Composition and Lighting for Pole Pictures

If you want to learn how to take super duper pole pictures, you’re in the right place!

In Part 1 you learnt how to look good on the pole, to be mindful of the best angles for any given trick, the importance of posing for your body type, and a few methods for avoiding the very unflattering ‘pole face’.

But that’s only half the story! The rest is up to the photographer.

In this article I will discuss the fundamentals of composition and lighting, and how they apply to your pole pictures..

Let’s go…

1.   The Rule of Thirds

(How to frame a picture)

The “rule of thirds” is a guide to help you achieve better composition for your photo. It’s used in photography, videography, painting, design and many other visual arts. For every picture you take, imagine the screen is divided into three parts horizontally, or three parts vertically (or both, making a grid of nine squares.)

The idea is this: Your main subject should NOT be in the center of the image, but instead should sit mostly in one or two of these ‘thirds’.

Why? Because this alignment creates a much more visually interesting picture.

When composing a picture, you need to consider “looking room” (also known as “lead room” or “nose room”). Basically, this means that the direction in which someone is looking, moving, talking or walking should be empty. Why? Because the human eye expects a bit of extra room to be left in front objects, so that it looks as if the person has ‘somewhere to look’ or the object ‘somewhere to go’. For example, you should not compose the picture in such a way that the subject appears to be ‘looking’ into very edge of the frame while there is heaps of space behind their head, as this can make it look cramped, and awkward.

Read more about composition, and see examples of rule of third pics on the digital photography school’s website.

What does this mean for pole pics?

When taking a photo of a pole move, you need to make sure your body is facing into the empty and final third.

It can be tricky at first to get this right, because your eyes might be looking one way, but your extended leg moving the other way. Which should be given lead room? Certainly not both, otherwise you’d be placing the subject in the middle! Don’t worry about this, just keep experimenting and you will soon get the hang of it.

And remember, this is about creative composition for visual effect. That means all “rules” are essentially guidelines and can be broken if you know what you’re up to!

Other things to take into account include symmetry and headroom, (which is similar to looking room, except it’s about amount of space above the person’s head).

Of course, this is a lot to think about when you’re trying to take a picture of yourself – which is why I recommend taking a slightly wider (or further away) shot, and then using your chosen image editing program to crop the picture.  This way you can get the composition the way you like it later and can experiment with a few different variations too.

I’ll be talking more about image editing for pole in a future blog post, so stay tuned!

2.   Lighting

The most favourable situation is to have lights coming from all directions, or to have reflectors (like the professionals use) to balance the light out evenly. Obviously, such a set-up would usually be expensive and time-consuming to say the least.

We can’t all have the luxury of a large studio with multiple lighting options.

So here are some tips to help you use whatever light you have to your advantage, and some common amateur mistakes to avoid.

Tips

• Look at other people’s photos (pole or non-pole) that are not flattering. Where is the light coming from? Does it cast shadows that accentuate flaws, such a protruding stomach, or cellulite? (Often light from directly overhead is a big no-no.)
• Get as much light as you can – lots of desk lamps will do.Even if you are going for subtle mood lighting, make sure there is still enough light that the picture doesn’t turn out murky.
• Experiment with putting lights in different areas. See how it changes the mood of the picture, or even your figure!
• If you want to play with your photo in an image editing program, you will need a well lit, and clean photo.
• Lighting can be manipulated in post processing (when you edit the image afterwards) too, but you’ll probably need to look at a few tutorials first.

What to Avoid

• Light coming from directly above you, as this will give you shadows under your eyes like a panda
• Lighting that creates stark shadows across the body (except, of course, where this is done deliberately for artistic effect)
• Underexposure (photo turns out dark, or murky, or colours are hard to distinguish). This is usually caused by backlighting. This is when your main source of light is behind the subject (a common mistake is standing in front of a window). While this can sometimes create a cool silhouette effect, in most cases, you just ends up with a low-quality, underexposed image.
• Overexposure (detail is lost due to parts of the image looking ‘blown out’, for example your leg might be hard to distinguish from the wall because the image is so bright). This is often caused by using the flash too close to the subject.

3.   Perspective

Persepctive is another very important thing to consider when composing a photograph.

A good rule of thumb is: Don’t shoot only at eye level.

Eighty pictures from the same height and same distance will be dead boring, no matter what.

So experiment with levels and angles. For example:

• Get down on your knees and point the camera up a little.
• Lie down your stomach and take the shot from as low as you possibly can.
• Climb on a chair or table and get some higher angle shots
• Tilt the camera 45 degrees, so the image is lopsided
• Take pictures from other corners of the room.
• Even just raising your arms above your head, or leaning back in a lunge position can change the height of the camera enough to give the image a touch of something different.

Here’s a few examples of pole pictures taken from slightly unusual angles:

In summary:

• Your subject should almost always be off-center in the frame
• Make sure the subject has enough looking room and head room (and remember, in the case of pole pictures, it may not always be the eyes that are ‘looking’, it could be limbs too!)
• Avoid dimly lit photos, unless you have a professional camera that can deal with low lighting
• Avoid harsh overhead lighting (fluorescent lights are especially unforgiving).
• Consider bringing all your lamps into your pole room to create an even spread of light. Perhaps throw fabric over some to create different colours and moods.
• Unless you are trying to create a silhouette, do not position the subject in front of the light source.
• Experiment with higher and lower angle pictures, over-the-shoulder pictures, pictures taken through a window or doorway, etc.

Now – all you need is practice!

P.S. Are there any experienced or budding photographers ready? I’d love to know: What are your favourite tips for producing pole pics that pack a punch?

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