My favorite blog to read to learn great tips about photography is Improve Photography, and this post about posing tips really helped me so I thought I’d share. Here are five helpful portrait posing tips.
1. 2/3rds turn Never face the camera straight on, unless of course you’re a slender model. Then it’s ok. But most people look much better when they angle their body away from the camera. See the difference?
2. No hands Since your hands are nearly the size of your face, it’s a good idea to keep them out of photos. Your face is the most important part of the portrait anyways. See what I mean?
3. Chin down For some reason, people tend to lean backwards in photos. The result: the photographer can see all of your chin and directly up your nose. Not a good combo for anyone. Make sure to keep your chin down, so the photographer can see your eyes. Looking directly at the camera really helps so the photographer can see all of your eyes.
4. Diagonal lines Standing straight at the camera with your arms down is really boring, and it looks boring too. Turning away from the camera helps, but you still look very stiff if you have your arms at your sides. Try putting your hand on your hip to give the photos some dimension. See how much better it looks?
5. Shift weight You should always shift your weight to your back foot. This naturally puts you in a 2/3rds pose, although it can be difficult for plus-sized people. By shifting your weight to your back foot, it will align your hip and shoulder making it a more comfortable pose. See how she is all aligned?
After reading this, I must say my photography has improved. And I’ve looked better in photos, too. It’s little things like turning away from the camera that can make a huge difference in photos.
ranunculus / 3457 posts
The chin down trick is bad if you do it too much… then you’ll create a double chin. Also, that pose in the last picture is very overdone. Open your eyes a bit more, especially if you’re staring straight on at the camera and very slightly purse your lips. Work your nice stuff and camouflage the bad stuff; I have large thighs so I never do anything in which my thighs will be a big part of the photo, but I have a rack that makes men believe in god again so I use that to my advantage. And finally… don’t smile; if you have nice teeth, or you don’t create weird angles with your smile, do it, but if you’re like me, you have an ugly smile that creates a double chin that highlights your strange teeth, so don’t. Smile slightly but with your mouth closed, which makes your lips seem thicker anyway.
I don’t know if these tips work for everyone but I’m very photogenic according to everyone I know and these are just the things I do.
hydrangea / 56 posts
Those pictures show a huge difference, like she’s almost a different person in a couple. I take my best pictures with my head turned slightly to the side, chin down, and looking up while my shoulders are slightly turned the opposite way. Kind of a flirty pose but it’s the only way I seem to look good and capture what I feel looks nice. Thanks for the tips though, I’m going to try them out.
guest
I am not photogenic.
orchid / 109 posts
Interesting
rose / 960 posts
haha, i cringed whenever i recognized my actions in a photo or description >.
thanks. definitely stuff i’m taking with me.
guest
I’d feel weird posing with a hand on my waist, so I usually just awkwardly look like I’m posing in a military lineup with my arms down the side and a neutral smirk
the thing that I’m worried about is if I blink in the pic or look like I’m about to sneeze because I was deciding if I should smile or not, so I’m about to smile but then decide to forget it and just smirk:]
rose / 980 posts
I’m not photogenic. I look drunk or scared in most of my photos. Thanks for the tips.
guest
I love the photoshop job on her eyes in the third photo on the right.
magnolia / 1027 posts
@MoonFaeEyryan@xanga - Your tip on opening your eyes a little more doesn’t work on everyone. I know when I smile and every one else I know smile, their eyes naturally get smaller. It shows genuine emotion when posing for pictures, you know?
I remember a tip from a while back that if you want to make it look like a genuine smile and not make it look fake and forced upon, giggle a little while taking the picture… helps bring life to the photo lol.
guest
Thanks for the tips. I’m not photogenic at all. While these are general guidelines, I think with experimentation people can figure out how to play down their defects. For example, my face looks better from an angle because it’s less obvious that my jaw is crooked, and when I smile my cheeks don’t look so flat. I don’t quite agree with “no hands,” but that might be because my hands are small and elegant. Turning your hand sideways can make it appear smaller. In the example above I think the pose with hands behind the head drew more attention to the model’s arms. Still, I found the tips on how to pose the body to be helpful.
guest
I noticed I was slouching in photos and it looked baaad. I now am very conscious to pull my shoulders back and now I look less like a monkey girl. Th 2/3rd is a good rule, I have a really unattractive profile and straight forward is “okay” but 2/3rds seems to work the best.
guest
as for 3.) I usually keep my chin down a little, because my teeth are ugly, my jawline asymetric and my eyes are definitely the prettier part of my face. But I find that in the example the girl looks better with her chin up for some reason, even though it could just be the lightening. But I do think if you have a pretty smile it can look good to expose the smile that way.
Another thing is of course the purpose of the picture. In applications I use my “winning friendly smile” face for example, because even though it doesn’t look as “cute” or “pretty”, it looks open, friendly and self-confident. I often feel like I (and others) look a bit too girl-ish (girl like “child” not female) or even submissive in chin down photos.
Anyway. I like this. Given how ugly I am actually I think I am quite photogenic actually lol.
guest
i still prefer the “i look skinny!” self portrait method from above.
guest
Good tips!
guest
This is how 90% of all white girls pose in their facebook profile pic lol
guest
I’m not very photogenic when I’m aware of the camera. lol thanks for the tips
guest
oh man. i’ve been doing all of these things without knowing it!