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hand poses for women portrait

Free Hand Poses Guide For Women

(169 customer reviews)

15 Pages PDF with quick hacks to master hand poses for pictures!

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Author: F/StopSpot.com
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Photography Hand Poses for Portraiture - An Art!

Don’t you love how a simple portrait can give the viewer an insight into the mind of the model? We know how the right skill, technique and perfect model pose can make ordinary portraiture a piece of art. To hone these skills takes a lifetime, especially when you know that the models you work with might not always be trained.

So, it’s not just the photographer’s job you need to know but also the model’s job you need to have a hang of! Have you ever given directing women a thought? Directing your models to pose right, doesn’t just involve asking them to strike a smile or stand at an angle. They need to be minutely told how every limb and muscle is placed and the expressions and look on their face too play a key role. 

But more than anything comfortably working with hand poses is where the real work comes in! Hand posing can be the biggest asset or the largest liability, to find your way around them is where the efforts come into play! 

Some Tricks To Enhance Your Model's Hand Poses

1. The Simple Cross Hands Pose

The eloquent and simple posture that a simple cross of hands can help you create is one that is incomparable!

Nothing can go wrong when you are composed and effortless in the still. 

A simple cross of hands however shows reservation, introversion, & an overall pensive mood. So choose your hand poses wisely & make sure that you aren’t misunderstood.

hand poses-1
posing ideas-2

2. Hand Poses Using Props

A prop can be used to get the eyes of the model & focus on the product adorned by the subject or it can be just a mere accessory used to accentuate the features & the expressions of the model. Depending on the purpose of the prop, the choice of the prop is essential.

A prop should ideally acquire not more than 1/12th of the space of your frame and should not pop out. After all, you are here for a portrait shoot & not a product shoot!

Don’t steal your model’s thunder with an overpowering prop!

3. Angles & Perspectives

With changing times & changing meanings of photography, there are several different genres of photography cropping up. 

If you don’t want to stick to the same boring angles & portraits that the world creates, try to explore perspectives & angles

While doing so, don’t overlook the fact that the hands shouldn’t look bulky, clumsy, or out of place!

hand poses-3
hand poses-4

4. Classic Hands On Knee Pose

A power pose is when hands are placed on the knee.

When you need to capture the essence of a formal, professional holding a powerful position in an organization.

These types of hand poses are what create a mark on the viewer.

These assertive hand poses are what will help build their profile.

5. A Formal Pose Depicting Power

With changing times & changing meaning of poses, one thing that has hardly changed is striking formal poses.

A classic folded hands won’t ever go wrong. 

The fold of hands makes the portrait looks strong powerful & professional. With a crisp expression & a spotless and creaseless apparel, this is the recipe for a perfectly empowered portrait.

Having said that folded hand poses might not always mean formal posing.

A relaxed fold of hands can depict reluctance, disinterest, and casualness among many other things.

So the perfect hand poses can make or break your portraits & the message the portrait wants to convey can be totally messed up!

So, beware of your purpose & direct the models accordingly.

formal photo
palm on face

6. Hand On Face Pose

The hand on face pose is a common way of expressing different emotions or thoughts through body language.

Depending on the context and the position of the hand, this pose can convey boredom, surprise, curiosity, frustration, sadness, or contemplation.

For example, if someone rests their chin on their palm, they might be bored or tired. If someone covers their mouth with their hand, they might be surprised or shocked. 

If someone touches their cheek with their fingers, they might be curious or interested.

7. Relaxed Hand Poses

Relaxed hand poses are a way of showing calmness and comfort in a photo. They are simple, but effective, hand positions that can make a portrait look more natural and friendly. 

Relaxed hand poses can be done by keeping the fingers slightly curved and the palms facing the body or the camera. 

They can also be done by placing the hands in pockets, on hips, or on other parts of the body. 

They are great for candid and lifestyle portraits, as they can help to create a sense of authenticity and connection in the photo.

relaxed arms

Create Stunning Portraits With This Female Hand Poses Guide...

Thing's You'll Learn With This Free Model Posing Guide?

