If you’re looking for ideas for female poses that you can use for your next photo shoot, you’re in the right place. It doesn’t matter if you’re a photographer looking for inspiration for your next shoot or a model who wants to get better at posing.

There’s a variety of photography poses for female models, which you can use. We hope you make the most of these ideas for poses!

Preparing Your Model

For the model, posing should come naturally and be second nature to what they do. Modeling is essentially working your way through a series of different poses. Pay attention to the mood board, location, and outfit that you provide your model for the shoot. That should give the model at least a general idea of the kinds of poses they can use for the day.

Great subjects can make any pose fit for almost any type of situation. There are always exceptions, such as clothing that restricts movement or a challenging activity like swimming or running.

For these types of situations, some poses would look better than others. For the sake of discussion, we’ll focus on some of the standard poses, like female standing poses and sitting poses, that you’ll tend to use and encounter during your photoshoot when posing female models.

Preparing the Photographer

As a photographer, do your homework and look at the types of photography poses for female models or situations your model has shot previously. This will give you a better idea of whether or not they look good in certain female poses or can anticipate your ideas.

Use this to your advantage when you plan your shoot. Take into consideration the actual planning stage or female model poses you’d like to try with them later on during the shoot. You can also communicate and talk to the model while you’re on set so that they have a clear idea of the types of photography poses you would like them to strike.

You can even refer to earlier poses that they’ve done to show them how you’d like them to position themselves.

This guide will also include some ideas for female model poses you can use for your shoot.

Tips to Get the Best Shots of Female Poses

When working with female models, posing is a two-way street. You want to have your model give input either verbally or through their body language as to the types of poses they’re comfortable doing on set at any given time. The more you treat your model as a partner or collaborator in the shooting process, the better your result will ultimately become.

Need ideas for female standing poses, female sitting poses, and everything in between? We’ve included an exhaustive list below that can help you or the model choose how to incorporate poses in any given situation.

I would also recommend using mood boards and other images to increase the odds that the model will understand and visualize the photography positions you have in your head. Finally, when all else fails, try imitating the poses yourself.

It might look a little awkward, but that will help you articulate what kinds of poses you want on your shoot and help your model understand your vision for posing.

1. Use A Wall

Using a wall is a great way for female subjects to do a standing pose if they’re looking for an option to incorporate the environment easily. Push and play off walls to add tension and interest to a photograph.

2. Hands on Knees

This is a classic sitting pose that will help your subject remain comfortable and allow them to rest between movements. Have the model focus on the camera and really tell a story through their eyes while their body remains relaxed.

3. Hands in Pockets

Here’s a female standing pose that helps show off the model’s features and elegance without distraction from her hands. These are often seen as difficult to pose for models who are just starting out in their careers.

4. Lying Down Feet Away

There are various poses a model can utilize lying down. Having their feet away from you and incorporating a sort of sprawl or restful movement can be alluring or interesting to viewers depending on the type of shoot.

5. Walking Toward The Camera

Walking toward the camera is a natural pose that most female subjects would likely not consider a true pose.

Still, it’s something that can be captured between takes or ideas. This proves to be useful when trying to capture more candid images.

6. Looking Back At The Photographer

This female standing pose is a favorite of the photography world, where a model walks away from the camera and looks back. It’s often done to ask the viewer to follow the female model along in the image.

7. One Knee Up

This sitting pose incorporates a little more interest for models who aren’t sure what to do with their legs while they sit down.

Putting one leg up and the other leg under that leg will help give a little more depth to a photograph and help the posing feel natural and smooth.

8. S Curve

This position can be a little cliche but is great when done well. Either lying down or standing up, have your model shape their body into an S.

Depending on her experience level, this is something that can be easier said than done, so try it out on one of your next shoots and see what happens.

9. Hands on Face

Another great female sitting pose is the hands on face look that allows models to play with their neck, face, and torso in a way that feels natural and allows for a lot of interesting positions and movements.

Try out different facial expressions and emotions to get a ton of variety out of this pose, which fits into a general pose scheme for any portrait or fashion photographer.

