Posing and camera position are important elements of portraiture

by Douglas Hoffman on January 2, 2012

Pose that always works. All you need is a beach and sunset.

Showing people how to pose is part of our portraiture workshop. In this image Mariah is sitting with her chest at a 45 degree angle to the lens. While a bit more shoulder on right would have been nice, in this pose Mariah is very comfortable.  Also worth while to note is that this image was created form a very low camera angle so that Mariah’s head is not dropped above the ocean line, and that the horizon is in the upper third of the frame which adds interest to the portrait.