5 Things to Avoid while Posing Hands
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- čas přidán 27. 07. 2024
- Today, I'm going to teach you five things to avoid while posing hands.
We all know that posing is difficult, but it's even more difficult to pose hands. What I want to talk about is five things that I look for when I'm posing my subjects, specifically focusing on the detail of hands because what will happen is the entire pose will be perfect, but then the hand is a little bit off and that's all you can see.
👉 Palm turned too much toward camera
The first problem that I try to avoid while posing hand is having the palm turned too much towards camera. The inside of your hand, it's large, it's bright, it's distracting. And the general rule when posing hands is you usually want to have the pinky side of the hand towards camera. This is not something 100 percent of the time, but most of the time, and this is because it is a much more elegant, smooth line. So when I am posing my subjects and their hand is turned a little bit too much with the palm towards camera, I simply have them rotate their hand away.
👉 Avoid tense fingers
When people are nervous or they're stressed, they show their tension in their hands and you don't want that to be communicated through your photograph. What I'm talking about is the hands balled in fists, or maybe they're kind of digging with their their fingers or the fingers or a little bit too rigid. It looks very robotic. So what I'll do is I'll look for that detail and then I'll coach my subjects in a way that relaxes those fingers and it gives a much more confident, relaxed look to the entire photograph.
👉 Pressure on the Face
The next thing that I try to avoid while posing hands is having the hands dig into the body too much Specifically, I'm focused more on the face. If I tell someone to put their hand on their hip, a lot of times they'll dig the fingers in and it's not flattering, so I'll have them touch much more softly. Now a very common pose is to have a subject placed their face into their hand, but without direction. People often put too much weight on their hand, and the fingers start to dig into the skin, and the results aren't flattering.
Instead of her actually placing her head in her hands, what I'm going to do is have her barely caress, barely touch the side of her face with the hand. I can get a similar position without those distractions
👉 Stray Fingers
What I mean by that is I don't want a thumb jutting out or a pinky. It really breaks up the smooth lines of the hands and it becomes a visual distraction. Instead, what I want to do is have the subject tuck her thumb beside the index finger. I would do the same thing maybe if the pinky were jutting out would have her make it create a smoother line next to the rest of the fingers. And a lot of times this has to do with just relaxing and replacing the hands.
👉 Abrupt wrists or foreshortening
The last thing that I try to avoid while posing hands is ill posed wrists. If the wrist is too much at a right angle, it looks awkward. It's not a pretty line and it looks very robotic. The other thing I try to avoid related to this is something called foreshortening. Foreshortening happens when anything is coming directly to or away from camera. So if the wrist is bent in the hand, it turn towards the body. It looks cut off. Same thing if it's pointed towards the camera. So instead, I like to have longer lines, smoother lines to the bend of the rest. In fact, actually bending the wrist up is usually more elegant, but you can also bend the wrist down slightly just to avoid those right angles, and then you usually want the pinky side of the hand towards camera instead of having the fingers pointed back towards the subject.
What I recommend is to get the overall pose right and then check for the detail of the hands because if the hands aren't right, the entire pose won't look right.
If you've found this video helpful, I have an entire posing series dedicated to the ins and outs and the essentials of posing any subject.
Leave a comment below if you found these tips helpful and if you've thought about posing your subject's hands! 😃
✅ Posing Series: lindsayadler.photo/posing-series
✅ Posing Cards: lindsayadler.photo/posinghands
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Portfolio: lindsayadlerphotography.com
Instagram: / lindsayadler_photo
Facebook: / lindsayadlerphotography
Twitter: / lindsayadler
Education: learn.lindsayadlerphotography.com
Elegance is key. great video. Thank you.
Super nice tips, thanks for sharing
I dont understand how you are so natural at teaching it is just amazing to watch your ability to communicate the most difficult things elegantly and succinctly. Thank you for everything
Awwwwww thank you. I love my job.
Much appreciated, thank you !
Love all your videos, you are a fantastic teacher.
Tip #1 very solid. The example was exaggerated, but the point was very well made. Thanks!
Great video!
This is a much needed tutorial. Thank you!
Muchas gracias.
Great video like always!
excellent! never thought of this. thank you for sharing!!
Very simple...very useful tips!! Thanks so much, Lindsay!!
love it !!! thank you for your tips . you are an amazing and brilliant photographer .
Very helpful tutorial. Hands are very difficult to get them right. Thanks 🙏🏼
Thank you for these great tips.
You teach so well thank you!
Lindsay, you look absolutely wonderful! This short, but very insightful tutorial is what every portrait photographer needs, well, at least I know I do! Hope to see you soon!
As both a makeup and nail artist, I often find my models don’t know what to do with their hands. Now I know how to coach them.
thank you - very nice examples!
Ordered the posing cards this morning. Can't wait to get them. Hands are always the worst to pose. Thanks for creating them.
Excited to share with you!
Thank you Lindsay! 🤗
Good tips to talk with model or client before or during to get the best poses. Great video.
That's one of the biggest mistakes even the Pros do is mess up the hands. All of these are great, I have even missed the stray finger. LOL Great video Lindsay.
thankyou so much
Great advice for an often overlooked area of portrait photography. I'll subscribe
Wonderful video, this will be super helpful for posing my photography subjects. Thank you for making this video!
Thanks for watching!
Great tutorial thank you!
Great video Lindsay, I just purchased your posing book.
Thanks Linsday! I'll be using these tips on my shoot today :)
Just thanks! Little steps, great jumps
Nice tips :-)
This is a good informational video well done!
