What do I do with my hands during my photos?

Oct 14

tall blonde female ceo standing modern headshots black backdrop ralph lauren outfit — This is almost always the first question I get when my subjects start a photo session with me…

What do I do with my hands?!

And, if you’re basically ANY person in the whole world that isn’t a full time model, you’re thinking the same thing!

These necessary appendages used to moving naturally throughout your day will suddenly freeze up and become foreigners the minute I turn on my camera.

So, let’s get right to it! Here are my tips on what to do with your hands during your photo session…

Basic and Simple positions for your hands

Lean the side of your chin lightly on your gently closed hand, then angle your fingers lightly under your chin, open your hand alongside your face
Engage both hands - put one arm across your body and lean the elbow of your other arm on the hand below. You can then move the hand of your top arm around in an open or closed position, lightly touching your face
From that last pose, cross your arms with both hands open
When sitting, cross your legs so that you can rest both arms in a crossed position on top of your highest knee
You can then fold your hands together and place them on the side of your legs
When standing (or even sometimes while sitting), put a hand on one hip, then on both hips, then just put them down alongside your legs in a relaxed position

A little more dynamic hand positions

Touch your hair - move it to the side, place your hand alongside the back of your neck and under your hair, put your hair behind your ear, braid it, fluff it, or simply touch the top of your head

Use both hands - put your hand flat on your back and bring your other hand around your body to connect to it in some way.
Bring your whole body into it by crossing your legs or your ankles and resting your hands flat on your knees, slightly leaning back on your seat, folding your hands in between your legs, crossing both arms over the top of your knees for some interesting angles!

Here’s an example of 10 different ways my client used her hands

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For the guys

Put one hand in your pocket and the other one down alongside of you
Both hands in your pockets looks really great, too! Especially with a suit jacket or blazer. This position will bring the formality of a suit jacket down to a bit more of a casual/friendly/less serious level
Roll up your sleeves
Button your jacket for an “in motion” kind of a shot
Adjust your lapel
Open your hands and clap them together or close one hand into a fist and gently hit it into the open hand
Cross your arms across your chest. This can be less serious if you pair a smile or laugh with it and if you keep one or both hands open while resting on the opposite arm.

You can make any “traditional” pose more modern by simply being more casual in your facial expressions or not wearing a tie…

For the guys when sitting

I call this first pose below the “dad sitting pose” - both hands place on your thigh
Hands folded in between your legs
Elbows resting on your thighs or knees with your hands open
One leg up across the other and either holding onto your legs, crossing your arms, hands open below, etc

Push the envelope a little

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Push the envelope a little ...

Let me emphasize this, you do not have to do what everyone else is doing. If you are interested in being unique and having a little fun during your session then let’s try out different ideas with your hands. I’m up for (almost ;) ) anything!