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Profile Posing and Lighting
By Jerry Interval
| P | Place wider side of face (inprofile) toward the camera. There are times when the narrower side may look better (e.g., high forehead, facial blemishes, etc.). |
| R | Rotate body so that either the front side or the back side of the upper body faces the camera. I usually prefer the back side. Black or very dark clothing helps to support the elegance of a profile. |
| O | Orient the front side or the back side of the body with a shoulder lean. Raise or lower the shoulder on the profile side of the body. Tilting the camera in a direction opposite the lean makes the lean even more dramatic. |
| F | Follow, or eyeball, a line from the bottom of the shoulder line, up through the neck, chin, lip, nose and hair line. As you eyeball the neckline, be sure there is no hair or clothing coming out from the opposite side of the head breaking up that smooth line. Make sure the chin and nose lines are sharply outlined. If too much of the white of the eyeball is showing (and that is the case most of the time), have the subject shift their eyes slightly so that, from profile position, the eye will appear normally positioned. Finally, turn the head away or near to the point where the eyelash from the opposite eye JUST appears from the nose line. |
| I | Illuminate with a split garlic light and a split main light or a Rembrandt main (bringing a sparkle to the near eye). |
| L | Lower the camera angle, thereby giving the profile height and dignity. |
| E | Expression: Use the eyes-open rule. The mouth pleasing without showing the teeth. I rarely do a smiling portrait. More on the serious side. |
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