Posing to Perfection

All amateur models instantly feel the need to keep their eyes to the camera, but with my style I prefer the opposite. A model glancing off camera plays to my structured aesthetic; I constantly preach “follow your nose with your eyes,” as it reduces the amount of white in the eye and eliminates the awkward over rotating eyeball. Also, I always want to see color, contrast and catch lights in the eyes, if the model simply follows their nose the color and catch lights will be there.

Bounce The Shoulders

Shoulders are often overlooked, but they play a crucial role in framing the face of a model. Popping a shoulder up and forward can make all the difference, especially in beauty work. Just raising one shoulder higher than another will add dimension and strength to the image.

Chin Out and Down

A camera can only see in two dimensions, meaning a photograph is not three dimensional unless it’s shot three dimensional. Therefore, when a model pushes her chin forward and then down and is faced directly towards the camera, from the photographers perspective the jawline is extended and stronger lines have been formed. However, if the model were to move to their side profile, he or she would resemble a turtle poking its head out of the shell. It will feel incredibly awkward for the model, so be aware of the models torso and stance before asking to bring her chin out and down.

Sumair Majeed forest photo shoot

Lets talk about this natural scene
Bring your own light. The sun provides so much light you say, why should I bring more? Because the sun can only provide single direction light, and often times it won’t be in the direction you need it. Additionally, you’ll need to fill in shadows on faces from late morning through mid-afternoon sun. Speedlights are the easiest and most portable, triggering them using remote / radio triggers like PocketWizards is the most reliable. Utilizing modifiers like softboxes and umbrellas on lightstands will depend on the shoot and your desired look, but keep in mind that both turn a speedlight on a lightstand into a kite if it’s even the slight bit windy out.

Sumair Majeed give tips for outdoors shooting

Shooting outdoors offers up many more variables within photography, but also puts a certain strain on the shoot.  Knowing what to do, when and quickly can make the difference between a successful shoot and a total flop.  Here are seven tips for shooting models outdoors.Scout your location ahead of time. While this isn’t always possible, you should, whenever feasible, scout the location you plan to shoot ahead of time.  Take your camera, shoot some stills, and see how things will be framed in your camera.  Also try to scout the location around the time of day you plan on shooting.  Mid-morning looks different than noon, which is very different from early evening regarding light, placement of shadows and warmth.