1. Portrait Photography

2. Session Plan  Start with head shots.  Move to head on hands, let the model pose naturally.  Finish with 3/4 and full length.

3. Single Person Positioning  Position body and head facing different directions.  Masculine pose: tilt top of head toward far shoulder.  Feminine pose: tilt top of head toward near shoulder. Note: Women can typically pull off either of these two poses.

4. Hand Posing Tips  Don't show flat surfaces of hands, show finger edges.  Fingers should not be facing into the lens.  Bend fingers at all joints.  Male hands should be more closed, female should be more open.  Use opposing diagonals: ie head resting on arm; each pointing in opposite directions.  Fingers should not be intertwined.  Never rest a head on a fist.

5. Shooting Groups of People As a rule, the image should express a tone that all in the group are unified; either touching each other physically, or visually overlapping.

6. Clothing Choices  Everyone should have the same toned clothing, either warm or cold.  Brightly clothed individuals should be placed in the middle.

7. Posing Tips  Make men a little taller than women.  Stagger head heights.  Pose groups one person at a time, in relation to each other.  Pose men to the right of the frame, women to the left.

8. Open Poses vs. Closed Poses Open Poses are defined as images with physical or visual space between people. Closed Poses are defined as images where individuals overlap each other, with no visual space between them. Note: Mixing Open and Closed Poses works well for large groups.

9. Posing Couples  Front to Front Pose - fronts of both people facing, or touching the other.  Fronts facing forward - fronts of both people facing forward, possibly at an angle, one front to the other's back.  Avoid space between heads to create intimacy.  Use lots of negative space around couples in the frame.

10. Suggestions for Lighting Match the mood of image to lighting. High key --> happy Low key --> dramatic An Example of a High Key Lighting Setup (four light setup) camera and background.

11. Lighting Continued  White clothing, white background.  NO SHADOWS.  Overexpose background by 1 stop.  Point background lights at opposite edge of background.