How To Get Natural and Authentic Poses for Family Photographers
Your Family Photo should feel fun, relaxed and natural! Your clients should NOT be forcing fake smiles! In this video, we’re going to talk about HOW to make your family photos genuine, natural and authentic!
Posing Families is SO much more than just “put your hand here. Tilt your head that way.” It’s making every member of the family feel comfortable enough to be their authentic self. It’s facilitating genuine emotions between parents and their children. It’s creating a fun environment for real family memories. It’s making mamas feel confident and beautiful. It’s getting to know your families in a way that makes them feel seen and loved so that you can capture their true personalities. It’s been able to deliver galleries that make mamas cry happy tears because you captured this season of their life perfectly.
In the YouTube video below, I to be share some of my favorite go to prompts for family photography that ALWAYS work.
If you love these poses, I’ve put together an entire FREE posing guide for family photographers where I give you ALL of my favorite prompts for authentic family photos. I also give you TONS of variations for each prompt. You can take this posing deck to your family sessions and photograph an entire session with just these prompts. Go ahead and download the guide right here and give it a try at your next family session!
Use Movement For Natural Reactions
Everyone feel more comfortable when they are moving instead of standing still! If I’m trying to get a good looking and smiling at the camera photo but the kids just want to run around and be crazy, sometimes I’ll ask them to hop up and down in place! That way we can get that good looking and smiling photo that mom wants and also get really good genuine, natural smiles from the kids! Just remember to increase your shutter speed!
Work with toddler’s natural tendencies and personalities, not against them!
Some toddlers love to be held, while others are more independent. Either way is totally fine and normal! It’s important to stay flexible in your posing and tailor your prompts to the family’s personalities. If the toddlers love to be held, one thing I love to do is put them on mom and dad’s shoulders! That way they feel safe and secure getting held by mom and dad but they also are more willing to work with me and the fun poses and prompts that I have for them!
Get to know your clients!
I love to get to know my clients through a questionnaire that I send them prior to the session as well as observe their natural personalities at the actual session! That way I can tailor my prompts and poses to each family. Some poses and prompts work better for some families than others depending on personality and age!
Your Family Photo should feel fun, relaxed and natural! Your clients should NOT be forcing fake smiles! It’s your job as a family photographer to create an environment that sets everyone at ease, allows every member of the family to have fun, and help everyone relax enough that they are truly able to be their authentic selves.
Which of these prompts are you excited to try? Drop a comment below!
If you want to go even deeper with me, check out my posing course for family photographers. Mastering Authentic Connection, the Complete Posing Course For Family Photographers where you will not only learn EVERY SINGLE prompt and pose that I use for every different type of family session from families with babies and toddlers to families with older kids to extended family sessions. You will also learn how I overcome any potential challenges such as working with grumpy dads or teens and overcoming toddler meltdowns. And you’ll learn how to serve special needs families well. And how to create an amazing client experience for your clients.
You’ll also get to watch me photograph four full family sessions. Hear exactly what I say to each of my families to achieve each pose and see exactly how I create a fun environment that allows every member of the family to have fun, relax, and be their genuine authentic self.
