What to Do With Your Hands in Photos: 12 Easy Ideas
Your hands are the first thing to go stiff when a camera comes out. They hang at your sides like they belong to someone else. Or they clamp together in front of you like you’re waiting for a bus.
The fix is simple: give every hand a job. A hand that’s holding something, touching something or resting somewhere looks relaxed. A hand doing nothing looks awkward.
Here’s what that looks like. Same woman, same wall, same dress.
Left: arms hanging, weight on both feet. Right: a hand on the bag strap, weight on one leg, head tilted.
Three things changed. The hand did most of the work.
12 things to do with your hands
1. Hold the strap of your bag
If you’re carrying a bag, you already have a prop. Rest one hand lightly on the strap near your shoulder. Keep your fingers loose instead of gripping. It’s the easiest hand pose there is, and it works standing, walking or leaning.
2. Put one hand in a pocket
One hand, not two. Slide it in up to the knuckles, or just hook your thumb in and leave the fingers outside. Both hands buried in your pockets makes your arms vanish and your shoulders hunch. Front pocket, back pocket or jacket pocket all work.
3. Hold a drink
A coffee, a glass, a bottle of water. Hold it around chest height and a little to one side, so it doesn’t cover your face or your outfit. This is why so many good night-out photos have a drink in them. The drink is just a prop.
4. Touch your hair
Run your fingers through it, tuck it behind an ear or push it back off your face. The trick is to actually move. Take a burst of photos while you do it, then pick the frame where your hand is mid-motion, not parked on top of your head.
5. Rest a hand near your face
Fingertips along your jaw, a knuckle under your chin, a hand near your cheek. Keep it light. The hand should look like it’s resting there, not holding your head up. If your cheek is squashing, you’re pressing too hard.
6. Hand on your hip, elbow back
The classic, and it works because it opens a gap between your arm and your waist, which gives your shape some definition. Two things stop it looking like a superhero pose. Use one hand only. Point the elbow slightly back instead of straight out to the side.
7. Cross your arms loosely
Crossed arms read as relaxed when they’re loose and as defensive when they’re tight. Let your hands rest on your upper arms instead of tucking them into your armpits. Drop your shoulders.
8. Fix your clothes
Adjust a cuff. Hold the collar of your jacket. Pull a sleeve down or straighten a hat. It looks natural because it’s something people really do, and it gives the photo a feeling of a moment caught. Same rule as the hair: move, and shoot a burst.
9. Lean on something
A wall, a railing, a table, a car. Put a hand flat on it, or rest a forearm along it. Leaning gives your hand somewhere to be and drops your shoulders at the same time.
10. Hold your other arm
Let one arm hang and hold it lightly above the elbow, or at the wrist, with your other hand. It’s a soft, slightly shy pose that suits full-length photos and dresses.
11. Use your sunglasses
Hold them, put them on, or push them up into your hair. You get a prop and a movement in one go.
12. Hold the person next to you
In couple and group photos your hands go on the other person: an arm around a waist, a hand on a shoulder, fingers loosely linked. Our couple poses guide has a lot more on this.
What to do with your hands in men’s photos
Men tend to get exactly one piece of advice: hands in pockets. It works, but it gets old fast. Mix in a few of these.
- Thumb hooked in a front pocket, fingers outside.
- One hand adjusting a watch or a cuff.
- A jacket held over one shoulder.
- A forearm resting on a railing or a table.
- Arms loosely crossed, shoulders down.
Here’s the same idea on a man. Before, his hands are hidden behind his back. After, one hand is up near his chest and the other holds a drink.
Left: hands behind his back, weight even. Right: one hand near his chest, a drink in the other, weight on one leg.
What to do with your hands in group photos
The usual problem is a row of people standing shoulder to shoulder with their arms at their sides. It looks like a staff photo. Two fixes help most.
Put your arms around each other’s waists or shoulders. It pulls everyone closer, and closeness is what makes a group look like friends.
Then give the people at each end something to do with their outside hand, like a hand on a hip or in a pocket. The two ends are usually what makes a group photo look stiff, because their outer arms just hang there.
Mistakes that make hands look awkward
- Flat, stiff fingers. Relax them so there’s a small gap between each one.
- The back of the hand facing the camera. Turn your hand so its side faces the lens. It looks smaller and softer that way.
- Gripping. If your knuckles are white, you’re holding too hard.
- Hands bunched in the middle of your body. They hide your outfit and make you look nervous.
- Both hands doing the same thing. Give them different jobs.
How to practice
Pick three ideas from this list and try them in front of a mirror, or with your phone’s front camera. That’s it. Once three of them feel natural, you’ll stop thinking about your hands at all.
If you’d rather copy a pose than remember a list, that’s what PosePal is for. Pick a pose and a guide appears right in your camera, so you can see where your hands go before you take the shot.
