Posing Fun....In the Sun.

I'm really not sure why I chose to make that rhyme...

Anyways, as you all know I have recently upgraded my camera and have been using it every chance that I get. One of my college roomates/best friends/awesome aunties came over today to hang out with Max and I, and I kindly forced her to pose for me :) Krystin - you rock.

This past weekend I got to watch the amazing Bambi Cantrell on CreativeLive, and she is just the master of posing...especially with women! It is so inspiring and exciting to watch these photographers work one on one with a client or model. It opens your eyes to new ideas, new tips, and a few new tricks to toss into your photography mix. (Again with the rhyming...?!)

So Krystin, please forgive me, but you were the perfect person to help me test out some more direct posing! You see...Krystin is forever telling me how awkward she feels in front of the camera. And that is totally OK! Normal, in fact. Most people aren't models on a daily basis, and when a camera is on them, they tend to freeze up and get tense and just stand there and not know what to do with their hands (Ricky Bobby, anyone?). This isn't a fun feeling for anybody, especially on their wedding day! So I tried a few of Bambi's tricks and I think the results speak for themselves! I still have a lot to learn, but practice makes perfect and I intend to improve with every chance I get. Enjoy!

So here is Krystin! She is petite and cute and one of the best people I know. She is a great friend and aunt, and to top it off she saves lives every day as an ICU nurse. This is our first shot...the "I feel super awkward right now" shot.





Then I had her take her hair down, shake it out, and shift her weight to her back hip. Then we decided to use her cute pockets for her hands, and a tip from Bambi is to move a women's arms away from her body at the elbow to accentuate her waist line (when the arm is pressed against the body it makes your eye see them as one large component.)Then I had her cross the front leg in front of the back one and extend it to make it long and lean. After a few practice shots I made her laugh, and that gave me the natural smile I was looking for! This is the final result. I think she looks stunning!





I posed her a few different ways for some close ups, and then I let her out of my captivity so she could go back to playing with Max and enjoying life outside my lens :)

Isn't she lovely?!




Here they are side by side so you can see what a difference a few simple tweaks make:




All of this took approximately five minutes! Thank you Krystin for being my guinea pig! I owe you lots of Starbucks coffee :)