The Best Couple Poses For Photography 

Photo by Vows on the Move on Unsplash

There’s a lot more to taking the best photographs of couples than just telling them to get close and then snapping the shutter. If you’re looking to really excel with your next photoshoot, you need the best couple poses for photography. By understanding which poses people like the most and which poses make couples look the best, your popularity as a photographer will go through the roof.

Plus, if you want your portfolio to stand out, you need great couple poses. In the world of photos and social media, couples everywhere are hiring professional photographers to create memories of their partnerships. The best way to secure these jobs is with an impressive portfolio – and the best way to impress with your portfolio is to have a variety of attractive and stunning poses of couples.

Today we’re going to check out the best couple poses for photography, giving you a list of the top poses for your clients to try, along with some of the best ideas on how to make the photoshoot even more memorable and to earn you even more money as a photographer.

How To Do Couple Photography

To take the best photographs, you need to have more than just the best couple poses. Sure, poses are wildly important, but there are some other great ideas that can really make your pictures stand out.

Dress to Impress:

A great idea is to have your couple dress for the occasion. If one person arrives wearing something totally contradictory to the other, it’s going to be a mess of a photoshoot. You don’t want one person dressed formally and the other dressed like a lumberjack. This won’t make a lot of sense.

To make your photos really pop, talk to your clients first and try to agree on a theme. It can be a spring theme, a winter theme, a holiday theme – anything. Just remember that the clothing is just as important as the setting. They don’t have to match, but they should complement one another and breathe color and life into the photos.

Keep it Visual:

Bring visual examples of poses you’re interested in trying. It’s so much easier to show clients pictures of the poses you wish them to strike as opposed to just describing them. This can be a fun way to build excitement and to shed nerves as the couple tries to copy the poses. 

Be Friendly & Confident:

Comfort is always a huge deal during a photoshoot, especially if the couple has never been involved in one before. Stay relaxed, always be smiling, and make your clients feel as comfortable as possible without being too weird about it. They should feel confident while you focus on capturing moments behind the camera.

Once the photos start being taken and everyone’s comfortable, try having the couple focus on each other and not on you. With the couple playing off one another’s energy, photos will appear more natural. Since the couple is happy and having fun, the pictures will be more candid and won’t appear like they were taken by a photographer telling them what poses to strike!

The Best Couple Poses

1. Likes & Hobbies 

If there’s something your couple loves doing together, take pictures of them doing it! This can be anything from cooking to hiking, or rollerblading to ice skating. Even if your couple enjoys something unusual like collecting stamps or knitting, catch a photo of them doing it together. Couples love sharing their likes and hobbies, and that’s something that always makes a perfect photo. Plus, they’ll probably forget you’re there while they practice their favorite hobby together.

2. Eating

As odd as it may sound, eating is a perfect couple’s pose. We all share meals and couples eat together constantly. It’s easy to incorporate a few eating photographs into the shoot. You can catch them at home cooking dinner together, sitting outside on the patio enjoying lunch, or cuddled up on the couch enjoying a dessert. The one thing to remember is to keep everything clean. You obviously don’t want to take photographs of the couple with lettuce and tomato dribbling out of their mouths. Try to take photos while the food is still hot and nobody has slime on their hands.

3. Walking to You/ Walking Away from You

One of the most popular couple poses today, one that you see on social media constantly, is a couple walking towards the photographer, moving in a very natural way and usually smiling or laughing.

The best way to do this is to start at a distance so that the couple can walk forward naturally without being too wooden and uncomfortable looking down the barrel of a camera. As they get closer, holding hands, maybe looking at each other, they will get more comfortable and forget that a stranger is snapping photographs of them. Try it again and again until you get the perfect natural photo. And whatever you do, make sure they aren’t looking at the camera!

You can also do this walking away. This is one of the best poses to start your shoot with because their faces aren’t even in any of the pictures. This makes it seem less intimidating and is a soft way to start the photoshoot before getting up-close and personal.

The walking away pose works best in a dramatic setting, like in a park, on the side of a mountain, on a beach, or even walking down the middle of a vibrant city street at night. Shooting closer to the couple or zooming in will make it more intimate, while capturing more of the surroundings with the couple centered clearly in the middle, holding hands, will be a lot more romantic and adventurous. Try to have them wearing matching colors to stand out even more against the background.

4. The Conversation 

One of the easiest poses for couples is to have them converse with each other. By photographing a couple talking, you can get some very unique pictures that you wouldn’t otherwise. You can have them talk about each other, something meaningful like their first date. Eventually, they’ll forget about the camera, they’ll start laughing, and you’ll get some truly candid images that can’t be manufactured any other way than by having your subjects converse.

5. Intimacy 

Intimacy is obviously huge when taking photos of couples. There are a few different couple poses that can really show off the love and adoration they have for one another. For example, a loving embrace is a must in every couple photoshoot. You can have the couple hugging normally from the front, you can have one person lay their head on the other’s chest, you can have them hug from behind with their heads nestled together. The options here are limitless.

Then there’s the kissing. You obviously don’t want to photograph them in a heated make-out session, but kissing lightly can create a truly special image as the couple connects. Even more intimate is to snap a photograph while the couple stares deeply into each other’s eyes.

Sometimes, the moments in between the kisses and the hugs are just as electric and photogenic as the acts themselves. Be sure to stay vigilant and keep your finger on the shutter button for unexpected moments.

Laughing & Dancing

Some of the best photographs of couples are when they’re laughing. This couple pose can be done in any kind of configuration. They can be walking down the street laughing at each other, sitting on a park bench having a giggle, or even laughing in an embrace with their faces close and almost touching, which is very romantic.

Then you can go the fun route and have them doing something silly that makes them laugh naturally, such as dancing. As awkward as it may be, try to have your subjects bust out a few dance moves. The laughs will come automatically and the photos you’ll get will be intimate and meaningful.

Final Thoughts

When it comes to the best couple poses for photography, being creative and candid goes a long way. The best photographs often come between the poses when you’re not even directing them. Later on, you may find that the most alluring and flattering photos are the ones later in the shoot when your subjects were more relaxed and playful when you didn’t even have them striking a pose.

Most poses will come naturally. Requesting an intimate moment will often lead to hugs, kisses, and the couple acting out their own poses without being asked. Remember to remain fluid, keep the shutter snapping, and create poses on the spot whenever an opportunity presents itself.

The final thing to remember is that the setting and the attire are also important. Every photoshoot doesn’t need to be themed, but every photoshoot should have a location that complements the couple. Be it the beach, their own home, or an old barn – any setting can be fun and rewarding, and with the attire to match, the photos can be truly one of a kind.