What To Do With Your Hands When Posing For Family Portraits

Family Portrait Tips: What to do with your hands when posing for family portraits

One of the most frequently asked questions on posing for family portraits is – “what do I do with my hands?” If you have never taken family portraits, it is understandable that this can seem a little awkward. The great thing about taking family portraits is that your Photographer will walk you through all of the poses. This includes on how to stand, where to face, and what to do with your hands. But if you want to know a handful of tips before the start of your session, here you go! Here are six ideas on what to do with your hands when posing for family portraits. As well as the #1 rule on what not to do 😉

What No To Do: Put Your Hands Behind Your Back

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There are not really any “rules” for posing – but one of the things I caution against is putting your hands behind your back. Putting your hands behind your back gives a standoff-ish vibe to it. Very similar to how crossing your arms can seem a little aggressive in most poses.

1. Put Your Hands Around The Person Next To You

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Tip number one with what to do with your hands when posing for family portraits is to put it around the person next to you. Putting your hands around the back of the person next to you will show that you love each other 🙂 And since we are family, I am assuming this is the case! At least for the hour that we will be taking family portraits.

The most natural way to do this is putting your hands around the small of their back. Putting it around the shoulders can seem a little awkward. And if you are roughly the same height, it will look unnatural.

2. Hold Your Own Hands 😉

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Another tip on what to do with your hands when posing for family portraits is to hold your own hands. This pose works really well for children and women. In certain poses, children may be in front of the second row of people and have no one to hold hands with. Holding your own hands can be a really great option and looks nice in most poses 😉

3. Tuck It In Your Pocket

Sometimes you may have just one free hand. In this case, a great thing to do with your “free hand” is to tuck it in your pocket 😉 If you happen to have two free hands, tucking both hands in your pockets can also work really well. I like these types of poses when posing siblings or a group of all men.

4. Put Your Hand on Your Hip – For A Little Sass

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One of my favorite things to do with your hands is to put it on your hip! This adds a little sass and personality to any pose 🙂 You can even double your sass by putting both hands on your hips! I especially like putting your hands on your hips with women and girls. And it works great for individual poses of women and girls too.

5. Just Let It Hang Straight Down

If you aren’t too sure on what to do with your hands, another great tip is to just let it hang straight down. And this is an option to add a little variety to your poses. For some of the poses you can keep a hand in your pocket. And for the next pose you can just let your hand hang straight down.

6. Put Your Hand On The Shoulders Of A Child In Front Of You

Last but not least, you can put your hands on the shoulders of a child who is posing to the side or in front of you. This is similar to putting your hand around the back of the person next to you. It shows that you love them 😉

If you have never taking family portraits, hopefully these tips on what to do with you hands for family portraits has been helpful. Thanks!