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Rather, do you want to know how to avoid ruining a good photograph? DO NOT over-pose your model. There is nothing more cringe-worthy than a good photo, well lit, nice location, good concept, and in the middle of it all is some model thrusting and pouting. Look at any of the masters of erotic photography – and I am suggesting spreading your net a bit wider than just Playboy photographers where a certain convention of thrusting and pouting has and still rules – the one thing you will not see is obvious posing.

As you are all aware, or should be, we have produced a series of posing guides that will suggest to you some possibilities. It was necessary, when I put mine together with Mary, to exaggerate the poses in order to illustrate the possibilities. But you should not, and must not, take these as the final cut. These guides are extremely useful in that they illustrate the many different positions that a human body can take. It is by no means exhaustive, but over one hundred poses will surely help if you are stuck. If you slavishly copy these, you will end up with a picture of a girl in a pose. It is very important that you work with your model to make it her pose (and when I use the word pose, I mean a ‘NOT’ pose). She must inhabit it and make it look natural. Generally, people do not stand around in poses. Perhaps at the end of a golf drive it is good to hold the follow-through pose, but we are not on the first tee here. Look at fashion magazines and fly-on-the-wall type photographs. Some people think that fashion poses are super exaggerated as well, but that was like years and years ago. It looked like they were directing traffic. Charming in the 1960’s but a bit naff [i.e., lame] now.

Another way to help a pose is to give the model something to do when in the ‘not’ pose. And I do not mean operating a power hammer while wearing a bikini or tacky stuff like that. I have shot calendars for some companies that produce weird stuff like ready mixed concrete and roofing felt. Quite often, you are dealing with people in these companies who have no idea of what they want or a clear idea that they want a girl on all fours laying down roofing felt with a hot gun. If it is the latter I tell them to forget it (it the nicest possible way), I am not doing that.

With this calendar particularly, I suggested shooting on roofs (subtle link to their product) and produced shots like the ‘cat on a hot tin roof’ shot (as shown here), a Moscow skyline with a girl in a ball gown playing the violin, a cat burglar with jewels falling out of her swag bag, a hacienda type roof line with a señorita brandishing a rifle, etc., etc. Much more creative, considerably more fun to do, and they loved it and came back for more the next year. I had already started the procedure of weaning them away from their product and took them off to the deserts of Tunisia the following year… not a roof in sight!!! The ready-mixed concrete company had a cool company color so we used that as a link. I shot their calendars five times.

Back to topic. Giving the model something to do should be kept simple. Remember, models are not actresses. Anything complicated can easily look contrived. The simpler the task the better, like drinking water from a bottle, tying her shoelace, applying lipstick in car mirror – cool things were the action dictates the pose rather than the other way around. Think of her as liquid. Keep the poses fluid, not stiff. Think about what looks real. If she needs a little help because her figure is not ideal for the position or situation use wardrobe creatively to cover the weaker parts. If her legs are not that long, even from a low angle…..shoot her ¾ length. Don’t shoot stuff you are not happy with, and always ask yourself when shooting, ‘does this look believable? How would someone position themselves in this situation?’

I can tell you one thing, she would not be thrusting and pouting and doing weird little posing ordinary-type things with her legs. You can have her thrusting and pouting (and I do), but make her laugh aloud as she is doing it, like, ‘hey, look at me! I am posing like crazy for a bit of a laugh!’ Make a joke of it, because if you don’t the joke may well be on you.

It is all about being subtle, not obvious. The tackiest of situations can be made to look cool. For me, elegance and sophistication go a long way in any situation. Cliché is fine, but make it obvious you are doing this with tongue firmly in cheek. The Brits are particularly good at irony. In fact, that’s about all we do. Yanks are not so good and tend to take things at face value. Irony in photographs works well because it leaves the viewer to make up their own mind. One can remain uncommitted as a photographer Innuendo and suggestion come into play.

Make them laugh, get them worried… even make them cry. It’s what making images is about: affecting people. But try not to bore them with predictable poses that are out of some text book. After all, the hard work you put into creating an image it is the easiest way to ruin the final image. BEWARE of statues and girls who look like they are nursing a headache or upset stomach. Breathe life into her! Have an idea, a concept, a narrative… all these things help in making a photograph that is more than some model standing, sitting or lying in a rather stiff pose. We have seen more of those than we need.

I had early on in my career a fantastic editor in Paris who was in charge of the French magazine LUI. Each image was dissected with the precision of a surgeon. Be your own harshest critic or get someone else to do it for you. Happy to volunteer, but do not expect flattery. I am way beyond that.