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Week 2: Learning how to pose with the photographer, Roberto Valenzuela.

This week I started reading Picture Perfect Posing: Practicing the Art of Posing for Photographers and Models by world-renowned wedding photographer and educator, Roberto Valenzuela.

Posing was never something that came naturally to me. I much prefer capturing candid moments, which is why I majored in photojournalism and not fashion photography. But as I’ve matured as a photographer and especially gotten into wedding photography, I’ve learned that posing is a critical skill set that you must have in order to become a professional photographer.

I found Mr. Valenzuela on CreativeLive, an online education platform for photographers. He taught a class called "Picture Perfect Lighting," a video that explains how to become a keen observer of light. What I appreciated most was his ability to explain things clearly and concisely. Valenzuela’s book doesn't disappoint and even the most novice photographer can learn how to pose subjects correctly. The following is what I've learned so far.

1) UNDERSTANDING AND POSING THE SPINE

The one constant thing is that your subject’s spine must be straight. The spine is the cornerstone of any pose. Ignore the spine and the whole pose will fly out the window.

There are three main sections of the spine that are of interest to photographers: the cervical spine (the neck), the thoracic spine (middle back, runs from the base of the neck down to the abdomen) and the lumbar spine (lower back).

Cervical Spine: Directs the head to where you want to focus the viewer’s attention. It should be stretched as much as possible to elongate the head.

Thoracic Spine: Responsible for posture. It also should be elongated as much as possible. Creates confidence and strength. Subjects should breathe in to achieve a more confident look.

Lumbar Spine: Responsible for slimming someone down. It should always be curved. It creates a sexy quality to a pose.

2) WEIGHT DISTRIBUTION AND ITS EFFECT ON POSING

If the pose flows, we feel at ease when looking at the photograph. One of the secrets of posing people is creating a weight distribution that produces an aesthetically pleasing, flattering photograph.

By shifting the bodyweight of your subjects, you automatically create more curves and enhance those that already exist. The second benefit of such shifting is the stance’s resulting look of relaxation. When a person’s weight is distributed equally between both feet, either they can look stiff or they can look childlike, innocent, or playful.

Adults often worry about their weight, and in photographs, they want to look as glamorous and as thin as possible. Shifting the body weight to one foot, usually the back foot achieves just that.

Ask your subject to put her body weight on her back foot and cross the other foot in front. This shift is responsible for bringing out the curves in her body. This technique works equally well for men but likely best for women.

A good reference point is to imagine two straight lines emanating from each foot. If those two imaginary lines eventually cross paths, then you are distributing weight correctly.

Great pose for a man or a strong woman is to have the bodyweight shifted to the back foot and the toes point in a direction where the imaginary lines will never cross. In other words, don’t have the feet cross.

The most important aspect is to bend the knee of the front leg in the same direction as the toe. As the knee bends forward, the stiff pose automatically transforms into a relaxed and comfortable look.

For men: Bodyweight should rest mostly on his back leg, allowing the other leg to relax. The knee on the relaxed leg is not only bent, but it pointed toward his toes. Combine all three and you have a great male pose.

For a group portrait, it is perfectly normal, if not preferable, that everyone has a different stance. The portrait is more interesting to look at because a few their personalities show through in the way they stand. But keep in mind how the way the weight is distributed and the direction the toes are pointing; this information can completely change how a person is perceived in the photograph.

Next week, I will explore additional chapters in the book. The video below is footage from his posing workshop. Check out more of Roberto’s work at: https://www.robertovalenzuela.com/

Week 1: Your dream is possible.

I came across Les Brown by watching a bunch of motivational videos on YouTube. At the time, I was feeling uninspired. Things were getting monotonous and I wasn't feeling creative. It was the videos subject line that caught my attention, "It's Not OVER Until You Win! Your Dream is Possible - Les Brown."

