I don’t suggest only doing flow posing within a session, because then you’re not giving yourself enough room for creativity. However, this gives you the chance to study the best ways to move people organically through different poses so that you can easily mix it up to get multiple options in one spot. This could be done by adjusting something simple within the pose. Here are some tips:
- Change how they are standing – If it’s a couple, switch them to stand side by side, facing each other, one person behind the other, etc. By making little adjustments to the direction they are standing you can create variety and movement.
- Change the placement of hands – this is a big way to make a difference with any type of subject. How the couple is holding onto one another. Or if you’re photographing a senior, you can easily reposition the hands to get a completely different feel. Change it from one hand in pocket, one hand on wrist, hands moving through the hair… There a lot of way to mix this up!
- You move – Don’t forget to change up your distance and angle too. You can easily add variety by zooming in close, do a pull back, change which side you’re on.
- Add in some movement – Have them walk, flip sides, etc. Have the bride play with her dress. Get the family to tickle the youngest. You’ll be able to get some great in between movements by adding in movement.
The biggest thing you can do is practice yourself. Study photos that you like, and then work out poses on your own to see what feels comfortable to you. Once you have that pose down, how would you switch it up and easily transition it into the next? By doing this over and over, you’re going to be able to pull out poses easily during your sessions.
Looking for more ideas and tips? Try out these awesome sources!
Sue Bryce Education – The queen of posing, Sue has an entire education platform where you can watch how she poses in any type of scenario.
Picture Perfect Posing and Picture Perfect Practice by Roberto Valenzuela – Both of these books come highly recommended for posing and finding ways to tweak them to perfect your posing during session.
SBP Family Workshop Guide – In Sarah’s full family guide you not only get to learn everything about the ins and outs of running a business, but also to creating natural family posing in your sessions. This guide is everything you need to know about being a family portrait photographer.
Design Aglow – They have a variety of posing inspiration cards for many types of photo sessions.
Photography Concentrate – This awesome blog has several posts on Stress Free Posing that demonstrates this idea. Click to check out their standing posing edition!
What are some ways that you keep moving when you get stuck during a session? Let us know in the comments below!
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