Being able to pose in any situation is a must for models. In this article we’ll cover the basics of posing for pictures while modeling. Learning how to pose for pictures should be your highest priority as a new model, as your pictures on your comp card will help you get in the door to many new opportunities.
Full Frontal Pose
In this beginner pose you’ll stand with your shoulders facing the camera and your face looking into the lens. You’ll want to have your arms angled instead of hanging straight at your side. In modeling poses, you never want to have your arms just hanging by your side. Introducing angles in your arms will make the pose much more interesting.
Use a belt loop or put your hands on your waist if you aren’t sure what to do with them.
Once you are ready to mix up the poses you can use several variations including running your hands through your hair or placing your hand softly on your cheek.
You also don’t want your body to be perfectly vertical when posing for pictures. If you pop one of your hips to the side, it’ll create a curve in your body that is pleasing to the camera. You can accomplish this with your legs together or separated during the pose.
For each pose you do, give a serious and smiling look, unless the photographer requests only one or the other.
3/4 Pose
In the 3/4 pose, your body is not facing the camera directly, but is angled slightly to one side or the other. During this pose your feet should be one in front of the other.
While doing the 3/4 pose, you have freedom to look away from the camera or give a profile of your face. The same thoughts on angles apply to this pose as well. With the 3/4 pose you’ll be able to discover new angles to present to the camera.
Try posing with both of your hands behind your head, while looking to one side or the other.
Again, as with the front pose, you’ll want to smile in some of the pictures.
Posing While Sitting In A Chair
Posing in a chair can be intimidating, but with a few tips and practice you’ll be confident when asked to pose this way. The key to posing while sitting is to angle on or both of your legs, and always to have them at different angles.
You could pose with one straight leg and one angled leg or two angled legs, as long as the angles are different. Don’t ever pose with both legs straight, or both legs at the same angle as it will look awkward.
The best variation for posing while in a chair is to lean forward. This will create a pleasing look for the camera.
Posing Tips For Your Photo Shoot
Your poses should flow naturally from one to the next and the changes in your poses should be gradual and not sudden. If the photographer wants more shots of a particular look you can gradually get back into that look if you haven’t made sudden changes.
A head tilt, hand placement, or smile is enough to change the look of a photo, so do these before changing the position of your feet.
We encourage models to make small changes every 3-5 seconds while posing, and larger changes like feet placement every 30 seconds to a minute.
We move slowly through poses also because sometimes the photographer will want the same pose but with a different facial expression. Practice offering different facial expressions during your posing.
Make a video of yourself posing and watch it to pick up on areas where you could flow to a different pose better. Pretty soon it’ll become a natural movement to go from pose to pose.
Be sure to practice all of these poses before you show up to a modeling audition or casting! Once you are comfortable posing, don’t be afraid to start applying for jobs or auditions that you find. While you are applying though, keep learning and keep practicing your poses.
You are never done improving your posing skills, as there is always something you can improve on no matter what level of model you are.
To see what opportunities we have available at NGM Modeling, head over to our apply page and check it out. For more videos on modeling, see our YouTube channel, which is full of video tips on modeling and pageants.
