I asked Grace to go stand in the pool of light being cast on the floor by the window, and I had her face the window so that the front of her body would be illuminated and clear even if other parts of her body fell into shadow. I always prefer my initial directions to my clients to be somewhat subjective, because everyone naturally has a slightly different way of making certain movements or interpreting directions. I think this helps to keep any directions or posing to look natural and believable, and it helps my clients to look like themselves in their portraits. From there, I can always narrow in and get more specific with my directions until I achieve what I’m after. I asked her to turn her face slightly toward me so that I could see all of her features. I didn’t want her in strict profile because that felt a little too sterile to me, especially considering the high contrast caused by the harsh lighting. From there, I asked her to create some subtle, continuous motion with her arms to highlight the unique shape of her sleeves, and to make the image feel more natural and fluid. She initially began by bringing her arms up in front of her chest in controlled, alternating movements, but I asked her to get a little more uncontrolled, release all tension from her arms and hands and to really focus on making them limp and swinging them up high so the light would catch her hand and sleeve. I believe I asked her to think of “dancer hands” in respect to how she was holding her fingers, and that helped to communicate the concept to her. I also was consistently affirming her and telling her when she was following my directions correctly so she knew what she was doing was right and to keep doing it, even if she felt silly.