How to Pose Like a Pro: 7 Posing Tips for Women
Posing is a key part to capturing a wonderful image. You can have the most beautiful subject in the world, but if you don’t pose her correctly, the photo will fall flat. Luckily, there are many effective posing tips for women that will help your photographs stand out.
These posing tips for women may be helpful to both photographers or any woman who wants to accentuate her look in a picture.
You don’t need to be a professional model to pose well, either. These simple posing tips for women are something anyone can do to make a photo go from boring to beautiful.
7 Posing Tips for Women
When posing women, you want to think about what defines the feminine form. Generally, curves are key feature of femininity and should be brought out in a photograph. This contrasts with masculinity, where shoulders and chest are the main focal point.
So, to bring out that feminine form, ensure your subject is never ever (ever!) standing flat-footed. It’s too static and looks dull in an image.
Here’s what you can do instead.
1. Bend one knee slightly forward
This is the bare minimum to do when posing a woman. Get her to bend one knee forward in front of the other, naturally pushing the weight of her body to one side and popping her hip out a bit to create some shape.
2. Shoulders back, chest forward
Once you’ve created the basic shape, ask your female model to pull her shoulders back and chest forward. She can put her hands on her hips to further create curves while bringing her arms away from the sides of her body. This is a good basic pose for a woman.
3. Play around with the arms
From this basic pose, you can make more impact with her arms. If you’re photographing a CEO or businesswoman, you add some softness by bending the knee, but then ask her to fold her arms across the chest. This brings the sense of confidence and power to contrast the softness.
4. Be a mirror
Sometimes you don’t need to say anything at all. You can show them what you want them to do and just ask them to mirror your actions. This way you get people to move naturally and confidently. If you just tell someone to pose, they might get lost! Show them what to do instead.
5. Be aware of light
It’s important to be aware of your light when you’re posing a woman for photos. The light should hit her back leg, or the side of her body that’s tilted away from the camera. Her face should look towards the light.
6. Focus on the arms and bust
When your arms are resting against your chest, it will look bigger and flatter than it is. To create an attractive look, make sure that you have a reason for her arms to be off her body. She can be holding something, putting her arms on her hips, or simply pulling her shoulders back.
Pulling shoulders back is also a way to make the bust look fuller and firmer. You can direct your model to take a deep breath in, filling her chest and making the bust look full.
7. Pose the hands
When posing a woman, make sure you pay attention to her hands. Keep them soft and delicate. There should be no gripping, but a soft, natural, and relaxed look. Get the right feeling by lifting your arm up and letting your hand naturally hang down.
Conclusion
These posing tips for women are just the start of getting a great photo. Next time you are photographing a woman, try them out. Practice mirroring with them so it feels natural and not forced.
Have fun with it and stay relaxed. Your model will be comfortable as you are comfortable. And then, when they see how great these posing tips for women work, she’ll be eager for you to become her go-to photographer!
And if you want even more posing and photography tips, get a copy of my free ebook, Portrait Photography Quickstart. It will give you everything you need to jumpstart your talents as a photographer.
