Posing Tips with Professional Model, Soli Woodward

After sixteen photo shoots with my supermodel friend, Soli Woodward, I figured it was time to have her help me share some posing tips! Soli has modeled professionally since she was 16 years old and was signed with SMG Models in Seattle for several years before switching career paths. She was a rider in the 2024 Wonderwest by Boot Barn Fashion Show, she modeled for Pokemon, and was just in a short film called ‘Cathexis,’ filmed by Charlie Voorhis. She’s been published in several magazines, including Shuba, RockN W Report, Solstice, Alice, Wedding Sparrow, and more!

My favorite part about Soli: she’s a horse girl and truly one of the best riders I’ve ever met. She can hop on any horse and immediately connect with them. Soli’s aunt, Cyd, taught her how to ride when she was 10 years old, on a big back Missouri Fox Trotter named Abbey. Soon, Cyd introduced her to Starla at Stardust Ranch in Rock Island, WA, and she’s been there ever since. Alongside her in these photos are her two mustang geldings, two of the sweetest boys and best models!

Since joining the US Army in 2022, modeling has taken a little bit of a back seat but she will always be my favorite model and I’m so grateful our mutual photographer friend connected us in 2019 and gave me another lifelong friend!

Confidence Building

I asked Soli what helped her feel more confident in front of the camera when she was starting out. She said making conversation with the people on set really helps calm her nerves and feel more relaxed. Getting to know the people she’s working with makes her loosen up and feel more comfortable, which naturally helps boost your confidence! She also said, “Some of the photographers I’ve worked with are my biggest hype-people, it makes it more fun and is definitely a confidence boost!” I know from my experience as a photographer, I will see a really big change in confidence within the first 10 minutes for most people. Once we start shooting, the nerves seem to fade away, and you can just be in the moment with your horse.

Rookie Mistakes

Next, I was curious what mistakes Soli found herself making when she first started modeling, and how she fixed them. Her response was something that makes total sense- most people, when they get in front of the camera feel like they need to lock eyes on the lens for the whole time. Soli found herself doing exactly this and also struggled getting a good serious face. She quickly realized that she could look off of the camera and found that some of her favorite photos in her portfolio were of her not looking at the camera. She does have an incredible side profile!

Her other mistake was not having enough movement in her poses. She realized that if she felt stiff, the photos probably looked stiff! So, adding some movement really helps add a more natural and relaxed feel to the images. Movement is usually an easy thing to add in when you have a large animal with its own brain and ideas... which is one of Soli’s favorite things about modeling with her horses. She loves that they can be used as a prop, horses are always giving your hands something to do! You can interact with them, lean on them, walk with them, etc. And for the exact same reason that she loves modeling with horses, she also finds it challenging when what you have in mind is NOT what the horse has in mind. A flexible, patient, and go-with-the flow attitude is always required (from the model and photographer) when dealing with horses.

Soli’s 5 Quick Posing Tips

1. Move around! Don’t stay in the same pose for more than a few photos.

2. Know that there’s going to be bloopers. Don’t be afraid to try something new even if it may feel out of your comfort zone at first. Who knows, the photographer may even like the outcome more than the original idea!

3. Don’t always look at the camera. Look past it, down, side to side, etc. Subtle movements can add a lot of variety.

4. Never stand straight-on to the camera. Shift your weight in your hips, knees, and shoulders, add a bend in your arms, play with your hair, bend your leg, just keep moving around in fluid motions to bring more life to the photos.

5. Have fun! You can tell how someone feels through images.

Mastering Expressions: The Model Face

Soli is truly the master of the serious model face! I asked her for tips on how to get on her level… of course, other than being naturally stunning with all the perfect facial features. Steal her step-by-step on the serious face:

1. Take a deep breath in

2. Look away

3. Turn slowly to the camera while exhaling and relaxing into a serious, yet slightly soft model face

4. Then switch it up by slightly parting your lips, tightening your lower eyelids, softening your upper eyelids, looking back away from the camera, etc.

Soli’s technique helps give you that “caught in the moment” look and feel, without having too stern of a serious face.

Mastering Expressions: A Genuine Smile

One thing that I personally struggle with is getting a good, genuine smile. A smile that’s not forced and one that you can feel the emotion through the image! Soli’s response was, “I feel like I always have a lot of fun at my shoots, so it’s harder not to smile! But one technique I’ve found to work, as funny as it might sound, is if you try to fake laugh, you’ll usually feel silly and end up actually laughing” revealing a true, genuine smile.

I’m so grateful to Soli for sharing her posing secrets with us! As an equine photographer, I approach posing for my models and clients in a flexible way- I’ll always be directing and guiding, but some of the best photos come from candid moments. We can have general “rules” and expectations, but at the end of the day, the horse will be the decision maker on a lot of the big aspects of posing! Luckily, one of Soli’s top tips is to keep moving!