10.13.09
At last nights professional photography guild meeting in Abilene, someone asked me if I pose the hands in my shots. It is a common question and so I’ll share that info on here.
The short answer is YES, I pose the hands and fingers in all my portraits. I usually call this “fine tuning” a pose. That info is mentioned in our Posing Guide with an explanation of how and when to do it to get the most out of your pose.
The shot above is an example from our sister photography boutique, Abilene Boudoir. When your subject is an in awesome pose and you neglect the fingers, wrists, and hands it becomes a glaringly obvious defect in your portrait.
I learned this while studying art in New York. We often had assignments of drawing or painting hands. After a while it seemed redundant, but it is something that many artists struggle with. My portfolio was full of hands and I thought nothing of it…until a trip to the city.
While visiting art schools in Manhattan (aka “the city”), several professors of fine art told me that the ability to draw/ paint the human hands is a fine skill. I had one master artist actually look bereft while examining a 6 foot painting of a flower girl I had created because her hands were covered by her bouquet. I thought drawing faces superseded hands at that point in time and was kinda bummed because she was my favorite piece in my portfolio. I quickly pulled out a pencil drawing of my own hands, and the 3 master artists in the room swarmed over the drawing and went nuts. Needless to say, they swooned over the hands drawing for a really long time.
What did I learn from that? HANDS ARE IMPORTANT. Even if you don’t get why - HANDS ARE IMPORTANT. Sometimes photographers think I just got lucky and the girls fingers just curled perfectly and were spaced nicely, with the perfect twist at her wrist. That’s not the case.
If you want a good pose, you make it. BTW - I know many photogs are anti-pose, but honestly, a good pose does NOT look posed. A crappy pose looks posed…and crappy. When you become good at posing, your poses look natural. The hands are part of what is making your pose look natural.
And if you are a fine art studio, I have one very important piece of advice for you - HANDS ARE IMPORTANT. Artists look at hands. Just a fact of life. The sooner you learn to deal with it, the better.
I’ve also heard many new photographers say, There is just so much to remember! Hands, fingers, wrists, neck, eyes, legs, feet, ankles, hair…it just keeps going. And that is stuff you should be paying attention to in addition to their clothing, lighting, composition, exposure, etc. Yes, it is a lot to do and recall all at once.
And that my friends is why a good photographer is an artist. Photography is SO much more than clicking a button. It’s taking all the facets of what makes a piece of art good and weaving them together in a way that connects with your subject on an emotional level.
This is why your skill at posing hands shouldn’t suck…you’ll miss the big picture - capturing the essence of your client.
To see more hand poses, check out our galleries at Belles Photography and Abilene Boudoir.
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