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Importance of Posing

Lesson 13 from: Photographing Kids

Shannon Sewell

Importance of Posing

Lesson 13 from: Photographing Kids

Shannon Sewell

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Lesson Info

13. Importance of Posing

Lesson Info

Importance of Posing

almost the best way beyond props and styling. How to bring personality to your photos is the posing Ah, lot of times you'll have kids you noticed yesterday we had some professionals knew exactly how to pose, knew exactly what to dio. That's not usually the case. Usually people get in front of a camera and they're just waiting to be told what to dio. So I find the most important aspect of getting great posing is having your subject have complete trust in you and comfort being around you. Like I said, some people are naturally that way. But for those that aren't, it's our job to get into that point as fast as we possibly can. Um, that comes a little bit from that initial dialogue where I'm just chit chatting and getting close and trying to make them feel like I'm more of a friend than someone that's just gonna be taking their picture all day. I also spend time I do a lot of fixing. I don't know if you noticed in the chutes yesterday. I'm always up there close, like fixing a call or tucki...

ng a thing, making sure strands air down. It would be just is easy for me to tell them. Like, can you move that hair out of your eye or move this skirt over? But I think me going up and doing it shows them that I care how they look. I'm paying attention to how they look in the photo, and I'm making sure they look their best. And then they're more apt to trust me when I am telling them what to do and telling them how they look best and cause there's some posing and some things that people are like, Really, Really. It feels awkward and you're just trust me. And you take the picture and it looks And I think leading up to that by getting in their space and in their bubble and letting them know that you're trying to fix every little hair. Then they're gonna trust you when you say no, No, you look good. Um, yeah, and I think two by the end of most of my sessions, it's more like you're hanging out with friends. I mean, we're chit chat and like we've known each other and frankly, like a ton of my clients are my friends. Now it went way beyond just doing their photos were Now you know we're friends and we chat, Um, opposing the individual. It's a little bit more. I think on you when you have someone that shy and doesn't already bring a lot of personality to the shot. Um, having a variety like showing every aspect of their personality, I think is really important. So having that initial question and having that initial time where you kind of get a feel for what they think is funny and how they view themselves, like, you know, I don't know if you noticed when I was asking Well, are are you core curious like, Who have you a sillier So even having those knowing that because she came across kind of shy and I don't know if I initially was, like start making funny faces and jumping up and down if she would have been. But when she tell, Tell me I'm still I'm quirky. And then I asked her to do that like it's expected, and she's like, Yeah, I'm gonna I'm gonna do that. So, um, just kind of I A lot of times all ask for different personality. Like what? Like on this one right here. Her little thinking. One I had actually asked her. Okay, what posed you under? And she's like, I was like, Let's do it thinking posts. So just over Exaggerated what? She was what she was already doing. Um, and even with the older kids like these, last two are here. Peekaboo. And this one, whenever kids are yawning, I'm, like, really your that test. So this one I was just like, let's get yawning because a lot of the kids I try and make him like my that boring. Really? Why are you going? Uh, but just going for all those different aspects of their personality, try to get them happy. Try and get, you know, mad, sad just to get him feeling goofy and playful. And another thing you'll notice just these air all basically the same post like she has barely moved. But just adjusting hands ever so slightly, adjusting the twist of the hips like you didn't have to move your feet. Just suggesting the twist twist of the hips, adjusting the tilt of the head. Um, I don't know if you notice yesterday when I was working with them, How I you know, would just find, you know, you put your hand over here just a little bit and tilt your head just a little bit, and I tried to get a few poses out of each spot. They were right before moving them on, moving them onto the next one, and I'll talk that out. I tried not to jump into it too much yesterday were doing because I knew today's shoot was all about posing. And I thought, Well, I don't You do the same thing So today I will talk a lot more and I'll do a lot more of the posing and kind of give you know, my reasoning behind. Why do this? Why I do that? So we'll die. We'll dive a lot more into that today. When we get to shoot are for little kiddos, four little kiddos this afternoon. The small details, like a shot like this. I could have just down the street portrait, just her, and I would've been beautiful cause she's a gorgeous little girl. But, um, just doing that little that little thing where the hand just barely comes into frame and just having that little bit of motion, I think it makes a nice, gives you that nice flow to the image. So it's really important to pay attention to those little things, those things that you might not thoroughly think matter in an image really dio. And I think that's something that you'll pick up on to when I say tear out the ads that you really like. And what is it in that it's capturing you? And besides, you know, amazing eyes, you know, staring into your soul, things like that. I think you'll notice this those little tiny details that you're like, Oh, that makes me feel like she's like, you know, feeling introspective. Or I can feel you know, the happiness or and does little slight adjustments really do a good job of of showing that, uh, using accessories. I do that a lot like one of my walking six tell you have a lot of them, but just giving them little things to pose with. And all I brought in here was one chair and one walking stick. But you can get so many different poses working with those things, like a chair here. She's like, you know, sitting on it sideways, leaning on the back then you could flip her and have her back against it and relaxed. Or you could have her, you know, with their feet on the base that Sharon sitting up on the back of it, or you never standing up and just leaning on it. So there's so many ways that you can use the environment and the accessories. You have to bring a variety of shots to the photo session on, but also keeps all your sessions from starting to resemble each other, especially if you're not doing. It's a little bit easier when you're doing super theme sets to make them look different because the theme itself differentiates. But if you're doing, if you're not into doing that, to be able to differentiate each of your recessions, it really is about capturing that mood in that e find. That's a lot about the posing. So if you have a ton of different ideas in your head and when I first started doing this now it's pretty fluid and natural, and they come to me. But when I first started, I would have little notes to myself, like came to bring a chair so I would like, sit down and rile down like 10 different ways. I could use the chair so that if I froze in the middle of a session or the idea I had for them to use, it was just awkward. They couldn't make it look natural, then go on to the next thing. But yes, I use Chief. There's nothing wrong. Nothing wrong with that. Somebody was telling me a great trick that I don't know. I never thought of. They would have liked their idea board or their poses where everyone they dio up on their screen and they took a picture with their camera on the card that they're bringing in the session. So then, any time during the session, you just flip to that first image and it's right there for you. That way you don't have to pull out an IPhone or a piece paper. Actually, just a second. I need to come up with a post cold. It's when it's when we're natural and fluid to do it that way. Opposing groups, Um, this one. I still work. I'm very interested in the individual still, and I treat, try and give each individual their own look within the image but posing groups is a little bit different cause you have that interaction that you can play off of. Um, I always want to be able to feel the connection. I think I mentioned it in one of the chutes yesterday, like getting really, really close. I was trying explain, like if you're