But I’d be remiss without a quick posing tip here too! In this image Beata looks amazing, but her hand placement could be slightly improved. We actually all tend to put our hands in our laps, but in a photo sometimes it can look a little inappropriate. While Beata still looks great and this image doesn’t cross the line, it’s generally a good idea to keep your hands off to the side or away from that general region.

In terms of where to put your arms while you’re standing up alone with no one to hug, to the side can be fine.

But you may prefer the way you look with your arm behind your back. It gives the image a more purposeful look.

We also threw in some professional headshots for good measure. Traditionally professional photos have always been done in a studio and maybe still should be if you’re running for president or something, but even corporate headshots are trending toward more natural backgrounds.

In this image Beata looks quite professional even though she’s sitting on a park bench.

As for her sleeve length, as with Debra, her arms are thin so there’s not a huge difference between tank tops, short sleeves and long sleeves.

Debra was our second volunteer for this blog post series (if you’d like to find out about these opportunities, sign up for the newsletter!).  She spells her name the same way and even goes by Debra!

But first for a quick posing tip. This is how most people stand when they’re being photographed, but a quick turn to the side and doing something relatively comfortable feeling with your hands can really improve the quality of the image.

So it’s important to remember to stand at an angle and put your thumbs in your pockets, behind your back or around someone.

Next we did a series of images with different shirt sleeve lengths.

As you can see, compared to people like myself who have thicker arms, sleeve length when you have pencil arms just doesn’t matter all that much. Enjoy it – you can wear whatever you want for photos!

Pam was the first volunteer to be an arm model for this blog post series. I had the privilege of photographing her daughter giving birth 15 months ago, and then the honor of photographing Tirian for his newborn session.  Even though our paths have crossed only briefly I’ve grown attached to their family.  Pam is an encouraging woman – put having a conversation with her on your bucket list!

I asked everyone participating to bring a tank top, short sleeved shirt and long sleeved shirts so that you can see what they look like on different arm types.  Pam described her arms as being very thick.

Tank tops tend to be unflattering on most arm types – especially with your arm directly up against your body. You’ll notice a slight improvement with her arms away from her body.

Then I asked her to change into her short sleeved shirt. As you can see this is immediately more flattering, even with her arm flat up against her body.

When her arms are placed away from her body, they look even better.

In the final images she’s wearing a long sleeved shirt. This is pretty much always safe, though you’ll want to balance that choice with how much you might be sweating if it’s warm out.

Again her arm is completely flat against her body and when it’s out a little, the image is even better.

Here are all three of the properly posed images (with her arms away from her body) side by side:

So our tips for sleeve length are:

1. If your arms are thicker than pencils you may want to consider a short sleeve shirt or longer (3/4 length, long sleeved, etc.).
2. Always try to keep your arms at least slightly away from your body – either by putting them behind you, on your hips (if you would ever stand that way without looking mad) or with your thumbs in your pockets.

Rachel was our first model, and the first post, 5 Tips on How to Look Better in Photos can be viewed here.  Some of our tips here are the same, but you can see them working on someone with a different body too.

Becky wrote, “I just always feel I look too fat or awkward. Of course like most people I always find flaws that probably nobody else sees!!”  I think this may be the curse of being a woman in our culture!

In any case, I met Becky and her family at Genesee Valley Park to try and persuade her that she could look awesome in photos.  We started with the standard how everyone stands in front of a camera and then doesn’t like the way they look pose.

As we talked about in Rachel’s post, this is an unflattering position across the board. So the first thing you want to do is always be sure you’re at a 45 degree angle to the camera.

This is a huge improvement but Becky’s hands in are just kind of hanging. So next I asked her to put them in her pockets or behind her back (whichever is most comfortable).

This is also an improvement but when Becky saw it she didn’t like the shirt she chose. So another option is our friend the crop tool. This is a great trick if you like the way your face looks in an image, but not your body.

Next we did some sitting pictures which are trickier because most people look thinner standing up. First we did a “square to the camera” unflattering image.

If you’re sitting in front of a camera, remember not to sit this way (I told Becky to – she was just following directions).

So first things first, the 45 degree angle rule.

I decided here to zoom in a little bit in case Becky liked the up close shots better.

Then we also did some sitting on the ground images. Again, we started with most people’s default position which tends to be unflattering.

And then moved into a more flattering position. Believe it or not, almost everyone looks awesome in this position. Becky wrote, “I do like this one too! Maybe it’s the angle I’m sitting in. It makes me appear thinner.”

Then we threw in her husband Steve for a few images.

You can “hide” behind people to make your body appear smaller in the frame, but you also want to look like you’re hugging them or affectionate somehow rather than just small.

And you can always lean forward together with the other person to create a slimming affect.

So our tips for this post are:

1. Always position your shoulders and body at a 45 degree angle to the camera.

2. Make sure your hands are in a resting position – either in your pockets, around someone, or in a comfortable position behind your back.

3. Don’t be afraid to crop pictures that you like so that it’s just your face. A lot of women are okay with their faces and have more issues with their bodies. You can play around with an image and see what makes you happy before you post it to Facebook.