  • 9 Different hand poses & how to direct your model’s hands
  • Hands in hair pose
  • Crossed arm pose
  • Hands twirling her hair tips
  • Clasping a necklace
  • Hands behind back pose
  • Thumbs in her pocket
  • Holding props
  • Whimsical pose: Flaring the dress
  • 9 Pro-tips of non-verbal communication
  • 6 Strategies for effective communication with the client
  •  

Never Struggle With Hand Poses During A Portrait Shoot!

169 reviews for Free Hand Poses Guide For Women

  1. Aaron Sivertson

    Good breakdown of what can be a tricky skill to learn!

  2. Michael Murphy

    A great product at a very reasonable price giving excellent advice on something that can be exceedingly difficult to get right with portraits.

  3. Pro2r

    Makes me more confident on my shoots!

  4. Shane

    Thank you the guide will help me

  5. Michael Murphy

    Great little guide on what is an exceedingly difficult part of portrait photography. Thank you.

  6. Aaron Sivertson

    A simple and effective guide to a not-so-simple part of posing.

  7. James

    Hands are hard to do and I love how this shows to do this. Hands are so important.

  8. Shane Wiseman

    Pose guide helps me a’lot , Thanks

  9. Linda Macpherson

    Very useful! It can be easy to run out of ideas of how best to pose the hands for a particular shot and this guide is helpful.

  10. [email protected]

    Nice and easy to follow! Thank you!

  11. [email protected]

    This guide has helped me to improve my photography of women. Thanks a lot!

  12. charlene

    This guide has helped me to improve my photography of women. Thanks a lot!

  13. James

    Basic adjustments while show you how not to do it. Nice little packet.

  14. Bengt Korswing

    This amazing. I had a stroke some time ago but still have not recovered and seem to have lost some memory. This guide will help me alot as I try to get back to photography. Thank you

  15. Chris

    So often overlooked and frequently a weakness for many photographers. This guide highlights the problems and helps solve them—many thanks for a very helpful piece of work.

  16. Rodney

    Posing hands has been one of my weaknesses. This guide has been very helpful by making me more confident about it, resulting in better portraits. Thank you!

  17. [email protected]

    you never know you need something until you need it. I didnt realise how important the female hand posing could be until I actually had to pose hands somewhere. This could use some improvements but overall pretty good.

  18. erosfoto

    This guide has helped me to improve my photography of women. Thanks a lot!

  19. Bob

    This is a great resource to help with all those “What do I do with my hands?” questions.

  20. ease photography

    Easy to use with new models!

  21. DamBo

    Great tips !! Thanks

  22. Jay A.

    A great springboard that can be built on to assist in posing female clients. The tips of what to and not to do are very helpful.

  23. James

    Was very helpful. Thanks

  24. Mark

    Thank you for this free guide. It is actually a product that I would be willing to pay for. Even though I am not a professional photographer, I love taking pictures of my beautiful wife. One of the problems that I have always had was knowing what to do with her hands. This guide has helped me immensely! Thank you once again!

  25. Neal A. Johnson

    I love the way the poses are laid out and explained. It’s improved my attention to detail tremendously.

  26. Rex

    Very good product. An overlooked subject, but it does matter. This helps greatly.

  27. Shane Wiseman

    Useful hand poses , helped me thank’s

  28. kcgene

    Nice Guide. Instantly useful and upped my game. Thank you!

  29. Nymphie

    Very useful guide!

  30. Philip Loong

    Great and helpful information, thanks!

  31. Bill Criss

    If you’re new to the Portrait side of the business then a lot of useful information, if you’re not then you probably, already know a lot of this.
    Great of the New Bees.
    May not be bad, to keep a copy handy, just as a reference, or Idea generator.
    Can’t beat the price.

  32. allenparker

    This guide is great. It has some very useful information on proper ways to pose your client’s hands. Very helpful.

  33. Shane

    Great guide to help you on the way for women

  34. JaKaTou

    Great tips, but nothing too new.

  35. Michael Murphy

    Free Hand Poses Guide For Women is a great help in understanding the simple intricacies of hand posing and how it can effect the overall outcome of your shot.

  36. ALAN WHEETMAN

    I keep coming back to this guide time and time again and always find inspiration in how best to place a models hand.

  37. Vess

    Super useful for both photographers and artists. Thank you!

  38. Craig Schultz

    This book is awesome!

