Posing is such a broad term, abused, feared, and totally misunderstood. How do I pose models for portraits - this is the most common question I get during photography workshops. And my answer is - I don't. Imagine that your model is a prey and you are the hunter. What you are hunting are her emotions, moments she forgets she is being photographed, gestures evoked by memories, thoughts in her eyes, the way she moved her head to fix her hair, eyes running away briefly to yesterday's events, in short you are hunting for anything and everything, but nothing in particular. You are stalking her for a perfect synergy between light, background and foreground elements, and body language. That is where you press the shutter.

By posing a model the way you want you will ruin her natural way of positioning, moving, influence her face expressions possibly in a negative way which will make her look fake or uncertain. Instead let he do freely what she wants with her body, then sit back and observe. Once you learn their body language and get to know their personality, then you can start fixing slight issues that you see through the view finder before shooting. This is what I mean by saying that you should pose yourself instead of posing the model. You should find the spot that is perfect for shooting a particular mood in certain lighting conditions by simply moving around and searching. She is the Sun, you are the planets. Move.

This does not mean that I do not give instructions and ask my models to do certain things, move this or remove that, curve, bend, whatever I need her to do really to complete my composition. I search not for a perfect but natural and undisturbed energy flow throughout the image. That is what I pose. I do not pose the model, I pose myself so the lens shows me a fluid and beautifully lit image with relaxed body language.

Contact me directly for one-to-one online photoshop tutorials via desktop sharing.
Portrait photography service, Tokyo - website
http://www.portrait-photography-tokyo.com/
Photography workshops in Tokyo: http://www.ryuurui.com/photography-workshops.html
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Photo blog: http://www.japan-in-photography.com/
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For more tutorials and how to videos check out my photoshop and photography tips and tricks YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEOVGZ2rpLhR7gSPvaexxxQ

I am a multi-genre artist and consequently I have a few websites and few portfolio's. It was all too scattered so I decided to put all of my best work together in one folio, in separate categories. It took me a few days to update my entire portfolio on Smugmug. I went through all of my photos and picked those that I personally think represent what I do as an artist. New portfolio holds all types of photography: portraiture photography, architecture photography and cityscapes, street photography, photoshop manipulations and digital art, black and white photography, nature photography and landscapes, boudoir and body art photography, and Chinese and Japanese calligraphy art.

All photos are in their original size at 300dpi. Some of the files are as large as 160MB, so if you are viewing them in original size it may take some times to load them up. All of the images are quality edits which is exactly why I uploaded full size files. Enjoy!

Portrait photography service, Tokyo - website
http://www.portrait-photography-tokyo.com/
Photography workshops in Tokyo: http://www.ryuurui.com/photography-workshops.html
Hire a photographer in Tokyo: http://www.ryuurui.com/hire-a-photographer-in-tokyo.html
Photo blog: http://www.japan-in-photography.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ponteryuurui
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PonteRyuurui
Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+PonteRyuurui/posts
For more tutorials and how to videos check out my photoshop and photography tips and tricks YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEOVGZ2rpLhR7gSPvaexxxQ

So what do you do when you have two portraits that you would like to edit, you really like both of them but none is actually perfect. You take the elements from both and composite them into one image in photoshop. We had lots of fun with Diana during our recent photo shoots, and I came back with many great portraits. I sat down yesterday to do some more editing and could not decide between two portraits. I love both of them, the lighting, the body language, the composition, and so on, but each of those photos had small issues. You may not notice this if I do not point it out, but since I am obsessively paranoid with balance in my images I simply had to break those photos apart and make one image out of them. In the shot in which she is fixing her hair with a hand, I am bothered by the position of the thumb and slightly strong gesture of the hand. The palm is facing too boldly towards the camera and I think it ruins the delicate and vulnerable pose. The other photo is beautiful, but after adding cascading hair over her hand, I created balance for the sparkling backlit leaves to the top right corner of the photo. Now it creates a bow or curve of light, engulfing the model. It also creates an anchor point for the eyes to the left side of the image, which is crucial, because we are used to look from left to right. That being said, the negative space to the right makes perfect sense and provides sensible pillar that the right side of the image rests on. Got to love photoshop!

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Hire a photographer in Tokyo
Buy original Chinese and Japanese calligraphy art
Check out my new portrait photography services in Tokyo website!

