Reddit mentions of Study of Pose: 1,000 Poses by Coco Rocha

Coco Rocha is one of my favorite models. She was an Irish dancer before going into modeling at a young age (16 I believe) so her background in dance helps her incredibly in her modeling! She created and modeled for her book of hundreds (if not ~1000) unique poses meant for artists

Edit: Rocha was an Irish Dancer, not a ballerina.

Edit: For those of you interested in the Study of Pose book: https://www.amazon.com/Study-Pose-Poses-Coco-Rocha/dp/006232814X

I was accurate, she did capture 1000 poses for this book.

http://www.amazon.com/Study-Pose-Poses-Coco-Rocha/dp/006232814X

You can pre order it there.

is 1000 poses by Coco Rocha. Which is really 100000 photos, as they were all taken in a rig with 100 dslrs in it.

I have to stabilize and output all 1000 of those starting tomorrow. Not at all excited.

This is an interesting question. Please take with a grain of salt.

Depending on how big the shoot mostly dictates how I work with directing the model. Say, if it's on a small shoot for a magazine publication on location. I'll pick a place I find interesting, and then just go. I really like to take my time to discover a new environment. It's refreshing to not know what you might stumble upon on the next corner. I soak it in, get to know the subject, and work with them on finding what about the place inspires us and having it speak in the work. On a big shoot, everything is more planned out to the number of outfits, what you're selling, the general places in the location, etc.

Some models don't need direction from me. They understand the vibes from the simple mood board and the type of music playing on set. They can work their environment and props. I really only feed them suggestions, or i'll say STOP! RIGHT THERE! And the model just knows to work in slight movements rather than bigger ones. Those are great models. Most importantly, they're imaginative individuals.

Other models need more communication. They don't know what to do. They've ran through their go-to poses and looks and when you tell them to stand in front of this wall, they're deer in headlights. So I try to find ways to help communicate the idea I'm trying to get across. Stories, words, anything. I try to get their mind in an atmosphere where they can bounce ideas and not feel stupid about it. You, as a photographer, need to have some idea of what you're trying to capture in that moment. If you don't, how will your subject?

A story, Ryan McGinley had to direct 20 models and make it look like they were a big group of friends. He just told them to play ring around the rosie, and high five each other and just do silly things. Cedric Buchet treats music as his religion on set. It needs to be always on. He believes it creates the vibes he needs.

Every photographer will find ways to get what they want, without telling them what they want. It'll be more genuine, and more importantly, fun.

My approach and the influence I've been exposed to believe not to have people pose. Now there's nothing wrong about posing. I rather just have them always move, and my job as the photographer to click the shutter and capture that moment. A pose gives you 1 photograph. Moving gives you like a thousand. It's worked for me.

But if you're set on posing, this book might give you some ideas. It just recently came out.

http://www.amazon.com/Study-Pose-Poses-Coco-Rocha/dp/006232814X/ref=zg_bs_2030_1

Coco Rocha is pretty damn good at poses:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpocKl5ncGk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfl5ZCUgQYM

SHORT ANSWER: Inspire the subject, have them move, snap more. You and your wife need to communicate your collective ideas across.

Hope this helps.

As far as poses...it depends on the subject & what you're going for. If I'm doing a corporate head shot, that's very different than a model test. Keep things natural. I don't do a lot of "posing". I have them move around a lot during model tests. For "standard" portraits, have them sit up straight and look at their face. You can have them tilt their chin up/down or head to the side a bit as necessary.

For lighting...everything in my model tests is one big light. Usually in a giant softbox or octobox with a strobe. I'm a big fan of Rembrandt or clamshell lighting & I adjust from there. I also like using huge windows as a light source because it's soft and pretty.

But in general: keep things upbeat. Be engaging, be polite, be professional. Getting the model to connect with you is just as important as the technical stuff because if they're not into YOU as a person, it will show on camera.

Edit: Coco Rocha just put out an incredible posing book. She's one of the best in the business. http://www.amazon.com/Study-Pose-Poses-Coco-Rocha/dp/006232814X