  39. chriswoodman_photography

    hands are the awkward thing, this is a great guide to what to do with them

  40. Vincent

    This is a good book and love it

  41. nimrod pascal

    great product. It helps you get great results.

  42. Panagiotis

    Awesome product

  43. George Costigan

    The guide made me think of things I had not considered before. My pictures now look more natural and polished.
    Strongly encourage people to pick this up!

  44. [email protected]

    Well presented information. The layout makes it easy to follow and remember the content. Great Job

  45. Odette

    Awesome product

  46. ease photography

    Great to use with new models. They can sometimes be unsure of where to place their hands!

    Ian, Ease Photography

  47. [email protected]

    very nice product

  48. [email protected]

    Bardzo dobre, przydatne w edycji 🙂

  49. Shane Wiseman

    Great guide and easy to understand, Thanks

  50. kcgene

    Excellent! I absolutely love this. The small details and things to think about that is provided in a simple and straightforward way definitely help make my pictures better. Thank you PhotoWhoa! Fan for Life!

  51. kcgene

    So Simple! These are easy things I never thought of to make my pictures better. Just taking a few moments to work on the details makes such a big difference. I can’t believe all the great stuff that comes with this membership with Photowhoa. Fan for Life!

  52. Allysa Carberry

    useful resource

  53. Carrie Conte

    Wonderful tips and suggestions for posing women’s hands. Also, the author provides encouraging words, conversation starters and other tips included. This guide provides a good sample, but if you want more. The author has created an app called Pocket Poser for smartphones and tablets. Perfect little guide!

  54. [email protected]

    I will be using these tips.

  55. carlobianchi83

    Non sempre è facile trovare delle pose naturali per ritrarre le donne

  56. Michael

    An excellent little guide full of helpful tips on models hand placement. A great addition to my camera bag.

  57. S. Williams

    Good guide for beginners and a refresher for experienced photogs. Bad hand posing can wreck your perfect shot so it’s good to make sure that you have positioned them to make your subject comfortable, relaxed, natural.

  58. Philip Loong

    Great and useful guide, thanks

  59. riccardo rossi

    thanks offer very interesting new ideas

  60. ease photography

    Awesome tool for new and inexperienced models. I loaded it on my Ipad and the models can scroll through while I change my gear

  61. Pj Cook

    14 pages with TONS of tips to help you pose a lady for a superb photo session. Lots you may never considered. I learned a lot!

  62. Chris

    This is a nice resource to have not only to learn from but to have to show models and communicate and have examples to show. Great job.

  63. Edith Romero

    The best guide ever!! Ty sooo much

  64. drpolyp

    Great intro & guide to dealing with hands!

  65. Margaret

    This free guide has given me a lot of suggestions for hand placement. My portrait photography has been helped by this and especially so as I can show my subject an image of how I would like the hands placed. It has also allowed my model to suggest alternatives. Hence it has been helpful for us both. Thanks for the freebie.

  66. joao carlos

    Thanks.

  67. Jeffreygovender

    I offer portrait and lifestyle photoshoots as my mainstream business. It’s a misnomer that if your subject is outstandingly beautiful, your shots is bound to look outstanding. I say misnomer, because facial expressions are one aspect of the portrait, but what the hands/fingers are doing, can either make or break the shot. This guide helps to give the shot a professionally and elegant look to the shot, with just posing the hands properly. If you ever need a quick guide to better your portraits or free lifestyle shoots, Free Hand Poses Guide for women is definitely a must. It is easy and you will wonder “it’s so natural, why didn’t I think of that” …… Jeffrey Govender

  68. Christian

    Just downloaded it and looking forward to checking it, it looks very straightforward, which I what I am looking for as a beginner.

  69. fotogcw

    Nice to have as a guide but I would eliminate any poses that just show the back side of the hand, it makes them look manly

  70. AndyC

    Great info. Thank you

  71. Carrie

    Super straight forward and easy to keep as a quick refresher when your on the go or to print out to keep as a in house referencing guide!!

  72. Victor Billups

    I’m a proud repeat customer of photowhoa.

  73. [email protected]

    Useful posing guide for the great price of free

  74. Trancerave

    FIREEEE thank you so much for it.

