When you’re photographing female subjects lying down, your goal should always be to pay particular attention to their curves ( Figure 7.1 ). When you’re lying down, skin, muscle, and fat redistribute throughout the body and can look less than flattering. This is where knowledge of the concept of skin elasticity comes in handy; remember that to eliminate bunching skin, you’ll need to elongate the body. This is absolutely paramount when you’re trying to photograph subjects who are essentially huddled in bed.
Also keep in mind that when photographing women in lying poses, lens choice is critical. Using longer wide focal lengths can lengthen the body and make women look taller than they are in person. The images in Figures 7.2 through 7.8 were all taken with a 24–70mm f/2.8 lens at a variety of different focal lengths within that range. The longer full-length images were taken with a 24–35mm lens.
Photographing women on their tummy is a great way to flatten the tummy and enhance curves through posing. In the image in Figure 7.2 , my subject is lying on her tummy, facing the camera at a 30–45-degree angle. Her arms are facing outward and she’s balancing most of her weight on her elbows. Her back is arched slightly to create a slight curve with her bum, and her legs are playfully bent. The trick to making this pose work is being very concretely aware of the arch in her pose. The more her back is arched, the more curve she’ll have, but too much arch and she’ll look uncomfortable or overposed.
FIGURE 7.2
Creating a curve in the body while a woman is on her side, like the image in Figure 7.3 , is a lot easier than it looks. Let me be clear: the subject’s legs are not flat; her top leg is slightly crossed over the bottom leg to create the illusion of curve. Her top arm is placed strategically on her hip so that her elbow touches her hip bone. This creates the illusion of curvature in the dress. Her hand placed behind her head also creates another curved line from the bottom of her dress to the elbow. All of these leading lines create beautiful curves throughout the image.
FIGURE 7.3
I think most photographers assume that lying poses have to be full-length or three-quarter shots. This is partly because we all have a hard time visually distinguishing poses depending on how the image is cropped. You can tell that the image in Figure 7.4 is a lying pose, because there is a pillow in-frame, which lets the audience know that this image was taken in a bedroom. This pose is very similar to the pose in Figure 7.2 , but the focus is more on her face and not her figure.
FIGURE 7.4
Posing a subject with her arms together can broaden the appearance of her shoulders, but when done correctly, this pose can be used strategically to thin out the shoulders in-frame. For instance, in the image in Figure 7.5 , the subject’s arms are strategically placed to slightly block off her left shoulder, which makes them look thinner in-frame compared to keeping them out of the frame. Her arms also create a beautiful leading line back to her face, and the audience’s eyes navigate back to her eyes. The trick to making this pose work is to be sure that your subject is relaxed, as any tension in her shoulders will make her look uncomfortable.
Photographing subjects on their back, like in Figure 7.1 , isn’t always flattering with every woman, because it can create a double chin and also make the subject look wider in-frame. In the image in Figure 7.6 , my subject is placed on her back, but I’m photographing her slightly over her shoulder. Her hand is placed softly over her stomach. Her left arm is then placed behind her head in order to prop it up slightly about an inch off the bed so that the skin under her neck isn’t bunched under.
FIGURE 7.5
FIGURE 7.6
FIGURE 7.7
As I mentioned with Figure 7.4 , you don’t have to show a full-length image to know that it’s a lying pose. The image in Figure 7.7 is a very simple pose with a lot of emotion. The subject is placed lying down with her back on the bed and a pillow wedged under her right shoulder out of frame to prop her up. Her left hand is placed softly on her face, and her right hand is placed over her body so that her right hand is on her left wrist. This creates a well-defined bust.
The poses in Figure 7.3 and Figure 7.8 are taken from the same angle but at different heights. The subject’s legs are not flat; her top leg is slightly crossed over the bottom leg to create the illusion of curve. The weight of her body is being held up by her left elbow, which is placed parallel to her body. Her right arm is then placed close to her body to better define her bust.
FIGURE 7.8