At the beginning of the video, Brown says, "think about your dream right now and envision it. — I do not believe that any of us have dreams that were not given to us for the purpose of accomplishing those particular dreams." I interpret this as each of us is destined with a desire to do something with our lives that will bring us happiness and success. We just have to dedicate ourselves to achieving it and seeing it to fruition.

That, in a nutshell, is what the whole video is about. Chasing your dreams, no matter how absurd they may seem, you have to believe that it's possible. "Sometimes we can’t say, “I can do that. But what we can say is that it’s possible. As we run toward it as we work on it day in and day out.”

He goes on to say, "most people have done all that they’re ever going to do. They raise a family. They earn a living. And then they die." That last line about raising a family, earning a living and then dying resonated with me. Too many people get caught up in doing what they think they ought to be doing that they forget what it is that they wish they were doing. Take time and reconnect with yourself. What is it that would give your life meaning and purpose? Don't think of the obstacles or how hard it would be to achieve it just imagine what it would feel like to get there.

"In the process of working on your dreams, you’re going to incur a lot of disappointment. A lot of failure. A lot of pain. A lot of setbacks. A lot of defeats. But in the process of doing that you will discover somethings about yourself that you don’t know right now. What you will realize is that you have greatness within you."

Brown was labeled as (EMR) or educable mentally retarded, while in grade school. It wasn't until he was in high school when a teacher, Lee Roy Washington asked him to do something that dramatically changed his perspective. Les said he couldn’t do as he was told because he was labeled EMR. The teacher responded by saying, “don’t ever say that again, someone’s opinion of you does not have to become your reality.” It was as that point that Brown begins to start dreaming about his future.

"Most people don’t work on their dreams. Why? 1) Fear. The fear of failure. What if things don’t work out. And the fear of success. What if they do and I can’t handle it. 2) Most people get comfortable. They stop growing. They stop working on themselves. They stop stretching. They stop pushing themselves. And they end up becoming very cynical about life. They throw in the towel on themselves. On their families. And on their dreams. 3) Most people don’t feel worthy. What I’m doing now I could have been doing years ago. But because I didn’t have a college education, didn’t believe in myself, because I allowed other people’s opinion of me control my destiny I didn’t act on my ideas."

Don't let anyone tell you what you can or can't do. Put your blinders on and just focus on achieving your dream. I'm reminded of Abraham Maslow, the American psychologist who was best known for creating Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, "if I were dropped out of a plane into the ocean and told the nearest land was a thousand miles away, I’d still swim. And I’d despise the one who gave up.” That’s the mentality we all have to have to strive for our dreams. Because if we don’t, we will never get there.

"It’s necessary that you get the energy drainers out of your life. People who don’t want anything. People who are not striving. People who are not challenging themselves. People who aren’t growing. People who have stopped dreaming. It’s necessary that you align yourself with people and attract people into your business who are hungry. People who are unstoppable and unreasonable. People who are refusing to leave life just as it is. And who want more. — Birds of a feather flock together. If you ride around with losers, you will end up a loser.”

"Write down 5 reasons as to why you deserve your dream. On why you won’t give up. What’s going to make you unstoppable. Why you must be unreasonable. Because logical, practical thinking says you can’t do it today. But if you want to produce unreasonable results in your life, like living your dream, and taking charge of your destiny, you’ve got to be an unreasonable person. You’ve got to be an uncommon person."

1) I deserve my dream because if I quit now, I will spend the rest of my life wondering what if I had made it. 2) I deserve my dream because the victory of success trumps all the pain of failure. 3) I deserve my dream because I believe that once I’ve achieved it, I will have not only made myself happy, but I will have made the world a better place. 4) I deserve my dream because my biological father never lived long enough to achieve his. 5) I deserve my dream because I want to help motivate and inspire others that they can achieve their dreams. If people just keep working on improving themselves regardless of the struggle they can get there.

Ultimately, even if you don’t achieve everything that you had in mind by working hard and striving towards your dream, you will have achieved more than you could ever have imagined by not trying.

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