If you know how to take photos, now it is time to learn how to edit them properly. If you want to learn how to give your photos a unique look and fine polished magazine quality finish, then contact me and I will design workshops according to your level and needs. My focus is portrait and architecture, as well as composites and photoshop manipualtions. I teach via desktop sharing so you can see what I do on my screen in real time, stop me or ask questions at any moment. All levels of photoshop users are welcome.  See this link for more details,

Click here to view below image in non-compressed version in full HD​​

model: Lena

I have redone this portrait of Nicole today, added make-up, reshaped the face lines with shadows, and added some skin texture. This is the first time I actually had to increase and amplify skin texture. This was shot in high key, plus the model's skin is insanely smooth, so the skin texture was very shallow. A tricky photo to edit but lots of fun. Also, since the eyes are now more powerful and strong due to make-up, and colour splash, I cropped the photo tighter to make the image even more intense.

previous version

All right ladies, if you wish to have beautiful sexy yet delicate and tasteful photos, feel free to contact me for a photo shoot. Whether it is portraiture, sensual portraiture, delicate and feminine boudoir or simply casual portraits or head shots, I can easily adopt my skills and style to your needs. Do not worry if you are not a model, or have no experience, in fact, I prefer it sometimes, as I can capture some very raw and sincere images. Just like when I am studying Japanese calligraphy, the same in portraiture, I am always seeking the person inside you, the real you. I will make you look and feel radiant and gorgeous, so you will have a wonderful memory for years to come. I work mainly in Greater Tokyo, but can travel too, it is just a matter of discussing the details.

model: Eccaia

Here is another photo of Nicole that I took a few days ago in Tokyo. If you are shooting portraits of models or clients in a rather busy place, and you wish to separate them from the surrounding rush, the best way to do it is to use telephoto lens at a relatively wide aperture (this photo was taken at F3.5 / 100mm). Be careful with going too wide on aperture in cases where the models eyes are not parallel to the front of the lens, as then the narrow plane of depth of field might not be enough to have both eyes in focus (unless you are going for that particular effect, which is also fine). Another thing you can do is to convert the photo to black and white in photoshop or lightroom. 256 shades of grey are much less of a distraction that millions of colours. Lastly, tight framing of the portrait will remove even more unnecessary things from the frame, especially if there are any oddly shaped structures or objects (like lamp posts or trees) directly behind the model's head. Happy shooting!

Each type of photography requires different set of skills and artistic sensitivity. For example, street photography asks you to make a connection with the buzz around, to possess a certain level predictability of upcoming events, and even compassion. Architecture photography requires geometrical imagination, or the gift of seeing the world in black and white tones. Wildlife photography will test your patience and even how you can deal with loneliness. Portraiture, on the other hand, will test your personal and psychological skills. A good portrait photographer has to have an outstanding understanding of human nature, and needs to be able to connect with the person he photographs, and reach deep inside, bypassing any social masks and ego. If the portrait has no soul written all over it, you do not have a good shot.


Model: Lin Lynn

As a photographer you ought to tell a story and create the mood. It breaks down to being able to communicate with whoever you are photographing, reading the light in the scene and knowing how to use it to your advantage, composition, and post processing. The technical skills and knowledge of the equipment is a must too, naturally. If one of those components is missing, you have not got a shot. Photography is like poetry, you ought to put your vision in a language that will be understandable to others, without stripping it off of its original beauty. Instead of being a photographer, an observer, get involved in the scene, become a part of the environment, and you will be able to capture the subtle moments that are happening around you. Photography is an art, not a craft. If you have no emotional and passionate connection with it, you will not be able to get lost in this magical forest.

Model: Nicole Rayne

Here is another shot from a photo session with Nicole Rayne, that we had two days ago in Shibuya in central Tokyo. When I captured this frame I knew exactly what I want to do with it - go dark and fantasy theme. I added semi-translucent wings and my calligraphy artwork that I written especially for this image - 闇（の）天使 (Yami no Tenshi), i.e. dark angel). I also went ahead and did a film-like post processing, adding more orange to the skin tones and some blues to the shadows, making it look a bit more cinematic. Hope you guys like it!

Yesterday I was back in Shibuya third day in  row this week, but this time with a Scottish model Nicole Rayne, and we hit the street with a fast and furious beauty shot. Fighting against the time, it was just before her flight back to Europe, and the massive storm that was about to unleash its fury on Tokyo, we were dashing about though the boiling hot and packed with people alleys. It was a great fun, and we have a few great shots, and here is one of them. Photographers interested in working with Nicole - you can reach her via her Model Mayhem account. I highly recommend her.