Shooting someones back?

mehfesto2

Hey guys,

Ive a project for college on shooting the body. Ive found my model - a friend with a large tattoo upon his back. it's bloody impressive. He also has some on the right side of his neck.

My question is, how should I get him to pose? Arms out looks a tad mellow dramatic, and looking back over his shoulder is a bit feminine (and he's hard as nails, this chap). I was thinking arms folded, 3/4's turned.

The google searches I did only produced women models - and that one of morrissey for the NME. Im a bit lost, still!

Any suggestions would be great!

Dodgykeeper

What about if he is lifting two heavy Dumb Bells, if he is hard as nails i am presuming he has muscle definition and if you get him to lift the weights you will get some nice flexing!

smelltheglove

Did you think about posing him in the position he would have gotten the tatto done in, for example when I had my back tattooed I sat bent over to give the best canvas for the tattoist. It could work quite well with a black background and vibrant colours, the dumbell sounds cool too, I reckon the neck one would work well in the tattoing position also.

bullpost

I think with something like this theres a great opportunity to go for something a little different and less cliched.
I'd be inclined to inject some humour and get him to pose lifting a balloon or bunch of flowers while showcasing his muscles.

Dodgykeeper

bullpost wrote: »

I think with something like this theres a great opportunity to go for something a little different and less cliched.
I'd be inclined to inject some humour and get him to pose lifting a balloon or bunch of flowers while showcasing his muscles.

Are you suggesting my shot idea is cliched!

Like the idea of the bunch of flowers!

smash

bullpost wrote: »

I'd be inclined to inject some humour and get him to pose lifting a balloon or bunch of flowers while showcasing his muscles.

Yea, and a miniature dog under his other arm!

Nisio

a handstand !

mehfesto2

I really like the idea of the balloons. Its so bizarre it would contrast great with his down to earth personality.

I was thinking more about this, and am considering hands on the back of the head - elbows pointed straight up, straight on, with a dark background. something that would naturally stretch his muscles and look somewhat natural.

Curran

First thing I thought of was....


Might be hard to get his tatoo and the pose in....


Or this from, with something suitable in his hand....

PCPhoto

do a hdr pic of him with strong lighting ..... you could shoot him in a pair of jeans with a top draped down (hanging from the jeans - as if it was ripped off)....


or dramatic side-lights - and convert to B&W (kind of like a hedex advert or some pain killer type ad)

use as wide as possible and use some dramatic leading lines from the tatts....even press the wide into his skin.

or using a macro lens just catch some of the detail of the tattoo and make an abstract from the image (Diagonal crop...maybe)

thinking about the first idea (hdr) ...another suggestion - strong lighting from behind the subject to give a silhouette .... and thin light across the tattoo - not revealing it all but allowing the viewer to get a glimpse of it.

or a standard flex muscles pose and shoot from behind.

kumate_champ07

you could have him hanging from a bar by his hands, his back muscles will stretch out and shoulders will look defined too, maybe put some dangerous dogs underneath and have a steak wrapped to his feet!

Delorian

kumate_champ07 wrote: »

you could have him hanging from a bar by his hands, his back muscles will stretch out and shoulders will look defined too, maybe put some dangerous dogs underneath and have a steak wrapped to his feet!

Jeez we're getting very into this! Soon there'll be plot lines, back stories, villagers, a wronged widdow, etc.!

For what it's worth, I like the idea of several shots at various stages of a pull-up. Could you do a storyboard type affect?