Discover the secrets to striking model-worthy poses while seated! In this blog post, I’ll share five invaluable tips and techniques for perfecting your chair posing game. From creative pose ideas to essential guidance on body alignment, leg placement, and hand positioning, you’ll learn how to effortlessly exude elegance and avoid any awkward moments in front of the camera. Let’s kick things off with the fundamentals to unlock your photogenic potential!

LEAN FORWARD: Opting to lean forward in sitting poses can work wonders for your photos. By positioning your body slightly closer to the camera, you create the illusion of a slimmer frame while drawing attention to your face. Remember to maintain good posture by pulling your shoulders back and down, and gently extending your chin forward. This technique not only enhances your overall appearance but also adds a touch of elegance to your seated stance.

ARCH YOUR BACK: Embracing a subtle arch in the back can beautifully accentuate your body’s natural curves. When seated on the edge of a chair, gently arch your lower back and lift your chest slightly. This pose not only enhances your silhouette but also radiates confidence, making it perfect for both portraits and maternity photos. By gracefully sculpting your posture, you’ll capture a striking and empowered presence in every shot.

DROP YOUR SHOULDERS: Direct your attention to dropping your shoulders down and gently pulling them back. This simple adjustment promotes an open and confident posture, ensuring that tension is relieved from the upper body. By maintaining this relaxed stance, you’ll exude ease and poise, enhancing the overall appeal of your pose in any setting

FEET ON TOES: To achieve an elongated and flattering leg posture, try placing your feet on your toes or pointing them slightly. This technique creates a subtle lengthening effect, accentuating the lines of your body, particularly when wearing tight pants or stockings. By elongating your legs in this way, you’ll enhance the overall symmetry and elegance of your pose, resulting in a more visually appealing composition.

RELAXED HANDS: Maintain a relaxed and natural hand posture to enhance the fluidity of your pose. Avoid stiffness by lightly resting your hands on the arms of the chair, gently overlapping or interlacing your fingers, or softly placing one hand on your belly for maternity shoots. Steer clear of tensing your fingers or making a fist, as this can detract from the overall ease and gracefulness of your pose. By keeping your hands relaxed and subtly positioned, you’ll exude effortless elegance and confidence in every frame.

Here are some shots inspired by lighting set ups by Lindsay Adler…. This set up requires 3 flashes and red backdrop. There are 3 different modifiers (below you will find the lighting chart with location of all the lights):

• backdrop light with line patterns was created with BFP optical snoot from Godox with gobo (you can replace it with any other gobo pattern such as hearts, leaves or dots)
• beauty dish was used as key light
• Reflector with bar doors was used to fill the shadows with magenta color

I put together this outfit using just two pieces: a cute pink bodysuit and a lovely pink bow top, both from AR Backdrops. And guess what? The sunglasses I’m rocking? I snagged them on Allie for just 2 euros! This outfit shows off my knack for mixing and matching pieces to create a standout look. It’s all about combining different elements to make something unique and eye-catching. So next time you’re putting together an outfit, don’t be afraid to get creative and mix things up!

In every setup, I make it a point to explore a range of poses to capture the essence of versatility. Whether it’s striking full-body shots that showcase the entirety of the ensemble or intimate close-ups that highlight intricate details, I aim to offer a diverse array of poses in each session. By doing so, I not only ensure that every aspect of the model and outfit is showcased but also deliver a portfolio that boasts versatility and depth.

SCREENSHOT THE PHOTOS FOR YOUR NEXT PHOTOSHOOT:

Try a variety of angles for the sunglasses to see which one best suits the form of your face and the emotion you want the picture to convey. Placing them atop your head can provide a more carefree, laid-back feel, while tilting them slightly downward can impart a sense of mystery or refinement. Make the model laugh, smile, jump or dance. What helps me to create a good and cheerful mood is proper music 🙂

Play with Reflections: Make use of the sunglasses’ reflective surfaces to give the picture more visual appeal. Try moving the camera and yourself in different ways to get interesting reflections of the surrounding environment, the photographer, or even your own face.

Here is a chart depicting the lighting setup I used for each shoot. I played with the amount of lights and angles to get the best look so do not hesitate to experiment and try new set ups to get the best result in your studio.

AND IF YOU WANT TO LEARN MORE WITH ME – let me invite you to my maternity and portrait workshops. List of available locations can be found here: MATERNITY AND PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHY MASTERCLASS WITH Marta Ponsko.

The streaks of light, light dots, the haze… this Hollywood movie style was created fully in camera. It was achieved with 3 lights and a bit of fog from fog machine.

The lighting strikes are produced by 2 strip boxes – they were upgraded with DYI felt covers. So here are some tips, how to make them by yourself (you can buy them as well if you do not have time to do them yourself…).

