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Not an odd question at all. As a large man myself, I constantly find myself on the lookout for ways in my portrait business to help people look their best (no particular order... just as they came to mind): No broad lighting. This is a 'basic' for portrait lighting, but I'm always amazed when I see inexperienced photographers who simply throw light all ...

There are some different styles, and a variety of poses, but for classic portraiture, it's all about the face. Posing the body helps the overall composition and visual interest, but if you forget all else, make sure the face, and particularly the eyes are captured well. No football shoulders. Start with the subject, whether seated or standing, point their ...

The most natural looking portraits is usually taken when the subject is not aware of it. To consiously look natural isn't very easy, and untrained people generally can't do it. One method is to simply "wear them out". After a while they will become accustomed to the camera and stop making a face, either because they grow tired of it, or because they simply ...

So, a couple of additional thoughts (from Jay's post) I would have on this would be: Shoot from above, even moderately so. This will tend to minimize certain features (especially under the chin, etc.). Arrange legs and arms to "screen" a little. Consider, for example, a portrait where the subject is on the ground, you could have one leg pulled up and an ...

I find the cheesy smile comes out when the subject is uncomfortable. Depending on the style of photo you're after your options fall into distinct groups: The "When did you take that?" photo Sometimes referred as the paparazzi style (although the circumstances are generally more favourable), but the method is very similar -- long lens, wide aperture, and ...

People like to see smiles in photos because that implies that the subjects were happy at the time. But getting photographed does not always make people happy. So getting better photos often means helping people relax, get used to the camera (or forget about the camera if necessary), and actually enjoy themselves. Different techniques will work with different ...

To add to what Jay Lance said (mostly different phrasing, but also comments on background & accessories) My grandmother used to teach corrective posing & lighting years ago, and her short 2-page handout is in the back of "The Art of Bridal Photography: Techniques for Lighting and Posing", which Google has conveniently scanned. The relevent items ...

You want to be shooting more or less dead on to the subject, not to the side. The rule of thumb is that the line of the nose should not 'break' the line of the cheek, and this is doubly true for nasally well-endowed subjects. Avoid wide-angle lenses like the plague - you need to be looking at a 100-135mm lens ideally, as it will flatten the photograph ...

There are many, many portraits out there shot "head on" - fashion and magazine photos often use this kind of pose. Frankly, their models can pull it off. For the majority of people out there, a straight on pose will most often add a certain bit of weight to the face, whereas an angle to the face can reduce "flabbiness". Most people paying for a photo want ...

I use this technique and so do several events photography friends of mine. When we are doing group shots we often invite everyone to close their eyes and think of a beautiful memory and happy thought. And then we tell them that we'll count to three and have them open their eyes, and smile for the camera--on three. What happens is the smile is more natural, ...

Assuming you're not just trying to expropriate the Michael, and that the testudine in question is to be the star of the show... Try a front three-quarter view (with the camera essentially aiming towards the center of the shell from an angle between the head and one of the forelimbs) from slightly above the seam line. I would put the rearmost front limb near ...

For dealing with the double chin, there's some excellent advice here but generally you're trying to get the model to elongate their neck and stretch that skin a little. Tell them to lean over their waist/belt and often times they'll stretch their neck a little too. The other thing to do is to put their shoulders more toward the camera and have them ...

Double chins come in two flavours: the ones that can be tightened by moving the head a little forward, and the ones that need the photographer to change his point of view. Looking slightly upward is a lot more comfortable than trying to emulate a giraffe/tortoise Dr. Moreau experiment. (Okay, there is a third flavour -- the n-chin that is so prominent that ...

Obviously makeup and post production help. Makeup is the most common solution I know for this. In regards to lighting , it occurs to me that this is an area a beauty dish would excel in. It should fill in the shadows and reduce the look significantly.

I always tell people to make the ugliest frowning face possible and make them hold it for a while. After about 30 seconds I say "ok, now you can smile" and the smiles that come out are usually great. But you have to be quick, the smiles will revert back to the fake smiles within seconds. This works on almost anyone, it must be the novelty of frowning in ...