Very useful! Thanks.
I absolutely love your work! You are such an inspiration!! I have watched every single class of yours on Creative Life :)) 💛
Excellent video is so much information thank you
Many of us always need to refresh these basic hand posing hints, and your teaching is always, be it on demand or in person is always just so enjoyable and more importantly, doable.
Thank you so much for the kind words! ;)
Tip #4 very good point. I don’t think I’ve ever noticed a stray thumb before. I’m going to be looking over my past photos now. I’m nervous!!
Merci ma belle!
This is very helpful. Thank you so much
thank you for this tips
Useful content... thank you...
A great review of hands. I shoot a lot of dancers and I have to get them to relax hands especially in peak action shots. I love your videos and your whole style of teaching...thank you.
Sadly, I live in the UK so they aren't available to be sent here, I would love those cards, they sound really useful.
I will be doing a pdf. :D
@@lindsayadlerphoto thank you for your reply, that is great news. You inspire my photography so thank you, keep doing what you are doing.
Thank you. 🤩
thank you I like this video it gave me a lot of good tips :)
Your tips are amazing thank you
Thank you so much!
Fantastic, I love you :)
thanks miss Linda...Say Adler
Simply masterful, I am always touched by your work, and laugh at those who critique your teaching, seriously , you sharing your amazing gifts with us for free, I feel blessed, thank you from deep in my heart, I send colleagues always to your channel...
Thank you for the kind words, glad that you enjoy them! :)
Tip #3
I run into that one all the time!! I mainly photograph High School Seniors. I do put that tip to use already. Thankfully!
great to hear!
Also, this video is very helpful
I seldom shoot portraits, but when I do, this little voice from New York will now on be in the back of my mind cautioning me when it comes to hand positioning! :0)
I've got Lindsay in one ear and Chris in the other!
@@bonsaipiper3773
thanks for the solutions that have been looking for so long! I learn so much from you and I am a huge fan of your educational videos. What you do is art! I have a question, what is the title of the music in the video? Greetings from North Germany, Michael
Tip#2 I make that mistake all the time!! I’m going to do the wiggle trick next session I have!!
One the most humorous couples portrait errors of the hand is the individual placing the arm behind the other individual and having just the fingers peeking around from behind. It reminds one of the old B-rated horror movie of the disembodied killer hand of the murdered concert pianist.
Yes agreed
Okay, I need to know the title of this movie. :D
Raven Gatos - One disadvantage of my being in my golden years is my memory is failing me. At least I remember the grainy black & white movie.
Great tips. But I have to say your model is so beautiful that even the “bad” ones are beautiful.
Glad to know I wasn't the only one that thought that.
@@sandramichelle76 She is lovely!!
Awesome video!! As always! :) Do you have any advice for the following problem?: Fixing bad makeups and lipsticks? I am always struggling with this, are there any tipps to get rid of too much lipstick, strange shapes because of the badly applied lipstick, or bad contouring? That all happens regularly and i desperatly need a way to fix this
Familiarize yourself with the clone stamp tool and the retouching tools that Photoshop offers. You have to get accustomed to touching up these areas as if you were applying or removing makeup in reality. It's hard to give advice on this without really showing someone how to do it. But retouching is really onlly thing I can recommend getting stronger at in order to help fix things in post. The real best way to do this is to make sure things are the way you want in person. Don't be afraid to tell the MUA they need to fix something. Don't rely on "I'll fix it in post".
Great video. I call robot hands, karate chop hands lol
Hi Lindsay, Thank you, great video. I cannot find the link to buy the cards. Can you help? Thank you.
Hi Greg! There should be a link in the video description (I'll double check, maybe there isn't lol) but you can get them here: lindsayadler.photo/posinghands
The first problem is to remember to be aware of what the hands are doing. God, how many times..."How could I have missed that?"
Lindsay when are you restocking your posting cards?!?
Tip #5 Do you think that tip would apply to guys as well?? Seems like a more feminine pose with the hands, but I think the flip side might make more of a masculine look?
always avoid foreshortening.
👍👌
Good advice. I might go a bit easier on the edit tho
what does that mean? The files are raw with no retouching.
Does not hurt to have a stunning model who knows what you are trying to say/demonstrate. Have you ever had one who could not give you good hands, no matter what you said? Or the rare reverse, one who could not give you bad hands for a demo? Unless you micro-managed the hands. This last is usually a classically trained dancer.
Yes of course. I photograph non models regularly. You figure out their capabilities and work with what you can.
😍📸🇧🇷🇱🇷🌹
Forgot to ask, where did you get your posing table?
adorama!
To me the main question is: Why have the hands in a portrait at all? Naturally you don't have your hands in or at your face, unless your fixing your hair, have a good scratch etc.
Hands are yet another way to create emotion, tell a story, or interesting composition.
Wonderful job , amazing artist and beautiful model . I can be an assistant of Lindsay for free .
Thanks! I actually have paid assistants that I am comfortable and that I know. I do have an internship program that opens up twice a year though!
@@lindsayadlerphoto I will be happy to join your internship program as soon as i can create free time for this . Thank you !
Maybe it's because I'm a street photographer and I like people to look natural in pictures, but I kind of like some of the 'wrong' ones better. I understand why they are wrong obviously. It's just that I'm a little tired of seeing women on magazine covers who are caressing their own face like if it's the baby Jesus.
I see plenty of people caressing their face on the street lol.
Nervous or tense like the model in the background.
Lol
lol she is a close friend, I'm sure she is fine.
@@lindsayadlerphoto only jesting 🙂🙂