10. Hands on Hips

You see this female pose in all of the fashion and glamour magazines. With the classic hands on hips, female models can make space for their features and give more breathing room to the environment around them.

11. Jumping Up

Jumping can be a fun pose for female models to let their silly flag fly and have fun while they’re on set with the team.

Ask your model to jump, run, somersault, or do any other types of wacky poses that might get them to be a little more carefree with their movement.

12. Lying Down On Stomach

A very summertime pose for female models, this one is great for having your subjects resting on the ground or switching to their sides for another variation of the classic S curve pose.

Take note that this pose could be uncomfortable depending on the situation, so use it sparingly.

13. Sitting On A Chair or Stool

Sitting on a chair or stool is a great way for studio photographers to pose models when photographers are faced with just a blank, white wall.

Not only does this provide a pose where models can relax, but it helps stabilize the torso and keep the legs and feet free to pose as they wish.

14. Drinking Water / Wine

This pose might sound silly, but drinking water, wine, or any drink, is a great way to have your model doing something natural while they shoot. This can also work even if the model is holding a glass container or cup to use their hands differently.

15. Shoulders Hunched

Hunching their shoulders back or to the side is an interesting way to add height or variety to a pose where a model would otherwise just be standing still.

This is something you can direct your model to do if they don’t already know how to do it on their own.

16. Crouching

This pose has its time and place. Crouching is a cool and hip way to add a little punk aspect to any pose and mix up your female posing repertoire. Try it out.

It might seem a little funny at first, but sometimes the most awkward or odd poses end up being the best photographs.

17. Looking At The Camera

This one is really just a pose that all photographers should include in every shoot! It’s a simple portrait where the subject is looking directly at the camera.

There are no fancy tricks here, just a simple pose that can show off the model’s features and explain to the viewer who they’re looking at in the photograph. In corporate photoshoots, this is simply called a headshot.

18. Behind Glass

Anytime you have a window or anything that is clear, it’s always interesting to have your model pose behind the glass. This creates an interesting effect in-camera and switches up the feel for the shoot.

19. Using Props

The model can use any sort of props or objects like food or books to interact with their environment while posing.

This is useful to make shots seem more natural and can lead to new ideas and interesting secondary poses depending on how you work.

20. Playing With Clothing

This is a classic female standing fashion pose where the model works different angles and poses with clothing. Depending on the type of outfit you choose, the sky is really the limit here. If you have an experienced model working in the fashion or commercial industry, then she should always have an idea of what kind of poses would look good in certain situations or with certain attire.

Dresses will be different from jackets and a tank, while a bodysuit will require different poses than jeans and a T-shirt. You get the idea. Experiment and see what works for your model depending on the looks and wardrobe you have available.

21. Activity Poses

Anytime you’re posing for an activity like running, swimming, yoga, or hiking, you want to make sure that your female model incorporates those natural movements into the shoot.

This might be a no-brainer, but you’d be surprised at how awkward and unflattering some poses can get when you try to get a little too creative with action shots that should appear natural. Have your model do the activity you want them to do and take pictures of them posing in that way.

22. Two Or More Models Posing Together

When working with more than one female subject, the poses get infinitely more complicated and potentially interesting. While there’s a lot of room for error, having two or more models can make your photograph that much more exciting and increase the potential for memorable poses you can create.

It’s extra important to remember all the steps and guidelines we’ve discussed when working poses with multiple models for your next photo shoot. Try to master shooting with one person first, and then, when you feel like you’re ready, move on to posing more than one person for added difficulty and a whole new set of poses you can try out. Have fun and don’t feel a heightened sense of pressure when you photograph multiple people at once.

Conclusion

When posing female models, it’s always a beneficial idea to have a list of photography poses for female models on hand that you can test out or work into your shoot. If you forget a certain female model pose, you can always refer back to this list.

The most important aspect of any shoot for female poses is to go with the flow and see what happens when you learn, incorporate, and master these various female postures during your photography journey. These poses will act as a great starting place for your model. Don’t be discouraged from testing out these poses or make up your own to suit your specific photoshoot.