Have you ever tried to copy a pose from a magazine? And, you looked nothing like the model?

What if I told you that sometimes, I pose my clients completely opposite of professional models, so that they look like professional models. Before I start to explain, I want to state that because every pose has various elements to it, it can get quite overwhelming. I’ve invested years and years in learning this stuff so I don’t expect you to get it overnight. Which is why today I’m breaking it down to just one thing, your weight.

Here’s the golden rule: Whatever is closest to the camera lens, looks the largest. This is particularly true when using certain types of lenses. And yes, your point and shoot or camera phone would be one of those lenses. So, when you push your weight forward [toward the camera], you’ll look larger than when you push your weight back [away from the camera].

You might think. Perfect, I’ll just always push my weight away from the camera. Done. However, models tend to push their weight toward the camera.
So when you copy them, you’re doing exactly what you shouldn’t do.

Why do they push their weight forward you ask?

Well, we don’t call them “walking clothes hangers” for nothing. Models typically are very thin. They actually need to create shape where there is no shape [irritating, I know]. So it makes total sense for them to push their weight forward. If you’re like me [and most women in America] we have curves!! And although our men [or women] love our curves, we need to know what to do with them on camera or we end up looking like one large curve. No one wants that.

To help demonstrate this concept, I’ve attached two pictures below. One is a professional Victoria’s Secret model and one is a client of mine. They are not the same pose but I want you to look at the curve of their hips and where the weight is on each of these women.

The model is putting all of her weight on the leg that’s closest to the camera [she’s bending the leg that’s farthest away], essentially pushing her weight forward. Our client is putting of her weight on the leg that’s farthest from the camera [she’s bending the leg that’s closest], essentially pushing her weight back.

Both women look amazing but they are posed completely opposite from one another.

So don’t feel bad about yourself the next time you try to copy a pose you like and don’t end up looking all that great. It’s not your fault, you just don’t understand yet how this all works yet. If you want to learn more about posing, CLICK HERE to check out our posing video. If you prefer to let me pose you, shoot us an email to work with me directly.