Despite what most of people think, posing isn’t that easy. Lots of people see pretty pictures, think that it took a minute, 1-2 shots and voilà: the perfect shot is ready. The truth is that it doesn’t matter if you pose on a shoot with professional photographer, or in front of your boyfriend holding an iPhone. It’s challenging and it takes time to get the right angle & light where you and the background look amazing. Our combined 16 years of experience as fashion models taught us how to look the best in front of the camera. We would love to share with you some tips and ideas on how to pose and make your next instagram picture perfect.

1. Posture is key

Nobody looks nice on the picture with their back arched and collapsed shoulders. When somebody points a camera at you stretch your spine, push shoulders back and push your butt a bit back, arching the lower back and sucking in your tummy. This is a little trick to make your legs look finer and your torso look longer.

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2. Make your legs look longer

Here is a trick for you and for your photographer.

If you want to take a full body picture, ask your photographer to crouch, holding the camera down just below hips level and angle it a bit upwards. You do not want him to be too low as it will deform the photo and you. But the right angle will make you legs mile-long.

A tip for you: cross one leg in front of the other and point the toes. It’s the easiest way to make your legs look skinnier and longer. You can also bend one leg and rest your body weigh on the other- but not completely, keep the hips straight and yourself tall.

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3. Smile!

The grumpy or serious pictures might look good in magazines, but are not necessary fun souvenirs from your holidays. Marilyn Monroe said that a smile is the best makeup a girl could wear and I can’t agree with her more. A smile will brighten up every picture and will make it more likeable.

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4. Know your best profile

Our bodies are not symmetrical, nor are our faces. Usually knowing which profile is our best comes intuitively: you will naturally wear your hair on one side more, feel more comfortable when somebody is standing to your right or left etc. Knowing which profile is best is one of the most important parts of being a model and lots of photographers ask about it on the shoots. For me its the left profile and I automatically show it more on the pictures.

Once you figure out which side is your ‘best’ side, make your neck long and you can lower the chin just a bit to cover the under chin. You can then twist your head slightly showing the profile a bit more and giving the photographer your best smile. A beautiful portrait picture guaranteed!

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5. Feel the light on your face

It’s another thing that after years of practice I do instinctively: looking for the light on my face. It does not have to be direct sunlight, as this will ‘burn’ your face on the picture, but rather a reflection of the light coming from a white building, a car, or your boyfriends-photographers t-shirt. How to find the light? Close your eyes and turn your face around slowly. You will feel warmth and brightness once it lands on your face. This will prevent strong shadows from distorting or hiding your figures. Open your eyes and direct your gaze into the camera lens. Click!

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6. What’s close is big

Know the rule: objects closer to the camera will appear the bigger in the picture; posing while lying or sitting down. If you are being photographed sitting down and your legs are directed toward the lens, they will look short and giant. It’s the simple rule of proportions. To make your legs look longer, always put them sideways when sitting or lying down. Bend the leg further to the camera so it’s visible- it will lengthen the thigh. Keep the leg closest to the camera straight.

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7. Do not overpose

Best Instagram pictures are simple, smiling and sending positive vibes. Posing with your hands on the hips might look nice on an evening gala when you wear a gown, but won’t do you justice on a beach wearing a bikini. Adjust your pose to the place.

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8. Move a lot

The best pictures are caught ‘off guard’ or in the moment. They are the most natural, not forced and look spontaneous: we all love that. Try simply walking few steps back and forth, dance, spin and do any other movements that you feel like- just make sure that your photographer continues clicking!

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9. Pick the right outfit

The right outfit is extremely important for a good photo. Clothes with colours photograph better than dark tones, as they stand out on the pictures more. However, make sure to adjust your outfit to the place and activity. Wearing a dress for a 10km hike might not be the best idea.

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↬ TIP : If you want to take a nice picture with a dress, even if you don’t want to wear it all the way- just take it with you and change at a private place on the way.

Do not colour match with the surroundings: in the red sand desert of Wadi Rum Jordan you can wear white or beige clothing, but while visiting Taj Mahal in India wear colourful pants or dress. Long dress is the easiest outfit to take a nice picture in, as you can do a lot with it: turn around, swing, jump making it move, hold it up etc. It’s a good idea to have a scarf that you can throw up in the air or drag behind you. A nice hat and a pair of sunglasses as accessories will be a great addition to your picture as well.

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10. Use props

It doesn’t have to be something you bring with you. Look around and use your imagination with the things you can find near by. If you are on the beach, grab some sand and throw it towards the camera (just not directly at it as you want to be visible and not risk destroying your camera). In the city hold on to the street lamp and make a spin. Get a gelato in Venice and take a picture on Ponte di Rialto with it. Sit in a cafe in Paris, order an espresso and drink it, while your friend takes a picture. Do everything that feels like fun and others will love to see it too!

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11. Look for inspiration before the shoot

Whenever we go somewhere, we usually have an idea of the places where we are gonna shoot. Of course still a lot of our pictures are spontaneous and taken on the spot. But having an idea in our mind of what we want to produce makes the whole process much faster and easier.

Where to look for inspirations? Two most important platforms : Instargam & Pinterest . Instagram allows you to save posts & images and even organise them by category. Save the ones with posing ideas and places you plan (or dream) to visit. On Pinterest, you can look for exact ideas of what to do. For example : if you type ‘Couple photoshoots in Paris’, you’ll get inspirations for best places to shoot, styles and poses.

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12. ‘Less is more’ doesn’t necessarily apply to amount of pictures you take

To get the perfect pose or picture you see in magazines or on instagram, there will be at least a few hundreds that didn’t work. I am not saying that you should take hundreds of pictures of each pose, but it is easier to pick the perfect picture out of 50 than out of 5. Just make sure to delete the ones you don’t like after, to keep space on your memory card.

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13. Have fun!

We know that getting the perfect shot sometimes might be frustrating. But never forget why you’re doing it : because you like taking pictures and sharing them with others. Photography is a moment captured forever. Do not fake it, do not force it. Make sure that when you look at the picture a few months or years from now, you’ll smile to yourself remembering the fun times. 😜

We hope our tips & tricks on how to pose for the perfect picture for instagram helps you! And if it did, leave us a comment down below 😃