness, confidence and self
control.
While posing women we usually try to accentuate
curves, when posing men the opposite holds true. A
man’s body is not about curves, it is about angles and
raw power. It’s about the V and the jaw line.
General facts that will help you better pose a person
and understand why some poses work:
Things that are closer to the camera look bigger
Things that are further from the camera look
smaller
A longer lens flattens depth(for example, a big
nose looks smaller at 120mm than it looks at
50mm)
A short lens makes the face rounder and “puffier”
Things pointed directly at the camera look shorter
(foreshortening)
The Face
The Jaw Line
Is a critical measurement of perceived manliness. You
job as a photographer is to make sure the jawline is
well defined and as angular and sharp as possible.
Ask the subject to push their chin out and a little bit
down. This will gently stretch the neck while hiding
part of the neck from the camera.
You can further refine the jawline by clever use of
shadow and by making sure the jawline doesn’t blend
into the neck.
And never, and I mean NEVER, let your subject pull
his chin back; this will not only accentuate any existing
double chin but also create one where one wasn’t there
to begin with.
Eyes
Big round puppy eyes do not look good on men. They
evoke fear and confusion. Ask you subject to do what
Peter Hurley calls a “squinch”.
It is a half squint, where the lower eye lids raise a bit to
narrow the eyes while the upper eye lids don’t move
much or at all.
This will make your subject look like “he is up to
something”, adding a bit of mischievousness,
playfulness and character to the image.
Head tilt (note this is about tilt, not turn)
Never let a man tilt his head towards the camera. That
is a cutesy feminine pose and even the most interesting
man in the word would lose his man card posing like
that. Either keep the head neutral or tilt slightly away
from the camera.
Be mindful that tilting too much away from the camera
can be perceived as being rather arrogant and a bit
aggressive.
Quick pro tips:
1. A lot of people have one eye smaller than the
other (you would be surprised once you start paying
attention). Moreso than you think. You can choose
to ignore this or, if you think you want to do
something about it, pose the smaller eye closer to
the camera (general fact1).
2. When dealing with a heavy blinker, ask your
subject to close his eyes right and open them on
three. You should be able to get at least a few
frames with no blinking right after the subject
opens his eyes.
3. If the double chin is a bit too much to handle just
by pushing the chin out and down, you can try
blocking it out of the view by posing the subjects’
hand in such a way that it obstructs a direct view of
the double chin (chin resting on fist, fist to the side
of neck, etc)
4. If someone has a big nose, use a longer lens and
shoot the face straight (no head turn) (general fact 3
& 5). Foreshortening and optics would come to the
rescue .
5. Puffy faces look skinnier when using a longer
lens (general fact 3).
6. If your subject has a big forehead or is balding,
shooting from a lower angle will help alleviate the
problem (general fact 2)
7. If the person gets tired and has droopy eyes,
shooting from a higher angle would force them to
look up into your camera, thus forcing the eyes to
open a bit more
The Body
The ideal male body form is a V shape: broad
shoulders, thin waist. Here are some for accentuating
and defining the V shape with proper male body posing
Shoulders
Shoulders should look as broad as possible. It follows
that, you may want as much as you can to square the
shoulders towards the camera and if possible leaning a
bit towards the camera (general fact 1 and making sure
general fact 5 is not coming into play).
Waist
You waist will look slimmer if your lower body does
not exactly square the camera. Also, keeping your
upper body closer to the camera will make your wait
seem slimmer (general fact 1, 2 and 5)
Posture
Good posture is key for a good male portrait. Make
sure your subject is standing tall, with shoulders up yet
relaxed and keeping his core tight.
Hands
Men don’t do very well with their hands when they
have nothing to do with them. You need to keep your
subjects hands busy. You need to give a man’s hand a
reason for being where it is.
Otherwise most man will feel it looks stupid and then
get uncomfortable. Here are a few ways to take care of
this problem:
hands in pockets, either thumb in (GQ style) or
palm in and thumb hooked on the pocket
hands hooked in the belt loops or one hand
hooked on the belt buckle
one hand loosely to the side, one hand in pocket
arms crossed on chest with shoulders a bit down
(relaxed shoulders)
holding newspaper with one hand
fixing tie with one hand
fixing link cuffs
hands on football, guitar or other prop that your
male subject may have brough with him
one hand in pocket, the other hooked on a jacket
thrown over the shoulder
when standing, you can have your subject rest his
hands on a tall chair, desk, etc
Legs
When standing
legs crossed at the shin level with weigh on back
leg
legs shoulder width apart, one leg slightly closer
to the camera
when leaning against a wall, the leg closer to the
camera gets higher on the wall and the knee gets
bent
the leg closest to the camera higher (on a rock,
step, etc) with the outer tight facing the camera
When sitting (chair, bench, desk)
for a natural relaxed pose when sitting on a chair,
the ankle of one leg goes onto the knee of the other.
Shoot slightly from above (avoid getting too close
leaning against a desk at the waist, feet a bit
forward, arms crossed on chest
when posing sitting, the subject should not sit
square with the camera
Now this is not by any means an exhaustive tutorial on
male posing. But, by understanding why we do what we
do we no longer have to rely on our memory and recall
“male pose 34”.
We can be more flexible, better prepared for
unforeseen circumstances and we can adjust on the fly.
In the end, what we want is for our client to look his
best.
So now, my question is, what is your favorite tip or
your biggest no-no on male posing?
Thanks.
