Learning To Control The Way You Look

Learning the right model poses is a great first step in your modeling career. Developing a natural ability to control the way you look on camera, can take you all the way to the top. Some of the most successful models today are a delicate blend of professionalism and the right look – and have an amazing ability to enhance the emotion of any given situation in a photograph. This is something you should think about developing, if you’re going to become a world class model.

Working With Emotion

The most important part of a model’s pose is how they portray emotion. In fact, this is such a specific skill that models are often hired because they do a particular look very well – the dark, broody look on a male model for example. Practice your emotions in the mirror and try to personify each of them, so that they come out well on camera. Emotional model poses can also be experimented with on camera – if you get one of your friends to shoot you fairly often.

Relaxing Your Body

One of the most difficult things about posing in a specific scene is making it look 100% natural. It’s your job to relax and adapt to your surroundings, fitting in as effortlessly as possible. Take long steady breaths during the shoot, and make a point of easing your own tension before some crucial shots. Anxious shots translate on camera, so even, steady breathing and relaxation are great for poses.

Body Conscious

When your model poses become second nature, you’ll naturally know how to stand (or sit) to make yourself look a certain way. Being aware of your body as you pose is a vital part of controlling how you look on camera. Make sure that your posture is always correct, or it could ruin a great batch of photos. Having the perfect posture is what makes an excellent model, so make sure your shoulders are back, and your back is upright and straight.

Another concern is what to do with your arms and legs while you pose. Models understand that to look good on camera, there has to be a certain amount of asymmetry in the way that they pose. It helps make model poses appear more authentic, so it’s something you should get used to as you career progresses. If your one arm is straight, the other should be slightly bent – to create a relaxed feel in the photos. Be conscious of your limbs when you strike a pose for complete control.

It might take you a few years of solid practice and instruction from a variety of photographers, but if you keep working on your model poses, eventually you’ll master them. See each new job as an opportunity to learn a little more about posing from an authority in the field. Make notes if you can, and test what body language goes well with certain emotions. Soon you’ll be in control of how you look on camera.