in a picture, if you're two inches away from someone, it looks like two feet like there's you noticed the connection we more than you do in real life. So I like to have everybody you'll notice, like on this bottom one, like they're leading on each other and they're touching each other. And I always have arms or out just toe. Give that feeling that everything's warm and cozy and loving and happy, and everybody likes, like toe, uh, be together. It is a little bit trickier and making sure that everybody has a flattering pose because you're watching for five or three people instead of one. So it's a little trickier to watch those watch those angles and watch, um, you know that you're getting the good side. I know yesterday I was having issues cause well, was heroin. Once I'd kept blocking her face So that's one thing. When you have what it's just her by yourself, you just turn her. But when you're with someone else, you have to work. Figure out how to work, work around that. Um So I guess I could touch on that a little bit, Imposing like things to watch for, you know, arms pressed were you know, if you have to be leaning like this and they could be the skinniest thing ever and it makes their arm, you know, three times is wide or, um, shooting angles, especially when you're shooting people that might be self conscious. The things you have just given that little but little twist of the hips toe narrow it out a little bit. Or if they're uncomfortable, anything like about something, you know, their chin or their nose or whatever it like knowing that ahead of time and being able Teoh give them flattering poses that they're going to be happy with, and they're gonna be comfortable with. Uh, we talked a little bit about reflection and glasses, and I did. I went through the photos last night, T look at their reflections to see how it came through, and there were several that one side of her glass glasses, like right, appear we had the big thing. But like I had mentioned every time that hurt head tilted just a bit. It fixed that. So that's something to be, um, cautious of when you're when you have those those kind of things coming playing. And it makes it harder when you have the group when you have the group shots. But so just to kind of reiterate, So you'll see today when I imposing, Um, I start with one person and get them in position, and then I just start bringing in each person I bring in. I just make sure that I've created some sort of connection, or they have a really strong pose on their own, so that if you were to look at an image, each person feels like they could be the focus. That's important to me, too, unless you're focusing on someone for a reason, like it's all about the, you know, the birthday girl. And so it's okay to have other people not is in focus. If it is a group shot, I want each person looking at it to feel like that shot is about them and they're not just in out on. So that's why you'll see how I when I build. When I build the photo, you'll see how I pose people so that so let's go back to posing. Okay, um, I have a question from here from the chats Are there? Are there any big do's and don't with posing Children? And how do you approach posing them differently than you would so an adult? So I am very careful about making kids look like kids. Um, I'll even find some of my kids come in and completely innocent, but it's a very seductive post. Like when they whatever they're doing, I'll be local. Maybe we should take that. So I would say, for me, that's a big thing is to make sure that when im posing the kids, it's playful and cute and can't be taken in the wrong way at all. Especially in the Internet world. I've had some of my very, very innocent pictures taken, and when you run it through Google translator, it says things that you're just like, seriously like, how is that even cross your mind? So I'm really, really, really careful about about that, especially since I shoot so many kids and it's out there. I never want any sort of mistaken ideas coming from that. I think the biggest thing I just want the client beyond that is I want them to feel beautiful. And I want them to feel like I shot them in their best way possible. So, like I said, I'm always just looking for I fixed close I cause I mean skinny as you can be standing up, Sit down. You might have a little the way you sit. Maybe it also all fixed pants so it comes up and it's nice and straight, or I just I'm always very careful that the pose that I put the person in will end up being not something that they would turn down the picture and not like it because they don't like something. They see themselves in it. Not because it's not a good photo, so I don't know. Is that Does that answer? Do you think they're question? Do they wanted? Yeah, that was That was really solid. Thank you. Okay. Okay. Anything else? Have any questions on closing before we go on to just kind of an overall of like that particular shoot on, assuming that was probably a commercial shoot. Yeah. So, on things like that is your set ready? And then you bring your kiddos in. Your kids have been selected. Do you have hair and makeup there or spring them in that cute? And that's a requirement, Mom. It must bring them cute. Yeah, I do that. And then, like Todd, like, start to finish. What would something like that require time? Wise of those? So, yes. So this was, ah, hired shoot for a brand so stylised. Why had Prop stylist that did She created the whole background. So she brought that already to go. She set it up. Hair and makeup were there to do all hair makeup. So basically, my job was just too. And then the clothing designers put all the office together, like this shot with this with This was so my only job in this whole thing was to oppose them and make sure they looked cute in the close and doing what they were doing. Um but so like trying to think other sessions. So there's both the same brand That one's another um What sessions have I shown today that a lot of times, if it's just my idea, and I'm just doing it on my own dollar than I do hair. There's amazing YouTube tutorials on anything you would ever want to know how to do. So I had talked about I bring the little makeup bag so I actually have. Obviously, it doesn't look like here make up stylist kit, but I do have a small little kit and kids you don't need. They don't need all the fluff they needle. I mean, I live in the Northwest, so during the winter they might need a little blush on the cheeks. But that's the most ideas, maybe a little blush on the cheeks and something on the lips so they don't have drier, chapped lips. But I do it all myself on a lot on a lot of shoots. All put it all together, and I'll build the sets to so I try to have it all built and ready before the models even get there. And then hair is just 15 or 20 minutes, and you find that you were you are working on a big commercial shoot. Do you? Are you acting as art director? Or do you have other people that do that? And then, as well as Courtney, all the individual pieces stylist, you know, hair and makeup, etcetera. So 90% of the time, I would say play the art director portion to where I come up with the concept and idea and either I'm building it or instructing someone what I want 10% of the time, the clothing line will say, This is our theme and this is what we want. Um, I've always worked with my own team, though, So my own are like my own prop stylist, my own hair and makeup person. So we're able to work behind the scenes as a team to get something is close to what I would shoot anyway. You know, like to make it more my most more. My style is I as I can. Um, so, yeah, it works all different ways. It's very nice when you have someone that we'll have it already for you, but at the same time, like that's really what I love doing to. So I sometimes get bored with it when it that way it has been all I'm doing like I said is my only job is to make sure their post cute and taking the picture. And then I'm done. I'm kind of like, Oh, that's not you know that it's fulfilling. Yeah, it's not as fulfilling. And I don't feel necessarily like I own images. Much like I almost feel like I'm doing it for someone else. So I do like doing I'm a control freak. Anyway, people toe. So, folks in the chat rooms around that we get this question a lot here. A creative life. How does the physical contact work with the kids when you're posing, Do you? Do you push hair? Do you touch? Yeah, I always ask first, though. Okay. I always say, Do you care if I fix your hair or is it okay if I talk your shirt in? Um, yeah, I'm never had a may say no, though, but I don't know because im so intimidating, they dare not, But I'm careful to like I would never inappropriately, you know. Yeah, totally. Yeah, I just say asked, I definitely ask first. Some people have been bubbles

