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 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 Kids learn quick, don't they. Their brains are like sponges, true, but it also has to do a lot with how they learn. At the youngest age all children learn through play and fun activities. Otherwise they get bored, their attention span is very short and it has to be maintained and kids need to be constantly intrigued. Well, guess what, you can do that at any age. When I was a kid I loved to play with LEGO, I could spent hours and hours creating stuff. Photoshop is just like LEGO for me. I will use all and any elements, apply no rules and go full monty with its tools. Photo editing can have many forms, sometimes you need to create a more serious and realistic image, but there are times when you can cut loose and make something cool. And the only person that can stop you is yourself. Photoshop manipulations are amazing for learning and mastering photoshop and therefore mastering the art of photo editing. It is not about achieving realistic look, but about doing what YOU want and what YOUR imagination whispers to you. If you can do whatever you wish with an image, then any type of image or work that is thrown at you will be a piece of cake. Photoshop is not a superbly complex program, what is difficult about it is virtually unlimited combinations of tools and their usage. Photoshop tools applied in certain order with certain settings is the key to true mastery. Knowledge of tools and what they do will only get yo started. It is about what to do, when and in what order while being able to predict the outcome. On the other hand, through photoshop manipulations and compositing you will discover, accidentally or via research, new and amazing ways of working on photos. This program is like a jungle, no matter how basic photoshop video or tutorial I watch there is almost always something new that I discover. Take frequency separation for instance, which is a technique of splitting textures and tones into different layers, it is mostly used in portrait editing. But there are many ways of using frequency separation and there are numerous types of it. I use it in nearly every photo I work on, be it portrait, architecture, night photography, or compositing. Each of those types of frequency separation produces the same result, more or less, but could inspire your mind to come up with your own variations that could be applied in different situations. Photoshop manipulations will require you to scout the net for specific solutions, help you to find sources of stock images, perhaps even push you to enjoy new artistic areas, such as 3D. Not to mention that you will create some sick images for your models' and your own folio. Photoshop manipulations will also make you a better photographer, they will inspire you to shoot specific images for ideas that you or your model come up with. You will have to think how to set the lights to match light on stock photos or vice versa, which will watch you deconstructing images. How to pose, what props you need and what props you can photoshop in, etc. You will have to compose your images, which will develop and enrich your understanding of composition and balance in the image. By painting shadows and highlights by hand in photoshop you will truly understand how light works, which is so important. Photoshop is an endless source of skill improvement, however you look at it.
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 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 It is simple - as far as you fucking please. Why? This is also simple. Photo retouching is a form of art. Saying that photo is over retouched is like saying that a given oil painting has way too many layers of paint. A painting has as many layers as the painter sees it fit. Some paintings are better some are not that amazing but after all it is down to the artist and his or her skills and imagination to decide how far to go, what to paint, what colors to use and what story to convey. The only thing that matters is what you as the photographic artist or retoucher feel. Those feelings will guide you through the retouch. So now the question is why we hear so often that "this photo is over retouched", "it does not look real", or some similar rubbish. This is also quite straight forward. Most people are like sheep, they follow what the rest things is "proper", "correct", "commonly accepted". Fuck proper. How are you expected to grow if you stay within the frames of proper. Yes you should study, and yes you should evolve and constantly search for better, balder and grander than yourself. But you won't be able to if you enter the confined zone of "I really think I should not do this". Also remember that majority of photographers are just photographers, they are not artists. They will never understand it. Ever. It is beyond their RAM memory range. They simply do not compute. Whether it is a skillful retouch or not, well that is another story. One thing is for certain, if you stay in your comfort zone as an artist you will never grow, and your works will become dull and uninspired. Trying new things cant be daunting but it pays off. It does not mean that you have to bring each image to the extreme, I sure don't. On the contrary. As I said, it is up to how you feel about it at a given moment. Be it when shooting, or retouching, or perhaps a year later, as I did with this image that you can see in the speed art photoshop retouch video below. Photography is not about documenting the world, it is about capturing the energy and feelings, moments, stories, and so on. But this is just a beginning. What you cannot capture with your camera, but wish you did or simply you saw something in the image that inspired you, then by all means go for it. Retouch your heart away in photoshop, that is why it was created. Then you have photoshop manipulations, digital painting combined with compositing, 3D art with photography, the sky is the limit. People will always be resilient to appreciating something abstract. Most people cannot process it. Do not be like most of people. Be unique, like no one else can. Be you. 