A Portrait Lesson: Posing Tall Women with Shorter Men

It’s the perfect image to share on Throwback Thursday, because there’s also a lesson in posing. The year is 1998 and Don Blair and I are working on what would become my first co-authored book. Don Blair’s Guide to Lighting and Posing Body Parts was an instant hit. We covered most of Mother Nature’s challenges in posing, then gave photographers Don’s solutions.

The image above is one of my favorites. Every photographer has ideas about how to pose a tall groom with a short bride, but what happens when it’s the reverse and she’s taller than he is? Well, once again, “Big Daddy” had some fun with this one. He sat the male subject down and brought her in behind him. The image is contemporary and you’d never know she was close to a foot taller than he was!

There’s more to this backstory though. 

We photographed all the poses in the book using models from Las Vegas. Why? Because we wanted to launch it in Las Vegas at WPPI in 1999. We wanted to do a program with demonstrations right from the book. Plus, anyone ordering the book could actually pick it up at the convention the day after our program. 

I wish I remembered the names of our two subjects above. I think he was in real estate and she was a waitress at one of the strip’s hottest bars. Our male subject wanted to go on the road with us and be our professional model and spokesman for a whole series of him posing with tall beautiful women! LOL

So, it’s Throwback Thursday and an opportunity for you to have some fun with images from your past. Find a few and share them on your blog. They can help to make the point about the importance of photographs, and the fact that time never slows down.

Happy Throwback Thursday!

NOTE: We recently reprinted the book and it’s available through Marathon Press. The content is still 100% valid in helping to create flattering portraits. In fact, for many years PPA has had it on their suggested reading list for artists studying for their certification. Just call Marathon to place your order, 1-800/228.0629.