Looking your Best in Photos - Posing Tips

I'm a big believer in feeling beautiful in the skin you are in. This isn't about "thinner is better." This is about feeling your best in the photos that you take. For some of us, we struggle with being confident in our body type. I'm one of those! I don't always like what is appearing back in the mirror so I do my best to dress to feel my best and when taking picture, pose to feel more confident.

KNOW YOUR INSECURITIES. KNOW YOUR BODY TYPE.

My hips and my booty have always been a pain point for me. I was made fun of my large booty in middle school and since then I've always been self conscious about it. Then I birthed three kids and my hips got wider. I'm only 5'4" and consider myself petite and also pretty tiny up top measuring at 34A cup. My body shape would probably be classified best in a pear shape.

I could go into dressing best for your body type, but thats a whole other ballgame if I'm being honest!

When I'm selecting poses I think "how can I make my body appear its best?" Regardless of how I stand I will always have big hips and a big butt. But, I can shift my body weight to where I feel much more comfortable in the photograph. I'll show you a few before and afters below.

TO PUT MY HAND ON MY HIP OR TO NOT

I think placing your hand on your hip is a very natural way to pose for photos. It definitely gives a more effortless, natural feel to the pose. I personally feel like any body type can do this pose, however, I do you need to counter balance the hand on the hip with leg positioning based on your body type. Does that make sense?? Take a look at these two photos below. Two women with different body types both with their hand on their hip. So now take a look at how they position the rest of their body. The woman on the left who has more narrow hips places one leg in front of the other making the lower half of her body appear wider. The woman on the right (yes, I know its J.Lo, but I didn't want to make the woman on the right who's name I don't know feel bad!) who has larger hips, shifts her weight to the side and separates her legs, making her lower body appear more dimensional.

One of the many great things of having your husband as your photographer is you get to look at all 200 pictures from a photoshoot -- the good, the bad, and the ugly! Make no mistake body positioning and posture make a huge difference in pictures. I want to point out these are 100% raw photos. Nothing has been edited in or out or smoothed or filtered.

Since my hips are the widest part of my body, I always find that if I am facing the camera straight on it add to the fullness of my hips. You will see in the majority of my photos I will stand at a side angle. I like adding a little space between my legs. I feel it is much more flattering to my body shape. Take a look at the below photo. In the picture on the left my legs are together and my hips are more forward facing. You can see in the photo on the right I turned my hips and added a little gap by bending my back leg. Just these small adjustments make my hips appear much more slim.

Once again, take a look at my hip and booty area. Whatever is closest to the camera is going to appear larger. In the photo on the left my leg closest to the camera is bent and moving forward. Now take a look at the right photo. The area instantly looks slimmer simply by straightening my left leg and adding a bend in my right leg.

Okay, I wasn't necessarily ready in the first photo below but its a good one to show what happens just by standing to the side. Once again, anything shot straight towards the camera is going to appear wider. I shifted my weight to the back, but also pulled my left shoulder forward, so now my entire body appears slimmer.

I hope this helped you see there are so many ways to move your body positioning to help you feel more confident in being on camera! I'd love to know if you found this helpful and if you utilize any specific poses for your photos!!

#instagram #posing