Let’s be real, we all want to look amazing in the photos we are in right? And we all can benefit learning how to pose for photos to help us look amazing.

No one likes to see a post we’ve been tagged in and think “oh god, why?”

I’ve found that people automatically assume, when they don’t like themselves in photos,  it’s an issue that is permanent.

“I’m just not photogenic”

“The camera doesn’t like me”

“I don’t look good in photos” etc.

We make it a personal issue when it is really a posing and confidence issue. Which means you can learn how to pose for a photo alone or with a group using these simple tips!

With IG stories and branding photos and showing up as the face of your business, it includes lots of photos of yourself right?

We are all having the camera pointed to us. So you need to be happy and confident when that camera points your way.

 With these simple posing tips, you’ll understand how to pose for photos.

You’ll be able to show up in front of the camera with more confidence and, gasp, love and enjoy the photos of yourself.

It’s not rocket science, and I won’t tell you to pose like a Kardashian because how they pose is not the way normal people look good.

There is a difference to how someone who is super skinny and a model poses for the camera, and a normal size person does.

Learn how to pose for photos with these tips and you’ll love the photos of you in no time!

Posing Tip #1 

Adjust your weight so that your weight is on one leg.

Sounds so simple, but most people don’t do this when the camera comes out!

When you are relaxed and comfortable, people tend to place their weight onto one leg or the other and settle into their stance, but when people are being photographed, they stand straight up on both feet and look more rigid and tense.

So, settle into your stance, and put your weight onto one leg.

Which leg you may be wondering, and the depends on your body.

Test it out in the mirror. I find that it’s usually better to put the weight on the front leg rather than the back leg in most cases.

Posing Tip #2

Angle your feet 45° away from the camera.

We are our widest when we are faced directly at something, and no one likes feeling wide in a photo.

So turn your feet 45° from the camera.

It’s slimming just a little, without being 100% side profile.

Then make sure to put your weight on your front leg and settle into your hips!

Posing Tip #3

From the hip, lean forward by an inch or two.

When I want people to do this, I usually tell them to lean towards me from the hip just a little.

Like they are trying to hear me talk.

It moves your head towards the camera a little bit, elongating your neck (bye bye chins) and brings your face and you head slightly in front of your body.

The closer your head is to the camera the farther your body is, and the small your body appears.

You see people do this when they go Kardashian on you and practically bend half way down.

This is a crazy exaggeration, which makes people look silly instead of helping them.

When you do this trick, you literally bend forward at the hips by 1 to 3 inches, that’s all!

Posing Tip #4

Bend at the knees. The rule is, if it bends, bend it. But just slightly.

Bodies look stiff and awkward when they are perfectly straight.

The rule of thumb is to bend your knee and bend your elbow when you can. If it bends, then bend it! But only a little bit.

If you are following the tip from above of putting your weight on one leg, your other leg will automatically bend a little when you settle into that stance.

Then, end your elbow.

Usually people put their hands on their hips, but usually, that can look like you are trying too hard, and doesn’t usually look great.

If you have pants with pockets on, then put your thumb in your pocket. Not your entire hand, just the thumb.

This will naturally bend your elbows just a little bit, adding shape, while still looking natural.

If you are a guy, then you can put your hands in your pockets as your pockets are larger than women’s pockets usually are.

When you put your hands in your pocket, leave your thumb out of the pocket.

This keeps you from putting your hands too deep in the pocket which looks strange and keeps you from putting weight into the pockets too.

Putting the weight of your hands in your pockets will pull down your clothes and give a whole other host of visual issues.

What if you don’t have pockets?

You can bring your hands together in a simple clasp

Posing Tip #5

Leave space by your waist (makes you look skinnier).

To add to the previous tip where we put a slight bend to your elbow, also move the arm just slightly away from the body.

This creates a space between your arm and your side, helping make your torso look skinny, and has the added benefit of also making your arm look skinnier.

Posing Tip #6

Adjust your shirt as you move through your shoot.

This one is less of a posing tip and more of a wardrobe tip, but it’s just as important.

As you move around, your top will move with you, and more often than not, the shirt can get caught up via static cling on your body.

This looks bad and this one little thing can easily ruin how your photo looks because your shirt is in disarray.

To fix this problem, just adjust the bottom of your shirt every couple of moves or a couple of minutes depending on what you are doing for your shoot!

At the end of the day,  key on how to pose for photos is to convey confidence.

If you stand confidently, it shows in your images.

If you are second guessing what you are doing, it will always be seen in your expression.

So fake it till you make it, and you’ll love your images!

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