WHAT YOU NEED is a piece of black fabric at leat 10 cm longer and wider than the size of your strip box. I selected black felt because it is rigid and does not change shape, it is much easier to attach it to the strip box. The only disadvantage of using felt is that all the dust and hair attaches to it easily.

I cut out 4 circles with a diameter of 16 cm. With 16 cm distance between each.

To mount the felt fabric on the strip box, I used velcro – or just one piece of velcro, (cause felt sticks to it easily). The velcro was attached to strip box with hot glue.

Attach your felt overlay on the strip box and…. enjoy experimenting with studio light!

AND IF YOU WANT TO LEARN MORE WITH ME – let me invite you to my maternity and portrait workshops. List of available locations can be found here: MATERNITY AND PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHY MASTERCLASS WITH Marta Ponsko.

2024 WILL BE INTENSE – year of many new opportunities to meet and have some creating fun together. You can meet me on numerous conferences and exhibitions. Here you can find a list of conferences and events with links to these events:

SUGAR&KIDS, SPAIN, VALENCIA, JANUARY 16-19.2024

This is second edition of the conference which gathers Spanish speaking photographers in Valencia. The topics and presentations will be focused on family, children, maternity and newborn photography and portrait.

There are two types of tickets available here:

• Conference pass or online ticket for conference broadcast – BOOK HERE

• Full day MATERNITY MASTERCLASS – BOOK HERE

CAPTA CONGRESO, PORTUGAL, LISBON, FEBRUARY 5-7, 2024

Family photography conference for portugesee photographers.

• Conference pass – BOOK HERE

• Full day MATERNITY MASTERCLASS – BOOK HERE

La fiera della Fotografia, ITALY, NAPLES, MARCH 22-24, 2024

• Trade Fair pass – BOOK HERE
• FULL DAY MATERNITY MASTERCLASS IN NAPLES – BOOK HERE

NEWBORN FEST, ESTONIA, TALLINN, MAY 10-11, 2024

• NEWBORN, BABIES AND MATERNITY PHOTOGRAPHY FESTIVAL PASS – BOOK HERE
• FULL DAY MATERNITY MASTERCLASS – BOOK HERE

CLICK LIVE, UK, COVENTRY, JUNE 23-25, 2024

An immersive, interactive and innovative expo, open to all amateur, pro-enthusiast and professional photographers.

• PHOTOGRAPHY TRADE SHOW – BOOK HERE
• FULL DAY MATERNITY MASTERCLASS – AVAILABLE SOON

When jewellery is not enough… Adding sparkle to the maternity photoshoot…

I have always refrained from gold flakes set ups. I did not have any idea how to attach them so the application would not take too long and the flakes would stay on the skin and most of all it would be easy to remove them after the maternity session. It has never been my favourite styling – because I was struggling with gold flying everywhere in the studio, it sticking to the floor, outfits and camera…

It was discouraging until I found an efficient way to deal with all the above problems. Let’s start with answering a few key questions regarding using gold leaf flakes during maternity photoshoot.

HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO CREATE GOLD LAYER FROM GOLD FLAKES? Most of the poses that I do when posing with golden flakes attached to the skin are side poses or poses where only one leg and / or arm is exposed. So I start with determining how much skin should be covered with gold. I cover part of the belly, chest, neck, arm and leg to get nice effect and a variety of poses. It usually takes up to 20 minutes to have everything covered and the gold layer structured. Once you attach the gold flakes – you need to make nice cracks.

Remember that retouching skin between the flakes might be a nightmare, so make sure you cover all the potentially difficult areas with gold.

WHAT TO USE TO ATTACH GOLD FLAKES TO THE SKIN? The best glue for the gold flakes is body oil. I ask the model to rub the oil gently into the body, but leaving rather thick layer of oil on the skin (because part of it will be quickly absorbed by the skin). If the body oil layer is too thin, the flakes will start to fall off quickly and you will have them everywhere in your studio (and believe me, it is not easy to get rid of them from the floor).

HOW TO REMOVE THE GOLD FLAKES FROM THE BODY? If the layer of the oil is thick enough – removing the gold will be easy. Just rub the skin with tissues. Do not try to remove them under the shower – the gold will clog the drain. Do not put clothes on the skin covered in gold.

WHERE TO BUY THE GOLD FLAKES? I buy them in local art store such as this one in Poland, you can find it as SZLAGMETAL. Search on amazon for: Gold Foil Paper, Gold Leaf Flakes Gold Foil Flakes Foil Sheets for Crafts – and choose the big leafs

I hope you enjoyed those tips 🙂