Creating Movement in Senior Picture Poses

Creating movement in senior picture poses can take some practice! I always love a classic posed & smiling at the camera senior photo shot. But some of my absolute favorite pictures are ones where my subject looks natural and candid! This post is going to talk about how to catch your subject in those more natural-looking moments with three ways you can create movement in senior picture poses and incorporate into your posing workflow!

 

Senior Picture Poses with Walking

The first technique is WALKING. Simple as that! This is by far the easiest pose with movement! You can have your subject walk toward your camera, away from your camera, or in any direction. While the subject is walking you they can add a hand on their hip or in their hair, sway their dress, or laugh over their shoulder. Another thing you can do is have them skip or “frolic” to take it up a notch!

An example of how you could instruct your subject in this pose is, “Alright, for this pose I’m going to have you walk towards the camera! Step one foot in front of the other like you are on a tightrope! As you walk, run your right hand through your hair and alternate looking down towards your feet and then back up towards me.”

Creating Movement in Senior Picture Poses with Spinning

Another method for incorporating creative movement in senior picture poses is with SPINNING! Not only is this a great way to snap a shot of hair blowing in the wind, but it’s sure to make your subject smile, which will only add to the candid-ness of it all! I’ve found the key to spinning poses is to tell your client to connect with the camera every time they are facing you. So they can spin around, add movement, and connect with the camera.

You can instruct this pose by saying something like, “For this pose, spin around in a circle! You can do a full twirl and then face back towards me. Spring around a few different times and every time you are facing me again, just connect with the camera and make it super fun!” 

Using Swaying For Creating Movement

Finally, a third method to create movement in senior picture poses is SWAYING. Similar to spinning, but with one key difference! Instead of making a full circle, have your subject sway side to side. If they have a dress on, they can hold the sides of the dress while they sway. If not, they can incorporate their arms to add extra movement and make it feel more natural!

An example of how to instruct this pose is, “I’m going to have you sway side to side! You can swing your arms out and alternate looking left to right & then back at the camera. The key is to just shift your weight side to side!”

 

Implement These Techniques Into Your Posing Workflow

I am such a fan of catching my subject in a candid moment! I use each of the above methods to incorporate movement in senior picture poses for every senior shoot I do! The best thing about these methods are that they are easy to instruct as a photographer, and super easy to execute for a subject, even if this is their first time ever being professionally photographed. I hope these techniques help you to snap some incredible natural-looking photos!

 

Senior Education Resources

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Check out these free resources for senior photographers.

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