Class Materials

bonus material with purchase

Shannon Sewell - Family Questionaire.pdf
Shannon Sewell - KidsQuestionaire.pdf
Shannon Dream.atn
Shannon Sewell - Dreamer Journal Summer 2014.pdf

bonus material with enrollment

Shannon Sewell - Gear Guide.pdf
Shannon Sewell Virtual Swag Bag.pdf

Ratings and Reviews

a Creativelive Student
 

I loved this course. If you already know what you are doing as a photographer and are looking for fun and inspiration, this is a great class. Shannon didn't focus on the technical aspects, but rather HER way of working. She offered many, many fun and inspiring ideas to build a photo business that feeds your soul, rather than a business that just earns money from clients. She has taken an art form and made it her own. Her work is the result of her focus on her own personal style, which is fun, stylish, trendy and happy. I found this video to be inspiring and leading me towards making images that are my personal style. I can see how this course may have been challenging for people who are more about the technical aspects of photography, but hey, anyone can learn technique. The ART comes in when you can make it your own, when you can use photography as a way to express and reflect what you go going on on the inside. In Shannon's case, it's joy. Thanks CL for a fun, inspiring class and thanks, Shannon, for sharing your heart and your art. I had fun.

a Creativelive Student
 

I really enjoyed this class. I love Shannon's style both of photography and connecting with the children and families she photographs. She doesn't tell you what to do step-by-step, but rather offers you a bag of tricks which to draw from. Rather than telling you what to do, she shows you what works for her. I found the course very inspiring and the posing techniques helpful. She successfully demonstrates that you can create beautiful photographs with no more than a wall or a chair but she also shows you how to go all out with a detailed styled shoot. She shows that there is not one formula for success.

Marilou Jaen
 

I love it! Fantastic info. I love her easy way with the kids, and I found it really informative.

Student Work

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