Portraiture, An Art!
Don’t you love it how a simple portrait can give the viewer an insight into the mind of the model! We know how the right skill & technique can make an ordinary portraiture a piece of art. To hone these skills it takes a lifetime, specially when you know that the models you work with might not always be trained.
So, it’s not just the photographer’s job you need to know but also the model’s job you need to have a hang of! Have you ever given directing women a thought?
Directing your models to pose right, doesn’t just involve asking them to strike a smile or stand at an angle. They need to be minutely told how very limb and muscle is placed and the expressions and look on their face too plays a key role.
But more than anything comfortably working with hand poses is where the real work comes in!
Hands can be the biggest asset or the largest liability, to find your way around them is where the efforts come in play!
Some Tricks To Enhance Your Model's Hand Poses
A Quick Guide To Master Hand Poses
1. The Simple Cross Hands
The eloquent and simple posture that a simple cross of hands can help you create is one that is incomparable!
Nothing can go wrong when you are composed and effortless in the still.
A simple cross of hands however show reservation, introversion, & an overall pensive mood. So choose your hand poses wisely & make sure that you aren’t misunderstood.
2. Using Props
A prop can be used to get the eyes of the model & focus on the product adorned by the subject or it can be just a mere accessory used to accentuate the features & the expressions of the model. depending on the purpose of the prop, the choice of prop is essential.
A prop should ideally acquire not more than 1/12th of the space of your frame and should not pop out. Afterall, you are here for a portrait shoot & not a product shoot!
Don’t steal your models thunder with a overpowering prop!
3. Angles & Perspectives
With changing times & changing meanings of photography there are several different genres of photography cropping up.
If you don’t want to stick to the same boring angles & portraits that the world creates, try to explore perspectives & angles
While doing so, don’t overlook the fact that the hands shouldn’t look bulky, clumsy, or out of place!
4. Classic Hands On The Knee
A power pose is when hands are placed on the knee.
When you need to capture the essence of a formal, professional holding a powerful position in an organization.
These types of hand poses are what creates a mark on the viewer.
These assertive hand poses are what will help build their profile.
5. A Formal Power Pose
With changing times & changing meaning of poses, one thing that has hardly changed is striking formal poses.
A classic folded hands won’t ever go wrong.
The fold of hands makes the portrait looks strong powerful & professional. With a crisp expression & a spotless and creaseless apparel this is the recipe to a perfectly empowered portrait.
Having said that folded hand poses might not always mean formal posing.
A relaxed fold of hands can depict reluctance, disinterest, casualness among many other things.
So the perfect hand poses can make or break your portraits & the message the portrait wants to convey can be totally messed up!
So, beware of your purpose & direct the models accordingly.
Don’t Ruin Her Photo By Ignoring Her Hands . . .
Read this exclusive guide to know all the tips on Women’s Hand Poses!
A Sneak Peak Into What You Can Create!
Thing’s You’ll Learn With This Free eBook?
- 9 Professional poses and how to direct your model’s hands
- 9 Pro-tips about the mechanics of non-verbal communication
- 6 Strategies for effective communication between you and the client (what to do, what to say, etc.)
It’s free for a limited time.
Never Struggle With Hand Poses During A Portrait Shoot!
$5.00 $0.00
Andrzej –
I can’t download the guide. I get “Invalid download link. Go to homepage” message.
Amruta –
Sorry for this inconvenience. Just sent you download link. Check your inbox and let you know your thoughts on this freebie 🙂
Sushma –
nice product
CARLOS RUIZ –
to the point and very useful, ill try it right away, i love ur products overall, thanks!!!
Amruta –
Wow.. thanks for your kind words Carlos
D –
I very appreciate your great effort to offer products at reasonable and affordable price. I wish you could offer higher quality products than just the average.
D –
I took a quick look at this tutorial and deleted it. The posing of hands in the sample pictures are stiff, unnatural, worst of all that the back of the hands are facing the camera. Take a closer look at the hands from the original image and discover for yourself.
Ramnath –
Useful one. Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Wade –
Great information to have “handy” when shooting women.
Martha –
Thank you. Useful information and well presented.
Pom –
Very useful, Thanks!
Martha –
Thank you. Well written e-book and good information.
Jonno –
Full of useful information. Well worth getting.
Mike Ling –
Thank you very much.
Colin Hart –
Great read
Lester Strawbridge –
Great advice, I have never really given it a lot of thought until I read it.
I thought wow this is something that I’ve missed.
Great stuff
Lennard –
Liked them
BigBear –
Not realy a revelation, I was familiair with most tips ‘n tricks, but the “deja vu” experience was a good thing to realize the way we work.
louis –
useful lnformation thank you
Claudia –
Thank you!
lydia –
great information, thanks!
Mike –
I was expecting an Ebook so I can read it offline. Instead this is a online course that requires me to have Internet access to view course.
Hal –
Very nice – thanks!
Al Gillar –
Some good information provided.
Bruce Walker –
A fairly complete list of basic poses, and explanations of why they work. The author also adds many tips about general things to do or avoid doing, and why. Hands can make or break a shot, so are important. Giving your subject something to do with their hands can relax them and make the difference between okay and great shots.
Peter –
By making ME more aware, I can better help my SUBJECTS relax — and give us BOTH the better images that we both want.
Amruta –
Hey Peter, take your time and explore all available options. Let me know how do you like it.
jack zucker –
not really a tutorial on hands posing. More of a general (mediocre) posing guide. More focus on arms than hands.
Jean-Louis –
Full of useful information. Well worth getting. To be honest I have never really given it a lot of thought until I read it, but it is something I’ve missed.
Great stuff
Frank Bruch –
it is all very good!!!
Johnson Leung –
Please add menu so that direct access to different poses is possible. Right now I have to slide through all “standing” poses before I can reach “sitting poses”.
Also the text comes out too easily. Need a setting to suppress the appearance of the text for each image. Thanks
Nasroullah Dinally –
helpful information about where to put the hands in a pose.
[email protected] –
This is about more than posing hands, it’s a really nice little starter to posing female models. It’s not fashion magazine stuff but it is the sort of thing that will get you taking better pictures of family, friends and models who are starting out. The hards bit is REALLY useful however. It just covered those basic rules that you need to know so you don’t get ugly hand shapes spoiling otherwise excellent images.
[email protected] –
I find it very useful. It’s easy to miss the hands when concentrating on posing a model especially if you are not an expert.
dervish images –
really usefull guide, well worth the time to read
BILLY –
really usefull guide, well worth the time to read.
Nadene Smit –
I have always struggled with this part of posing. But thanks to this guide I now feel super confident and can pose my clients with ease.
JEFFERY –
It is a real handy guide short and to the point.
Parth –
This Guide is so awesome and anyone who poses like that can look really cool, I really like the creativity of how you came up with such beautiful poses.
Bob –
I always have high school senior girls asking “what do I do with my hands”. This book helps!
Melanie C Goins –
It’s sometimes an issue on what to do with the hands when you’re taking a portrait. They sometimes look awkward or misplaced. The free guide gives you some nice options that you can put to use to improve your shots. It’s informative, shows examples, and sold by PhotoWhoa, so you know it’s good!
Marshall Blansfield –
Can’t wait to test poses out on clients!
Marshall Blansfield –
Can’t wait to try it on my girls and clients.
[email protected] –
It’s a “MUST HAVE” book to have in your toolkit because the posture of hands is an overlooked important aspect of photography and this is great in helping achieve a more professional level of photography. I accidentally pushed the wrong link and downloaded it again. Please don’t charge me for it…