I have a relative who behaves like that. The only methods I have found so far basically try to catch him unprepared by:fast surprise snapshotphotographing without raising camera to an eye, either using live view or just trying out luckusing a telephoto from somewhere outside immediate visibility Of course, none of that works for staged portraits.

The lighting angle is too high by far for a "safe" portrait—it's the kind of thing you'd use when going for dramatic effect, preferably with someone whose complexion and features can handle it. I'm not saying that based on the bags under the eyes, but on the shadow the upper lid casts over the sclera, the corner of the eye and the lower lid. I suspect that ...

If it's for a staged portrait, just shoot and keep giving directions. In order to not embarrass the subject, snap a picture with the cheesy smile, say "Great!" and then follow up with "Now let's try a soft smile" or similar. If they get a serious look because they're uptight or trying to figure out your instructions, just say "Try to look like you don't ...

Firstly: I strongly second @kacalapy with his recommendation of Digital Photography School. Second, here are a few sites I've found: Free Digital Photography Tutorials have a couple of nice pages (lots of clear examples nicely explained here and here Jonathan Souer has a step-by-step guide here I know this isn't online, but my go-to reference is ...

You can find hundreds of poses HERE. Another good place for information is DPSchool. You can also find some tips here, just scroll down some.

First up, I suppose, would be the de rigeur posing stool and posing table. Neither is particularly expensive when purchased as such, but you can get 'em cheaper. A "posing stool" is sort of a cross between a bar stool and an adjustable office chair. Well, you really don't need the round "that's what makes it a stool" seat -- the cheapest Ikea adjustable ...

One trick I picked up from Zack Arias is to get the person to "move in" to the expression; you time your snap right to get the expression at the right moment. For instance, he'll have the model close her eyes, and then have her open them. Between the time she's in the resting state of eyes-closed and the posed-looking state when she's conscious of the ...

Triangles A classic approach is to arrange people so their faces form triangles. This is aesthetically pleasing. Example by "Harriet Bayliss Photography another Example by ".eti" Sub-Groups A technique which is useful when you have lots ( > 4 or so) of people is to arrange them in subgroups, such that each sub-group works on its own, and arrange the ...

Here's a couple of suggestions: Classic family or work group portrait: Seat a person or a couple and have the rest stand behind and to the sides. The person or couple sitting down will typically be determined by seniority, but other criteria might create interesting dynamics too, so don't just blindly go by the numbers. Another classic, especially with ...

A trick I've had used against me (I hate being infront of the camera) was to shoot a shot, then say, "ok, let's see how that came out..." and trigger another shot mid sentence with a remote. It didn't bypass the cheesy smile, because I didn't have one on my face to begin with... but it did capture a much more relaxed image. I've started to use that against ...

Social is a big part of the picture. Forget about posing for a moment; there's only so much that can wrong there unless you're trying something very much out of the ordinary. What you may have failed to notice in all of that subtle direction you were following is that direction was only a small part of what was going on. You need to appear confident ...

I agree with Rowland. When people feel uncomfortable they try to put on a happy face or "cheesy smile". When I am doing portraits, especially with kids is I say something funny but something to break the ice. If you continue to talk and have a conversation that always helps. Also, if you you are in an open environment it relaxes the subjects as well. I ...

With models that aren't professionals it's crucial to build up a rapport otherwise they tend to be too affected by the camera to get any kind of natural expression. I always find laughter the best way to do this if you can make the model laugh it goes a long way to breaking the ice and relaxing them. True emotions can only be seen when the model is ...

I think ideally, you'd like to see legs and neck extended. This is pretty easy to recognize when you see it - this one spent a couple hours poking around the shore - maybe looking for a place to nest. This shot is head-on, which doesn't show as much of the turtle's body as the 3/4 shot Stan mentioned, but it's got pretty good extension of the head and ...

Marlene Dietrich was apparently very conscious of her nose, take a look at the photos on an image search and you'll see that she is almost always photographed directly facing the camera. More interestingly look at the lighting around and the shadow under her nose. She was generally evenly lit from above and in front to flatten out the nose and provide ...