One of my FAVORITE things to talk about is senior posing. Posing in front of the camera can be SO overwhelming, especially at the beginning of your session, and I love being able to share what I’ve learned in order to ease the nerves of some of my Seniors. Some of the questions I get asked most frequently during my sessions are “What do I do with my hands?” and “I feel like I am awkward in front of the camera, will you tell me what to do?”

The answer to those questions is that YES, I will absolutely guide you on everything with hands, angles, and making you feel as comfortable as possible!

I am using a sweet 2021 Senior of mine Addie for an example. We took these images at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens in Birmingham, Alabama. Congrats Addie! War Eagle!

1. Wrap n’ Sniff

I am going to name this one, “Wrap n’ Sniff”

I absolutely love love love making girls wrap their arms all over then making them sniff their shoulder. I am not sure how I discovered this for my posing techniques, but I just was exhausted with the hands in pockets and hands on the hips! I thought: “Why not just make them wrap up and look down?” and man, oh man does it WORK! I personally love images that don’t have you look at the camera because there is something beautiful about this image to me. You can see her perfect hair, the beauty of her face structure, she looks natural and that soft smile makes her look like she is thinking about something happy…. which we all love. It just looks like a portrait of a girl in a garden embracing the roses.

2. The Mom Shot

Mommas … absolutely love this pose. This pose is such a classic Senior portrait that shows a genuine smile, natural posing with the hands, and a little bit of figure showing too. I believe this pose is such a staple for my sessions because it just WORKS. I asked Addie to poke that hip out, look like you are thinking really hard like the emoji 🤔 and rock a genuine smile. That is all I needed from her! Look how timeless and beautiful this portrait is! (*pats myself on the back*)

3. Sit & Smile

There isn’t a cool or funny name for this one, so I will just call it a “Sit & Smile!”

This is a casual and staple go-to pose for me because we want to get you a lot of variety in your gallery. I want you to sit and look like you are caught off guard because you look so natural. Sometimes sitting poses are hard to make look “natural” so I will literally tell you to pop a squat, put one leg back and one further in the front, go for it with your hands and SMILE!

Easy and classy!

4. Thank You

I like to ask my girls to imagine you just got a compliment from Blake Lively and you wanted to appear calm and collected (not freaking out like I would be) and with as much grace say “thank you” with your eyes. I love this shot because it can tell such an amazing story. I know Senior year is magical. You have so much life ahead and we want to give your parents a beautiful image to thank them for their love and support!

5. Tell A Secret Through Your Eyes

I will literally ask a senior to tell me a secret through the look in their eyes. 1. It is so funny because sometimes I will not get a reaction I thought I would get or 2. The secret is so obvious I know exactly what they tell me without saying a word! LOL

This is a great way to not look like you have a RBF… we want to avoid that at all costs. I will ask you to tell me a secret through your eyes and BOOM. It works everytime!

That is the secret to getting the “serious” photo!

Those are my top 5 go-to poses for my Seniors! I hope this is helpful to you if you are thinking about having your Senior portraits done by me! As you can see, I just really like to have fun with my seniors and make the environment light and playful. If you have been curious about booking your Senior portraits, the best times to book is in the Spring time March-April.

I would love to hear from you about your Senior portraits! Click the “portraits” tab to learn more about what I offer!

Xo,

Perry Ann