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You are here: Home / Learning Photography / Stress-Free Posing: Standing Edition

Stress-Free Posing: Standing Edition

Updated on March 17, 2020 by Lauren Lim

SFP-Standing

Posing can be a stressful task. You have a million things going through your mind during a photoshoot: light, camera settings, interacting with the client. Then you have to come up with interesting and flattering poses for each and every shot! Yikes!

Or, posing can be easy. True story! You don’t have to stress. You don’t have to worry. You don’t have to memorize a million poses. You don’t even have to change things up that much to get variety!

The key to stress free posing is to make small adjustments in order to get a LOT of variety from one simple setup. Yep, it’s that easy. Tweak things a little, engage the couple, get them to interact, and get some great expressions. Then tweak again, and repeat. You’ll get a ton of variety, without having to worry about thinking up a completely different pose for each shot.

Today we’re going to look how to use this idea with standing poses and a couple. Standing works in pretty much every situation, is comfortable, and has roughly a billion different setups possible, so it’s a great place to start!

Eventually you’ll put together different simple setups like standing, sitting, and lying down. Then you’ll get mega variety!

First, the most basic setup: standing side by side, holding hands, facing their bodies to the camera, looking at the camera.

From there, we just make small adjustments to get variety! Like, create more distance between them.

Or, change up where they’re looking. So she could look at the camera, and he could look at her. He could look at the camera, and she could look at him. Or, bonus! They could look at each other! These are quick and easy adjustments that can give a totally different feel to the image.

posing-14.jpg

Also note the variety you can get when you change up how they hold onto each other. There are tons of options when it comes to hands! Hold hands, her hands around his arm, his arms around her, her arms around him, etc.

You can also change up the way their bodies are facing, which really changes the look of the pose. So, they can also face their bodies towards each other, and then look at the camera. This one is awesome because it’s very slimming!

And they can look at each other.

Within that pose you can change up how their hands are placed.

And where they look. Here they’re both looking off-camera, in the direction of each other, giving a really comfortable, content feel to the image. Bonus points if you can throw a rainbow in there.

You can also add in some smooching. He can give her a kiss on the cheek (and vice versa)

Then go in for the full smooch.

He can stand behind her, both looking at the camera.

Or not looking at the camera!

You may have noticed there that by simply changing your distance to the subject, and the angle that you’re shooting at, you increase the variety of images without even changing the pose!

So you could have them look at each other again, but this time get in nice and tight, focusing just on their faces.

Then have her stand behind him, just to change it up y’know.

And hey, while she’s there, why not go for the always adorable piggy back ride.

posing-17.jpg

With standing you can also add in movement! Fun! He can lift her up and go for a smooch (or not)

And we’ll wrap it up with one of my favs, holding hands and spinning around!

Whew! See, in practically no time at all, you have a bunch of different poses, and all you’ve done is have your couple stand up! And there are many more poses you could come up with that are variations on these ones here. Simply change up how they face each other, where they look, how they hold onto each other, and how they stand together, and the possibilities are incredible.

Best of all, it takes very little mental energy to just make slight adjustments. By the end you’ll have variety, but you didn’t have to work too hard to get there! That let’s you focus on chatting with them, making them feel comfortable, and encouraging them to engage with each other. The goal is that while they’re in these poses, they’ll have great, natural expressions!

Tips

  • Change where they look
  • Change how they stand (beside, facing, one behind the other)
  • Change how they hold on to each other
  • Change your distance and angle
  • Add in action and movement
  • Add in smooches

Do you have any more tips for standing poses? Share them in the comments below!

Filed Under: Learning Photography

About Lauren Lim

Hey friend, I’m Lauren! I’m a photography ninja here at Photography Concentrate. I’m downright obsessed with photography, and love sharing it with super cool folks like yourself. When I’m not shooting, or writing, you can find me cooking (and eating!), traveling, and hanging out with wonderful people.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Cynthi says

    September 25, 2011 at 8:23 pm

    I'm SO glad that I read this article last week! I shot a wedding this weekend and the bride literally could NOT sit down–her dress was too tight. If I had not already had an arsenal of standing options at the top of my mind, I would have been freaking out! Thank you for such an informative article! Keep 'em comin!

    Reply
  2. Resa says

    October 12, 2011 at 10:16 am

    Great post. Thanks!

    Reply
  3. dr. naren amin says

    December 17, 2011 at 5:52 am

    wow…………..I have just started searching different poses – one of the best up till now I found………….thanks for so wonderful guide…

    Reply
  4. Tony says

    December 18, 2011 at 1:22 pm

    Brilliant! Simple, to-the-point, useful!! Lauren, keep doing what you're doing!! These lessons are bang-on.

    Reply
  5. Kathy says

    December 29, 2011 at 9:02 am

    Great! Can't wait to try these tips out!

    Reply
  6. Guido Rodas says

    March 23, 2012 at 10:28 am

    I really enjoy editing with PP 10 . The changes in the image are outstanding, my subjects always are very pleased. Than ksfor your job.

    Reply
  7. Julia says

    April 19, 2012 at 1:24 pm

    Really, really great!!!

