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Are you ready to dive deep into one of the biggest needs in the family photography industry?! Everyone desires help in this specific area. The one thing I do to give my clients the best experience possible is POSING. Every client will walk away feeling much more confident when us photographers lead them throughout the session. When our client's experience is positive that leads them to booking more sessions and telling their friends about us. Posing preparation is necessary and important!

Before getting into all the technicalities, I'm doing a FREE class next week and wanted it on your radar! it's called The Keys to Effortless Family Posing: Say Goodbye to Awkward and Stiff. So, this is a class that has been highly requested. Seriously, it's been on my radar for over a year and a half. We want families to look natural and create genuine memories not stiff, awkward photos. This brand new (never been done before) class is March 23rd and 24th! You can sign up HERE. Make sure you take advantage of the live Q&A and get ready for posing to become second nature! If you do register there is a replay that will automatically get sent to you, but you must register! I'm looking forward to seeing you!

Client Experience Matters

At the end of the day people won't remember how technically correct their photos are. The thing they hang onto the most are how they felt during their session. If clients feel awkward and stiff without guidance in their session it sticks with them. Even if your photos are incredible they view them through this lens of awkward. The goal with guiding clients through posing is creating a warm, genuine, real moments. Posing truly can make or break a session. We've all been there when we go to a session and the moment we're supposed to start taking photos we kind of freeze! As photographers we invest in our websites, our CRMs and all these places, but what about our guidance in posing?! It's something that gets put on the back burner and we end up winging it! So, here are three things you can apply at your next session. These are things I do to give my clients the best experience possible!

Be Confident

Clients will pick up on your tone. If you're unsure or unprepared they will feel it! In one sense your persona determines theirs. We want to be confident in the way that we speak and the way that we pose. We should move with intentionality and give as many examples as we can. Maybe that means you're actually showing them the pose and not just trying to tell them how to pose. Giving them a visual of where to put their hand or angle their body helps so much! Be confident and be prepared. Have the next pose or placement ready because that feels like you know what you're doing. You've heard the saying, “fake it 'til you make it”. Practice at home, use a mirror or your family. Practice speaking clearly, boldly and in a way that brings understanding.

Posing Preparation

Just like a test, this is something you need to study beforehand. I get into the habit before each session of arriving early and having a posing game plan in place. I'm thinking of the family and because I've sent them my Client Questionnaire I know the ages of each child. So I can easily think through which poses I'm going to use. Maybe that means you're turning to Pinterest to look for inspiration for that specific age demographic to get ideas. I also have a Posing Workflow I use, so I have the same groupings that I shoot every time. Go into your session with a plan, knowing what poses you want to use so your client senses your confidence.

It's Ok to Use a Cheatsheet

Here's a cheatsheet hack that I think is genius! Create a collage of poses and save it on your phone as the lock screen wallpaper. This way it's somewhat inconspicuous and you can glance at it to know what you're doing next! Another, even more inconspicuous cheatsheet, is having a list or printed out picture saved on your SD card. This way your “cheatsheet” is on your camera and the client has no idea you are glancing at it for inspiration. They'll think you're looking at the photo you just captured! Again, there is nothing wrong with using prompts or written out poses to help guide you through. Eventually, the goal is to get to a place where you can confidently lead the session knowing exactly what you want. Don't let yourself stay there forever – you do need to trust yourself!

Posing preparation is one thing I do to give my clients the best experience and there's so much more we can and will dive into. This is just scraping the surface on posing, but I hope it helps you get a game plan together and start executing your session with confidence.

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