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Rangefinder Magazine
July 2004

A Thumbnail Approach to Lighting and Posing by Terry Deglau

Situation:
A canyon is a deep hole in the afternoon. The light from the sky is high and dark blue giving the scene cool blue light in a straight down direction—not the best light for a portrait subject. Adding umbrella light will light the entire scene and eliminate the wonderful lighting patterns on the stone and brush. A reflector will only add more of that cool blue light to the subject. A Norman Touch of Warmth reflector will help warm the subject, but only moderately.

Solution:
Use a DP320 Allure Norman Light with a 22-inch softbox on the high light side of the subject.
It has a full-power, 1⁄2-power and 1⁄4-power switch for getting just the right amount of light repeatedly.

One-fourth power was used in this photograph with a four-inch magenta warming gel added to give warmth to the flash.

You can see the reflection of the blue sky in the highlights of the black leather slacks.

Posing:
A new approach to posing can bring excitement to the subject, spontaneity to the image and a feeling of dynamic movement to the photograph. Normally, in the studio portrait photographers will follow these steps:
1. Pose the subject.
2. Set the lights.
3. Make some exposure readings.
4. Stand back and survey the subject; make some minor clothing adjustments.
5. Move the camera, and check the focus.
6. Call for the expression, and finally, make the exposure.

Fashion Photographer Sequence:
All these steps are vital; all are essential, but consider the subject. The pose started to sag moments after the subject was positioned. Maybe the process is out of sequence. Consider the fashion photographer’s sequence—it’s the same series of events, just in a different order.
1. Stand back and survey the subject, make some minor clothing adjustments in the dressing room.
2. Set the lights.
3. Make some exposure readings.
4. Move the camera, and set the focus area for the model to work in.
5. Show the model where their pose will be photographed. Move and turn into the light.
6. Call for the expression, and finally, make the exposure.

Terry Deglau’s Somewhere-in-the-Middle Posing and Lighting Approach:
1. Put the subject in position, and build the pose.
a) Subject stands tall—firmly on two feet, facing you.
b) Move weight to back foot. Position show foot; tilt knee for feeling of movement.
c) Rotate hips for flow of pose.
d) Turn shoulders, back shoulder should be lower than front shoulder.
e) Lean body. (In this photograph, the subject is at least six inches from the rocks she is leaning against, when she stands erect on two feet.)
f) Position hands.
g) Turn and tilt head.

2. Place the lights: DP320 Allure AC/DC Norman Light with a 22-inch softbox at 1⁄4 power, left of camera for narrow lighting.

3. Place camera, and crop for area to photograph.

4. Check final exposure.

5. Now you are ready to start photographing. Talk to your subject. Start at beginning position: “Turn this way, weight on your left foot. Point the right foot to me. Bend your knee. Lean to the rock, head tilt; turn your head this way!” Use your hands to help direct head tilt and turns.

6. Call for the expression, remember: your smile tells your subjects how much smile you want from them!

7. Make four or five exposures using this same complete procedure.

8. After you’re sure you have this one, change pose, camera position, 3⁄4 pose, head and shoulder, lighting, and finally location and clothing.

Terry Deglau is the former manager of trade relations for portrait photographers at Eastman Kodak Company and a long-time portrait photographer. He currently owns his own business, Terry Deglau & Associates, in Summerfield, FL. He can be reached at: terry@terrydeglau.com/.

Opposite page: An example of Terry Deglau’s unique posing strategy: A canyon is a deep hole in the afternoon. The light from the sky is high and dark blue giving the scene blue cool light in a straight down direction. This is not the best light for a portrait. Terry used a DP320 Allure Norman Light with a 22-inch softbox on the highlight side of the subject. The additional lighting wipes out the overhead canyon light. The DP320 has full-power, 1⁄2-power and 1⁄4-power settings. For this image, a 1⁄4-power setting was used with a four-inch magenta warming gel added to give warmth to the flash. You can still see the reflection of the blue sky in the highlights of the black leather slacks. Terry used the above-described posing strategy to create this gorgeous portrait.