4. When you’re sitting on the ground, don’t sit cross legged, but put your legs out to your side to elongate your body.

5. If you want to “hide” be sure you’re hugging someone or interacting with them in some meaningful way. You don’t want to be just a floating head sticking up behind someone.

6. Lean forward! Don’t overdo this, but most people do look thinner leaning forward in the image slightly. If you’re in a photo with someone else, then you’ll both need to lean forward.

Rachel had a very natural on-command smile but if you don’t (like me) you’ll relax and look much happier once you have some people around.  This is especially true of moms holding their kids.

Rachel mentioned before the session (and gave me permission to share) that she really dislikes her chin in photos.  In the previous blog post we talked about how leaning forward and sticking your neck out like a chicken can help your chin become more clearly defined.  Notice in the above picture how she’s sitting up straight so her chin is not well defined but in the picture below she’s leaning forward and you can’t even tell.  If you have a child in your lap or other people in the photo, it’s relatively easy to lean forward and still look natural.  You may feel ridiculous, but you might actually look awesome – the key is to try to relax as much as you can.

It can also be easier to apply some of the lessons we learned in the previous post when you have other people to work off of.  For example, Rachel’s arm isn’t flat against her body – she can put it out slightly to make it look thinner.  This is a natural position while holding a child, but not so much when you’re by yourself.

Here’s another example from Listen to Your Mother Rochester.  In this image the women were all able to put their arms in flattering positions around each other, lean forward in a way that looks natural, and to banter with each other to look happier and more relaxed.

To summarize, our four tips for looking better in photos with other people are:

1.  Have everyone (or even just the adults) in the photo hug and lean forward a little to give the image a more intimate and relaxed feeling.

2.  If you don’t like your arms, put them behind someone, but make sure you’re at the right height to do it – usually someone’s waist is best, it doesn’t have to be their shoulders.

3.  Have your kids stand or sit in front of you – not so they’re blocking you completely, but so that you appear smaller in the frame.  People in photos by themselves always look larger than people in photos with other people.

4.  Say something distracting to keep your mind off having your picture taken.  Even a statement like, “Group hug!” or a silly question like “who has the messiest car?” (or smelliest feet, has gone the longest without shaving their legs, etc.) can relax everyone.

Have photography questions?

Leave a comment below and I’ll do my best to write a blog post about it.  I might even request models (who get free sessions!).  You can either leave a comment via the Facebook box below, or scroll a little bit further down and leave a comment in the second section (which does not require a Facebook account).

We all have insecurities about how we look – thank you media!  Rachel wrote, “I hate the way I look like I have many chins! When I look at pictures of myself now, I feel like I just look like someone’s old tired mom!” She mentioned during our session that the chin issue is a running joke in their family because apparently no one thinks they have a chin.

As an aside it’s true that people with well defined chins photograph better naturally – which I happen to know because my chin is not particularly well defined!

In any case, this is a typical snapshot pose – it’s how people are normally photographed. There’s no positioning or refinement at all, and Rachel’s body is square to the camera, which is not a flattering angle for anyone.

The first thing that we did was have Rachel turn so that her body was at a 45 degree angle to the camera. This is a much more flattering body position, since it creates more visual interest.

This image is improved but Rachel is still going to hate her chin and potentially other problem areas that women sometimes are concerned about.  For example, she thinks she looks pregnant in this picture (she’s not).  So we further refined her position by having her put her arm behind her back. You can also put your arm on your waist, but it has to be something you’d normally do or it looks strange.

This is a huge improvement but Rachel still isn’t going to love her chin, so we’re going to have her lean forward a bit and make a sort of chicken neck.

This is much better and while she has a phenomenal smile her body looks a little tense and the leaning forward is too obvious. So the next thing we did was pull out a stool since this can really help with relaxed body posture.

We went through a similar progression with these. First a picture of what she looks like square to the camera (not ideal!).

Then I asked her to slouch so it could be contrasted with sitting up straight (it makes a huge difference).

After she sat up straight we moved her arm and had her move her face in the exact same “chicken neck” position as before, only now that her body is relaxed, it looks significantly more natural.

Which brings us to our final image!  Rachel’s chin is defined, her arm is out to her side, but most importantly she looks happy and comfortable in front of the camera.

Rachel wrote about this photo, “Definitely the best picture I have seen of myself in a long time! Of course, it is still hard to look at without thinking about particular insecurities.”  Hopefully this was still a step in the right direction though!

So the take home points here are:

1.  Stand or sit up straight.

2.  Always turn your body at a 45 degree angle to the camera.

3. If you don’t have a well defined chin, even moving your face forward or leaning from your hips a little can create a more well defined chin.

4. Move your arms away from your body by putting them on your hips or behind your back, or even just slightly away from your body.

5.  If you feel uncomfortable, you’ll look uncomfortable, so be sure to relax!

Thanks so much for modeling Rachel!  Pictures of her beautiful family are coming up soon!