Something I have learned about posing clients is that hands really matter. Not only can badly posed hands ruin a potentially great photographs, not posing hands at all can leave clients feeling uncomfortable and they will often ask the question, “what should I do with my hands?” You see, people feel more at ease posing if they have something to do with their hands; they feel they can be more natural within their pose. If you try it yourself and pose in front of the mirror but leave your hands by your side, it somehow makes you feel more vulnerable. (At least it does for me!) So while you are thinking about your perfect smile and popping out that hip, don’t forget to pose your hands.

There are a few things you can think about to make sure your hands aren’t appearing distracting, awkward or tense.

Firstly, make sure hands aren’t clenched into a fist or rigid like breadsticks. Fingers should be slightly separated and have a soft bend at the knuckle - not straight and rigid but also not so bent that they appear claw –like.

The next thing to consider is hand placement. Make sure your hands are not pressed into your face or body. When you lean your face into your hands, it alters the shape of your face. It can squash your chin up towards your lips or form dimples in the cheek (not in a cute way!) Pressing your fingers into the waist can make you appear tense or nervous – like you’re gripping on for dear life. To fix this problem, gently stroke the face rather than leaning onto your hands. I often ask clients to wiggle their fingers before softly placing their hands back onto their face or body. This avoids the poker straight finger appearance but also encourages soft, delicate hands.

Another common problem is the palm of your hand (who would have thought?) The palm of your hand has a large surface area and tends to be a brighter part of your skin. It is therefore quite distracting, particularly if it is posed near to your face. To help clients achieve more elegant looking hands, I ask them to alter the position of their hands so that the pinky side of their hand is facing the camera. This is a more slender part of the hand and achieves a more attractive less distracting pose.

And there you have it, a few tips to get you started on posing your hands. For more tips have a look at my posing guide: pose like a pro with your hands and arms.