Posing Tips for People Who Feel Awkward in Front of the Camera
1 week ago • 3 min read
Spoiler: It’s not about knowing how to pose.
If the words “okay, now look natural!” make you want to crawl out of frame, you’re not alone. Almost every client tells me some version of the same thing before a session: “I’m just not photogenic.” Here’s the truth. Most people aren’t bad in front of the camera. They’re just bad at being posed. There’s a difference.
You don’t have to know what to do with your hands.
This is the number one thing people worry about, and honestly, it’s the easiest to fix. Give your hands a job: hold your partner’s hand, tuck them in a pocket, rest them on your kid’s shoulder, hold a coffee mug. Hands that have something to do stop feeling awkward almost instantly.
Movement beats stillness, every time.
Stiff, frozen smiles happen when you’re told to “hold still.” Instead, I’ll usually have you walk, sway, swing your kid around, or just shift your weight from foot to foot. Real movement creates real expressions, and it gives me way more genuine moments to work with than a held pose ever will.
Forget “smile.” Try laughing instead.
“Smile” tends to produce the same stiff, closed-mouth grimace on almost everyone. Instead, I’ll ask a ridiculous question, count down to a fake countdown, or have your partner or kid do something silly just out of frame. A real laugh photographs a hundred times better than a performed smile.
Let your kids lead.
If you’re a parent, some of the best photos happen when you stop trying to get your child to look at the camera and just interact with them instead. Tickle them, chase them, whisper something silly in their ear. I’m usually shooting the whole time, so you don’t have to “perform” for the photo. You just have to be with your family.
Awkward silence? That’s on me, not you.
If a session ever feels stiff or quiet, that’s my job to fix, not yours. I’ll change the prompt, change the angle, or just start talking about something completely unrelated to get everyone to relax. You’re never expected to just “know” how to pose. That’s what I’m there for.
The real secret: it’s not about posing at all.
The sessions that turn out best are almost never the perfectly posed ones. They’re the in-between moments: the real laugh, the kid squirming away, the glance between partners when they think no one’s watching. My job isn’t to make you hold a perfect pose. It’s to create a space relaxed enough that those moments actually happen.
So if you’ve ever avoided being in front of the camera because you don’t think you’re “photogenic,” I’d bet the real issue is that you’ve just never been photographed by someone who lets you be yourself. That’s the whole point of how I work.
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