Think to yourself: When was the last time you bought a product or followed a brand because of their aesthetic or the models in their pictures?

Countless! And I can relate. Hence, the reason why your visuals are super important.

Why? Because body language is a powerful tool that photographers and brands have used since forever to sell people their persona or their product.

Let’s take fashion as an example; when the model that’s wearing a shirt or a pair of pants is confident, personal, and feeling themselves in their outfit, every customer in turn is going to get the idea that this is how they are going feel if they buy this product.

When you’re buying jewelry or a new ring, when you see the model’s hands perfectly smooth, with well-manicured red nails, you’re automatically a lot more drawn to the ring itself.

That’s the power of posing for you; it can single-handedly turn a good product or brand into an instant best-seller.

To help you apply effective posing practices for your own shoots, here are a few posing facts and best practices that are easy to follow but make a major difference.

Best posing practices for product photography

• Anyone is more likely to want to buy a product when they see someone else wearing it or carrying it. Or more specifically using it in the action it’s intended for. This is why human connection with your product is essential. It allows you to convey emotions connected to the product through just the photograph.

• Frame the product and the posing model in a way that demonstrates the product’s size and dimensions and use the model to help the audience gauge the size and scale of the product better. This is especially beneficial if you take pictures of handbags, backpacks, clothes, or anything that people buy based on its size. We want to know how big or small your product is.

• A complimentary backdrop is something that can make or break your photo session. You have to make sure that the colors of the backdrop in your image complete the picture, and doesn’t clash with the subject in the frame so you don’t distract people from the product you want to promote. It’s also important that the color of your background makes your product POP from the background and not blend in.

Best posing practices for lifestyle photography

• Creating a natural look for lifestyle photography – It’s important in lifestyle photography for the images to not feel staged or stiff. For this reason, it’s important to stay in motion and spontaneous, which is where props, activities, and off-guard pictures can be a life-saver.

• Stop looking for poses online and start asking yourself how you want the image to feel – In lifestyle photography, exaggerated, artificial poses are frowned upon. Instead, you can use the idea, atmosphere, and emotions behind the photo to dictate how you want your subject to pose and use them to convey that emotion to everyone who views the photograph.

• Photographers, be prepared to capture the perfect moment – Start by building trust with your models and breaking the ice, then you need to breathe and observe the spontaneous poses your models are taking so your photographer’s eye can see the perfect image and shoot.

I can’t wait for you to see the difference these practices make in your photography. Comment and subscribe to our blog for more useful, easy-to-apply photography practices by a photographer for photographers.

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