Category: Photography Technique

Definition: Photography framed from approximately the waist up, showing the upper body, arms, and head. Balances showing outfit context while maintaining detail visibility, commonly used for tops, outerwear, and upper-body accessories.

Why It Matters: Provides more context than headshots while maintaining detail; efficient for showcasing tops and jackets; allows gesture and pose variation; shows upper body fit and proportion; requires less full-body composition complexity.

Use Cases: Shirt and blouse photography, jacket and outerwear, upper body accessories, showing sleeve details, demonstrating fit through torso, lifestyle content, social media posts.

Example of Real Use Case: A workwear clothing brand uses half-body shots for their entire collection of blazers and dress shirts, allowing them to capture 3x more products per shoot day compared to full-length shots while still showing critical fit and styling details.

Software/Service: Standard photography equipment, medium focal length lenses (50-85mm), portrait lighting, ai photoshoot

Common Issues: Awkward framing cutting at joints, difficulty deciding where to crop, inconsistent framing between shots, limited styling opportunity, doesn't show complete outfit.

Do's and Don'ts:

• ✓ Do frame consistently (at waist or hip level)

• ✓ Do show both arms when relevant

• ✓ Do maintain natural posture

• ✓ Do ensure product details are clearly visible

• ✗ Don't crop at joints (elbows, wrists)

• ✗ Don't use for products where lower body is important

• ✗ Don't ignore hand and arm positioning

Related Terms: Headshot, Full-Length Shot, On-Model Photography, E-commerce Photography, Framing

Also Known As: Upper Body Shot, Waist-Up Shot, Torso Shot