    Reply
  8. Kelly says

    April 30, 2012 at 4:58 pm

    This is a great easy guide to posing and they are too cute too! Someone above said where do you find your locations. I LOVE to take different streets around my town and always scout time of day light on someones barn a field behind your home ect., and google where all the local parks are and trails in your town. and take notes on where you were, so you can find your way back ;)

    Reply
  9. Michael Stephens says

    August 3, 2012 at 3:00 am

    Awesome! This helps alot! I have been trying to figure out a better workflow for more natural posing. Thanks!

    Reply
  10. Mel says

    August 5, 2012 at 2:11 am

    this is amazing! thanks for writing all this out – you guys are stellar!

    Reply
  11. Jenn Fraser says

    August 10, 2012 at 10:55 am

    I love all your articles – so fantastic! Thank you! One question I have for you is what lens do you typically shoot with? Do you change it up? I ask, because you often mention changing the distance between you and the subject, so I am trying to imagine – are you moving in and out or are you just using the zoom? When I use my 18-250mm lens (on friends – I am not a pro), people get really intimidated by this BIG lens….so I think it might be better to have a smaller zoom/lens and just move in and out….what are your thoughts?

    Reply
    • Lauren Lim says

      August 13, 2012 at 6:39 pm

      Thanks Jenn! You can check out this article for a full description of the lenses we use!

      Reply
  12. Sarah says

    August 20, 2012 at 2:11 pm

    Fantastic post! Organising poses is something I’m terrible at. It’s almost like I have a complete mental blank when I get a couple in front of me so I just end up letting them do their own thing! But you’ve broken it down beautifully here and made it so simple. I can’t wait to do my next shoot, now, and try these adjustments out!

    Reply
  13. Sharina says

    October 11, 2012 at 12:58 pm

    Hi!!

    I love your post! It’s very helpful.

    TIPS:

    1. I tell them to look away at something pretty.And when I count to three turn around as if something interesting just walked by. It’s hilarious to see how much a person imagines. Also, you’ll get various looks from a couple. They will most likely look at each other :)

    2. Have them in whatever position they are in and freeze! Then begin to tilt the camera and to both sides. you’ll get them in the center, at the sides, angled, so much variety!

    Reply
  14. Agring says

    October 23, 2012 at 7:21 pm

    Thank you very much for the posing tips.

    Reply
  15. Travelwhimsy says

    November 8, 2012 at 10:42 am

    This is awesome – thank you! I’ve always wondered how some photographers make everything seem so effortless and natural. You have a wonderful eye for composition.

    Reply
  16. Susie says

    December 30, 2012 at 10:07 am

    Adorable care free poses. Lovely article. They look so relaxed throughout the session.

    Reply
  17. Leigh says

    January 3, 2013 at 10:03 pm

    Hi, This was so helpful. I stress way too much about posing and have brain freeze ! Thank you for your words of wisdom.

    Reply
  18. tavsfoto says

    January 8, 2013 at 7:03 am

    Verry nice stuff! I’m lovi’n it!

    Reply
  19. Cynthi says

    April 26, 2013 at 10:39 pm

    I think I’ve probably said this before, but you guys really need to get those “Pin It” button on like every post! :)

    Reply
  20. Denise Tull says

    September 18, 2013 at 12:08 pm

    Thanks for the so simple but so useful tips! Last Christmas I did a shoot of one of my sons and his girlfriend. We were in a big park and to end it, I had them skipping away from the camera and clicking their heels. We finally got one in unison! It was great fun!

    Reply
  21. Cynthi says

    October 3, 2013 at 11:43 pm

    This is such an awesome post! And one that I keep coming back too when I’m in need of a little inspiration! Thank you!
    http://www.portraitsbycynthi.com/2013/09/26/family-photos-along-the-boise-river-boise-photographer/

    Reply
  22. Jen says

    October 10, 2013 at 5:41 pm

    Thank you for all of this advice. You’ve made it really clear, logical and easy to understand. :)

    I love the last photo of them frolicking in the grass.

    Also I noticed you’re in Calgary from the skyline in the other post and the familiar terrain. Yay!

    Reply
  23. Sue says

    October 17, 2013 at 11:30 am

    Great info on posting a standing COUPLE, but the title was Standing Poses so I was hoping for more–like how to pose a group of 3 generations of family, groups of friends, etc. Maybe you’ll add that soon?

    Reply
  24. Sarah-Louise says

    October 13, 2014 at 8:04 pm

    Super helpful post! Posing is definitely something I find stressful, particularly if I feel I’m “unprepared” at these early stages I’m also conscious of what I take on and the differences between shoots i.e. couple to senior (totally different set of poses). I like to feel that I have poses to start us off then naturally as the shoot goes I find that I begin to ‘see’ poses.

    I feel like I don’t want to take on too many different shoots in and around the same time because I want to do a good job and it stresses me out. (I also work FT and volunteer so have an already crazy schedule!)

    Reply
  25. rob says

    February 20, 2016 at 4:54 pm

    lovely clear, succinct guide to posing. Do a prepared list involving lots of small changes. This gives you confidence you will take great pics. If you exude this confidence the couple will feel at ease. The best poses often come later when they are so at ease they will do their own thing!

    Reply
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