Portrait Photography How To

When it comes to portraiture, “posing is everything.” So says pro Justin Laurens who regrettably neglected this consideration when first getting started. He admits he was initially confused by how to pose models, and considered this important skill “trivial.”

Well, not anymore. Laurens quickly learned the error of his ways, and in the five-minute episode below he demonstrates what he now considers five “essential” poses that are easy to explain and accomplish—even for beginning models. Best yet, these particular poses work great when shooting outdoors under available light, as well as for indoor portraiture with supplemental illumination.

Even if you’re inexperienced with portrait photography, you’ll significantly improve your results by following Laurens’ flattering and impactful advice. He also provides a few basic lighting techniques for shooting indoors.

Laurens begins with the “head-tilt” pose that he says may be the easiest for subjects with no modeling experience, and perhaps the most attractive of the bunch. That’s because of the cute appearance it achieves and how it attractively lengthens a subject’s neck.

Next is the “lean-against-the wall” pose. This one gives a casual look to portraits, and adds more depth and dimension to a photo—with dramatic shadows and contrast. There’s a variation of this pose in which you have the model lean on a horizontal surface like a table instead of against a vertical object like a wall or a tree.

You’ll also learn the “classic 45° turn” pose that captures the full expression on a model’s face, and has a slimming and stylistic effect. Spend five minutes watching the video to see how these and Laurens’ other two poses work, and you’ll be glad you did.

You can find more helpful portraiture tips and tricks by paying a visit to Laurens YouTube channel.

And be sure to check out the tutorial we posted from another pro last week, explaining how to capture beautiful outdoor portraits with natural light.