Exercise 8: Varying Pose

So for the eighth exercise, the last before the assignment, I was looking at poses. Again Emma agreed to be my model. I started off with a basic sitting pose, all the shots I took for this are shown here:

Generally this was an appealing pose. It's quite a casual look and is flattering. Below I will discuss the more sucessful variants of the pose

This is a very casual look, with the one leg on the sofa, and one dangling off. There are nice shapes and lines created through the body, and with the head turned, it also shows off the neck well and flatters the face. The hands could be improved, I think it may look better if the arms didn't cross over, and I think the second foot possibly should be visible, but apart from these, I really like this pose.

This is another casual pose, but I do not feel it is as successful as the first. Here a bit too much of the body is hidden and it feels a little awkward, the hands should be bought forward a little more to be more visible, and again not cross over. I also think I should have positioned the second leg on top of the first so both feet are visible again.

Here I feel the hands are much more successful, with the left hand pressing lightly against the cheek, so it doesn't create pressure on the skin, it looks rather graceful. The right hand round the leg possibly could be raised a bit more, so the line of the arm can be followed better however


This is just an extension of the previous pose, turning the head to the right has shown off the hand more. The fingers would look better if they were curled less, but apart from that the turned head has added to the feel of gracefulness in the image.

Next I headed down to one of my favourite settings, Dungeness, for a couple more poses, shown below:

For me I think the last image is certainly the most successful for the crouched pose. It's very casual, and with it being square on, very personal image. Both hands are visible and relaxed, and the whole body forms a very good shape. The second image is probably the least successful with the hands not particularly visible, and the general pose just looking a little awkward, the legs aren't quite angled right. the first and third images work well, but again I would probably look for a bit better placement of the hands.

Next I moved on to a standing pose, against a rather interesting abandoned building

The first of this set, the body is rather awkwardly twisted, and it doesn't quite feel right when viewing the image, twisting the body more towards the camera in the second image has worked well, however the hand on the wall would probably look better if pushed out further from the body so you could follow the arm. The third pose is very good, creating good lines that aren't too straight with the bent arm and the bent leg. The fingers are well placed, and it just looks very easy and natural.

The fourth and fifth photos are with Emma standing straight on to the camera. Both these work well, but in the fourth photo I feel Emma's left arm could be positioned slightly further away from her body, as it just is covered up a little to much. The last image is very casual, and easy on the eye, with the legs just spread shoulder width apart, and the thumbs in the pockets with all the fingers visible, it looks a very natural pose.