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 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 Portrait photography is extremely intimate and that is why it can be intimidating, scary even. Most people feel butt naked when they are being photographed. This is a reason why you see so many fake looking and tense face expressions on portrait photos. As a portrait photographer I have to enter a private zone of my model, and connect with them emotionally. Trust is and feeling of safety and relaxation is essential for capturing great portraits. time is limited and no matter what I have to get through to them. There is no recipe or specific things that you can say to make it work. Asking people to smile to the camera is like asking a girl if she wants to kiss. You do not fucking ask, you make it happen and keep your feelers on the right moment. You ambush the shit out of your models with your genuineness, wit and spontaneity. It is actually in tune with how photographs should be taken. You react to light, how it falls and how it changes the shapes. you should feel when to click not think when to click. Evoking or being able to capture honest reaction or emotion is, regardless whether it is a smile or a disconnected far stare, is probably the most important key element in portrait photography. It will define fluidity of body language and the energy flow throughout the photo, only enhanced by the aesthetically logical connection between the elements of the composition. It is not about what you say, but how and when. That is really vital. Human face has 43 muscles. That is a lot of strings to pull, and they all have to be activated naturally and and stay interconnected or entangled with the emotion. It is a symphony of all face features that creates an expression the viewer can relate to, an expression that speaks for itself. If you want to capture smile or laughter, make it so that whoever looks at the photo smiles back.
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 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 Everywhere. The most important thing is to always follow your heart. For example, I never ever shoot with a story board. I hate story boards. For me they are too limiting. They constrain me in frames of an idea and I would be obligated to stay within certain parameter. I refuse do that and I cannot do that. When I shoot I react to the light that surrounds me or emotions on the set, personality of the model or maybe something that was said or happened, a deja vu or a memory, a distant sound or an instant thought that just popped inside my head. I can change my mind during the shoot and start working with a completely fresh idea that just presented itself. You should flow not follow. My planning is very general and loose. I can have a very focused shoot, theme wise, like a body art shoot for example, or a portrait session with a model that is tagged as "shooting for sci-fi photoshop manipulations". But it is never 100% decided. An average photographer will shoot with a firm idea because it is safe and logical to hold on to something. An artist will adapt, search, and evolve. Inspiration should be like seeking order in chaos. If you are out doing some street or architecture photography you are dealing with chaos, and your job as a photographer is to find peace harmony and order in the mess and commotion of shapes, shadows and highlights, corresponding elements, or even subjects, etc. You are the composer, editor and performer in chief. Let your instinct lead you and learn how to react to what is around you rather than showing up with a goal. I had a photography student ask me a question recently "what camera setting do I use to shoot portrait?". I replied "I do not know. Only you can answer it. Think of what you want to achieve artistically and that will tell you the camera settings" . Inspiration could be found in work of other people. They do not have to be well-known artists or masters of their craft. Only because someone is unknown it does not mean their art cannot be amazing (in most cases popular things are commercialized and common, and real art is discovered by the next generation or so, after the artist dies). All that is important is whether what you see connects with your soul and speaks to you or not. Do not be a sheep and follow others. They are called others for a reason - they are not you. They are different. We are all different. Stay different. Art is a very self centered and egocentric discipline. This is why artist are aloof and often anti-social. You should follow what YOU like without any need of pleasing others. I do not care who likes my art. I do and that is all that matters. You should absorb all and anything because you never know which direction it will lead you. It is like a survival game, only on an emotional level. The very fact that you are different and alone creates peace and seclusion, which is essential to developing the ability to reading and listen to self. This does not mean that you should not learn from, listen to or share your ideas with others. I am not worried about someone else stealing my ideas. The moment they do I am already 10 steps ahead creating something new. Focus on creating, the rest is irrelevant. Stay true to what you feel is right and instead of wondering where to look for inspiration search yourself first. Once you know who you are, what you want and what drives your creativity, inspirations will start popping up all around you. Do not decide, but react. Do not think, but feel. All 3 images you see in this article are from a single shoot. I had a rough idea what I want to do with each of those portraits, but it was not until I opened them in photoshop and started editing them when I "saw" the final images. It was either colors, face expression, angle or lighting that inspired photoshop manipulation. See, if I followed a story board I would be compelled to complete "a task". Art is a profession only because we need to pay the bills. If I did not have to, I would not give a monkey about the business side of it. I die a bit inside every fucking time I have to tag my photos or check my social media. Most of us care only about creating. The moment you stop thinking of photography art as a type of profession (even if it is your job) the whole new level of inspirational thoughts and ideas will present itself. The key to finding a real inspiration is staying true to oneself.
