7 Fashion Posing Tips

Travis Hill September 4, 2010

Image 1: This was taken in St Lucia moments before the sun set. I wanted the red dress backlit so her pose is based around showing that to full effect. So I had her hold it out, with the other arm in the air to balance it. I also had her tilt one knee forward, as if she was walking, which often makes the legs look more interesting. I shot from a low angle because I wanted waves in the foreground to add to the drama.

Image 2: This was part of my “Alone in London” series, and I wanted to convey that the model was in a famous London place but sad because she’s alone. For the pose, it was important to me to get her leaning on the wall because diagonal lines are much more interesting visually than upright ones. (Standing poses are inherently upright.) To fit with the theme, she had to have her back to the interesting landmark (Big Ben) to convey that she’s not being drawn in. So the pose was a combination of those factors.

Image 3 – Another one from the “Alone in London” series. Again I wanted the model slumped with her back to the obvious tourist attraction (Buckingham Palace). Sitting is good for fashion poses because it lets you make interesting lines with the legs. Notice the lines in this – the pavement comes in from the bottom left; her legs lead in from the bottom right and the black post leads in from the top of the image. All these lines draw your eye to the model and make sure you notice her and not all the other things going on in the image.

Image 4 – A simple pose but conveying the ‘religious’ feel I was going for (also accomplished by having the light come from above). There’s a tutorial on my website explaining step-by-step how I created this image if you’re interested – www.TitusPowell.com

Image 5 – A dramatic pose accomplished with a Photoshop trick. The makeup artist was actually kneeling behind the model; holding her up in that position. I then edited the makeup artist out of the shot. I like the ambiguity – it *almost* looks possible for her to pose in that position.

Image 6 – An unusual jacket and styling called for an unusual pose. A foot in the air always looks interesting; I then told the model to catch invisible butterflies with her thumb and finger.

Image 7 – Writhing around on the floor can produce cool poses… Notice also how few of my photos have the model looking at the camera. Generally, looking at the camera looks much more ‘posed’.