Know Your Angles

As a model, you need to know what angles flatter your face and your body the best. You can figure some of this out by working with a mirror, but you can only see yourself from your own eyes point of view. A camera is going to be able to see you from many different angles.

Lieren seemed to know what would work with her body. She kept her body in a variety of angles and poses that flattered her already great shape.

You can notice her poses here, giving a sideways angle to the camera. This slight twist for her works, it makes her torso seem even more slim and shows off a very flat abdomen.  Twisting the torso does not work for all girls because some bodies start showing ripples in the waist. You should be aware of things like that and how your body reacts to bending in different ways.

Here, Lieren is doing two things, both a bit subtle, but both adding to her beauty. First she is bent very slightly to her right which keeps her from making a static straight and boring vertical line with her body. Second, she is turned with her left side slightly away from the camera and from the light. This lets her show that great abdomen, but lets the light create slight shadows that help give definition to her tummy. It also flatters her shape, making her look more slender.

Here Lieren has her hip cocked which creates a visually interesting, if slight "S" shape to her body. It stretched out the line on the left side of her body and creates a flattering curve on her right.

I am always amazed how many models never think to shoot with their back to the camera. While it may not be the angle you want all the time, it can be flattering and give you some variety.

By being slightly higher than the camera and with a bit of a turn back to the camera, Lieren flatters her butt and legs here. The bit of twist again helps diminish the size of the torso.

A model should be aware of how the camera is going to see her body. If you are a newer model, you may not have a photographer who understands or sees these things, so you need to learn it for yourself. Even with an experienced photographer, this knowledge will make your shoots more productive and save time.

After every shoot, go back and look at the images and see what worked for your particular body.

More of Lieren here.

Understanding Your Body

 Models need to understand their body. We all see images of amazing looking models and marvel at how good the model looks. They seem flawless. The fact is that everybody shape and type has drawbacks. Understanding what is great about your body as a model will help you find poses that accentuate the grat parts of your body and hide or ignore the "flaws"


Kira understood a lot about her waist and her butt. While she looks good from any angle, there were some angles that just looked better.

Spending time in front of a mirror will help you find some of those angles, but not all of them. You can't see yourself from all the angles a camera can. So as you work on your portfolio, notice which camera angles flatter you. The more you know the better you can control what the camera sees.