Buy prints with my photography and calligraphy art - http://ponte-ryuurui.pixels.com/index.html?tab=galleries 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/postsFor more tutorials and how to videos check out my photoshop and photography tips and tricks YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEOVGZ2rpLhR7gSPvaexxxQ Portrait photography is one of the most difficult types of photography out there but at the same time it is extremely rewarding. In modern era when anyone has a decent camera attached to their belt buckle or earrings but it does not mean that anyone can take a good portrait photo. Great portrait photographer is very quick and accurate in reading people and connecting with them. In addition an impeccable sense of composition is needed because unlike in landscape, architecture, or even some types of commercial photography, etc. the composition is very dynamic, and there is no tripod to slow things down that allows for careful composition setting. The face expression is there and it is gone in a blink of an eye. You need to be either quick as hell or have the skill to evoke one. Composition in portraiture is on intuitive level. What's more framing of the shot has to complement and remain in sync with the face expression and body language of the model. There has to be a harmony and symbiosis of the two. Portrait photographers often work with very shallow depth of field and telephoto lenses. Those are creative tools that can deliver stunning powerful images but they impose new challenges such as extremely narrow areas of focus. At aperture of 1.4 on 85mm lens you are working with about 1cm of area that is in focus. It is so narrow that if you or the model take a breath things that were meant to be sharp are blurred. This is also why manual focusing is portrait photographer's best friend. Portrait photographer has to deal with moods, various characters and attitudes, or wishes and desires and be capable of blending those with his or her own style. Portrait photography is extremely time consuming and requires a lot of effort during and after the shoot. A lazy photographer will pass you .jpgs processed by the camera (or even RAW files...) or generic edits processed in bulk with few movements of adjustments sliders in Lightroom. A professional portrait photographer who really cares about the quality of the images will spend about 1-3h on each image individually. Every single image will be different because it is portraying various moods and is linked to a memory of the moment. A close-up image will take far more time to edit than a full length portrait. If I decide or (client's wants me to) manipulate the photo in photoshop then it can take not hours but days to complete it. This is behind the scenes work that is rarely taken into consideration, especially by those who have no sense of quality or no knowledge of how the entire process looks like. The same goes to the photoshoot. There are too many factors to determine the length needed for acquiring 6 or 7 great shots. It could be 200 photos or 1000. It could be 3 hours or 7. So let us say that the shoot lats for 5h and there are 7 images to be processed. So that is 5h of shooting (plus the preparation and commuting time, which in Tokyo could be even as long as 3-4h in total), and then 2h x7 images inside photoshop. That is about 24h n total. Aside the time required there is a skill and talent involved in photo editing. One has to have a vision of post processing while capturing the photos, and superb knowledge of photoshop, or any other professional photo retouching program, to be able to finalize that vision. Photo editing is an art and only an artist can do it well. Portrait photography can be extremely rewarding. You can literally change people's life with your images for better. You can inspire them, pour confidence in them, or simple capture elusive moments that are unrepeatable. You can help them discover themselves or make them realize something they were not aware of. At the same time it is a huge responsibility, because you could do the reverse with poor images. As a professional portrait photographer it is my job to make anyone look at their best under the lighting and environmental conditions I have to work in. The true challenge is to capture who they really are, but imbue the photos with my own photography and photo editing style. People are very vulnerable in front of the lens (even professional models). They get very tense and self-conscious and it is up to me to gain their trust and do not lose it by cutting corners. There is no room for excuses, only solutions.
Buy prints with my photography and calligraphy art - http://ponte-ryuurui.pixels.com/index.html?tab=galleries 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/postsFor more tutorials and how to videos check out my photoshop and photography tips and tricks YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEOVGZ2rpLhR7gSPvaexxxQ |
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August 2020
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