Directing
40 Posing Prompts You Can Say Out Loud, Word for Word
A verbatim script of posing directions for portraits, graduations, couples, and headshots, plus fixes for awkward hands, height differences, and stiff subjects.
Clients are not stiff because they do not know how to pose. They are stiff because you told them to relax, which is the least actionable instruction in the English language.
Give them a task instead. Every prompt below is something to do, not something to be.
Openers that break the ice in the first two minutes
- "Walk toward me like you are about to say something. Do not smile yet."
- "Shake your hands out like they fell asleep. Now put them wherever they land."
- "Look down at your shoes, take a breath out, then look up at me."
- "Fix your collar. Do it again slower."
- "Tell me the best thing that happened this week." Shoot while they answer.
The first thirty frames are warmup. Say that out loud so they stop worrying about them.
Solo portraits
- "Turn your body 45 degrees away from me, then turn just your face back."
- "Push your chin toward me and down about an inch. Feels wrong, looks right."
- "Weight on your back foot. Front knee soft."
- "Roll your shoulders back and drop them."
- "Hands in your pockets, thumbs out."
- "Hand on the back of your neck like you just heard bad news."
- "Lean your shoulder into the wall. Not your whole body, just the shoulder."
- "Sit forward, elbows on your knees, hands loose."
- "Look past my ear at the building behind me."
- "Laugh at nothing. It looks fake for one second then it turns real."
The three expression sequence
Run this at every setup. It takes twenty seconds and gives the client range.
- "Serious. Eyes at me, no smile, breathe out."
- "Small smile, just the eyes."
- "Now full smile, teeth."
Same pose, three frames, three completely different photos.
Graduation
- "Hold the diploma with both hands at your waist, elbows relaxed."
- "Cap in your hand at your side, tassel forward."
- "Walk the path away from me, then stop and look back over your shoulder."
- "Sit on the steps, legs angled toward me, diploma across your lap."
- "Look at the diploma, then up at me."
- "On three, throw the cap straight up and keep your eyes on me, not the cap." Shoot on two, three, and four.
Groups of grads
- "Tallest in the middle, shortest at the edges, everyone shift a half step toward each other."
- "Front row, drop your chins slightly. Back row, lift yours."
- "Everyone cheer, then stop and look at me on my count."
Couples
- "Forehead to forehead, eyes closed, breathe."
- "Whisper something you would not say in front of your mom." Best real laugh you will get all session.
- "Slow walk toward me, hands linked, look at each other and talk."
- "Back hug. Taller person behind, chin on the shoulder."
- "Hold hands and pull each other apart until your arms are straight, then look at me."
- "Look at each other, then both look at me on my count."
- "Dance. Badly. No one is watching."
Height difference fixes
- Put the shorter partner on a step, curb, or slope.
- Have the taller partner widen their stance to lose two inches.
- Seat both of them. Seated poses erase height gaps entirely.
- Shoot from the shorter partner's eye level, not yours.
Headshots
- "Square your shoulders to me, then turn them 20 degrees left."
- "Chin forward, then down. Now hold that."
- "Push your forehead toward the lens about an inch."
- "Arms crossed, but keep your shoulders down."
- "One hand in your pocket, thumb out, other arm relaxed."
- "Eyes at the lens, think about somebody you actually like."
Fixing awkward hands
Hands look wrong when they have nothing to do. Give them a job.
| Problem | Fix |
|---|---|
| Hands hanging flat | Have them hold something. Cap, phone, jacket, diploma. |
| Fists clenched | "Pretend you are holding a strawberry you do not want to crush." |
| Hands too visible | Turn the palm edge-on to the camera. Hands read smaller from the side. |
| Both hands in pockets | Pull one out. Symmetry looks stiff. |
| Frozen at the waist | "Fix your watch. Fix your hair. Do it again." |
Directing bodies of different sizes
Say what to do, never what to hide.
- Shoot from slightly above eye level for head and shoulders work.
- Create space between the arm and torso. "Move your elbow out an inch."
- Have the subject lean toward the camera, which is universally flattering.
- Angle the body at 45 degrees rather than shooting square-on.
- Never point out a body part. Direct the whole pose and let the adjustment happen inside it.
Build sequences, not single poses
A pose is one frame. A sequence is ten.
Standing sequence: feet planted, then hands in pockets, then one hand out, then look away, then look back, then laugh, then step forward.
Seated sequence: sit tall, then lean forward, then elbows on knees, then chin on hand, then look off camera, then look up.
Walking sequence: walk toward me, stop, look back, keep walking, look down, look up.
Say the next instruction while you are still shooting the last one. Do not stop between poses.
For where to run these in Charleston, read 12 Charleston Graduation Photo Locations. For camera settings that keep up with a moving subject, read Sony A7III Event Settings.
FAQ
What do you say to a client who says they are not photogenic?
Tell them their job is to follow instructions and your job is everything else. Then give them a physical task within five seconds. Talking about it makes it worse.
How do you pose people who have never been photographed?
Start with movement. Walking, adjusting clothes, laughing. Static poses come after they stop thinking about the camera.
How do you pose couples with a big height difference?
Seat them, use a step, or shoot from the shorter partner's eye level. Standing side-by-side full length is the one setup that always exposes the gap.
What should hands do in a portrait?
Something. Hold an object, touch clothing, go in a pocket with the thumb out. Hands with no task always look wrong.
How many poses do you need for a one hour session?
Six to eight setups, each with a sequence of five or six frames. That gives you 40 to 60 usable images without repeating yourself.
Should you show clients the back of the camera?
Once, early, on a frame that looks good. It builds confidence fast. After that, keep shooting.
Sources and further reading
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