Monte Zucker
In my opinion, the late Monte Zucker‘s name should never be far from the mind of any professional portrait photographer. Monte’s photographic gravitas is like the reputations of so many inspirational people whose fame and respect only grow larger when they are gone.
I have often talked and joked about Monte’s approach to posing people for portraits — he knew what he wanted. But the pose, while resulting in a classic portrait that looks completely natural, often feels really unnatural to the subject. It’s counter-intuitive.
So Monte would sometimes take matters into his own hands. He would put his camera down, approach the subject, grasp the neck and render a quick adjustment that resembled the work of an impatient chiropractor.
Joe Bruch
Of this technique, my friend and fellow Monte disciple, Master Photographer Joe Bruch recounts that after Monte administered the first ‘adjustment,’ the subject would most likely proactively assume the perfect pose should Monte begin to approach for the second time. (I would have opted for the adjustment).
Rod Menzies
Anyway, when director and acting coach Rod Menzies contacted me and asked if I could to do a favor for his friend and acupuncturist, Edward Jwa of the Toluca Wholeness Center, I jumped at the chance. Edward and his partner, Daniel Cho are well-respected in the Korean Community, but felt that a short video of their new Toluca Lake, California clinic produced in English could interest perspective Western clients who were perhaps unfamiliar with and might benefit from acupuncture and herbology.
At one point while making the video of Edward of Daniel as they were consulting in their office space, I felt Monte’s memory urging me to correct Daniel’s head position. After unsuccessfully verbalizing the correction, I decided to come forward from behind the Canon camera. I quickly approached Daniel and made the necessary ‘Monte Adjustment,’ as shown in the video clip below.
Now, the astute observer may notice that magic was in-the-air immediately after the adjustment, because my ‘chiropractic posing’ diploma mystically (and tastefully) appears, thereby appropriately augmenting the Toluca Wholeness Center’s waiting room wall:
Bill Leyden's Photog Blog 