  75. naman

    Amazing. Thank you

  76. ALAN WHEETMAN

    This is an easy reference guide more suited to a photographer just starting out at posing models. A seasoned photographer will find themselves more disagreeing with the author than wanting to follow the poses suggested. Hand placement on a female model needs to be subtle, purposeful, and natural if the pose is to be convincing and pleasing to the eye.

  77. tonynoto

    I’ve always found the Photowhoa products educational, helpful, and instantly usable.

  78. Rohan

    Great product I was able to put it to use right away. Thank you for always providing great products.

  79. [email protected]

    Thanks! very nice!

  80. Robert Skears

    This guide addresses the often forgotten art of posing hands. This great guide has photos to illustrate the posing, suggestions on using certain poses, plus Pro Tips and even when it might not work so well with some models. What more could you ask for… and even better, it’s free.

  81. [email protected]

    I always had trouble with posing hands especially for women. this helped my photography a great deal.

  82. [email protected]

    good

  83. pradeep424

    It was an awesome addition to my photography toolbox

  84. grantmezza

    Thankyou this has helped heaps

  85. Parveen

    Thanks for the ultimate guide for how to compose hands in a shoot… Its really an amazing guide and very helpful during shoot a professional model or any beautiful lady indoor or outdoor. Thanks a lot…

  86. Frank

    Just what the doctor ordered! These were a great addition to my tolset!. Thank you.

  87. [email protected]

    Love photowhoa! ❤️

  88. Charles Kok

    Find it useful and practical.

  89. CreationsbyChrissey

    Great information and “how to” guide. Very helpful, especially with the senior high school girls!

  90. PJ Cook

    Great guide and very helpful on a subject that there is little info on the web for. Awesome!!!

  91. KIMBERLY

    Great guide for beginners as well as professionals. Hands can be tricky. This is a great cheat sheet to put on your phone or iPad during a shoot.

  92. Kawsar

    As a newbie to portrait photography this has been incredibly helpful. I thought I would never get better at poses . Thank you

  93. [email protected]

    So on the guide it had easy to understand lessons that really helped me out. I always struggled with what to do with them that left it awkward or looking to big.

  94. [email protected]

    I was so glad to have gotten this for myself. I always had a hard time with what to with my models hands and this helped me know what to do with them instead of struggling lol. I love these quick guides on here.

  95. [email protected]

    This was a life saver! I always had a hard time with what to with my models hands and this helped me know how and know how to be always prepared ** by [email protected] is me lol. forgot to sign in.

  96. [email protected]

    This was a life saver! I always struggle with what to with my models hands and this made sure I am now always prepared ** by [email protected] is me lol. forgot to sign in.

  97. Michael Murphy

    A fantastic little guide with lots of useful ideas on posing a piece of the anatomy I find a little challenging.

  98. Barry

    Great little PDF with useful reference of ideas of posing hands. Thank you

  99. Alcinia

    Very clear and useful

  100. Deepak

    Interesting .. will be sure to use some of the poses.

  101. null

    The Hand Posing Guide is a must have if you’re having problems posing women’s hands! I have used this guide on family members and friends!
    I love it. Very helpful guide,indeed!

  102. [email protected]

    This was a life saver! I always struggle with what to with my models hands and this made sure I am now always prepared

  103. sangvik

    The posing tips are very useful and helped me a lot. Worth checking when you feel you don’t know what to do with the model!

  104. sangvik

    The posing of hands in the sample pictures are very useful and helped me with my photoshoots. Worth checking when you feel you don’t know what to do with the model!

  105. [email protected]

    Great Addition

  106. [email protected]

    Great guide with actual photo samples of the poses. Wonderful posing reference.

  107. sdfad

    Thanks is awesome!!!

  108. lyle

    Excellent presentation.

  109. William

    An excellent guide and a must-have for anyone doing posed portraits of women. Full of great tips.

  110. cameoportraits

    Awsome Guide. It has helped me greatly. Sometimes I seem to go stale for had posing , but with this guide I can always have the right placement. Also I have let my client or model look at the illustration when she was having hard time understanding what I wanted. Thanks for you guide.

  111. Jan

    Reading this hand posing guide gave triggered me to pay attention to an area that I begore had neglected. Yes, I paid attention to the hands of the model, but that was more with respect to where to put them. Not the how. This guide gives a more structured way how to handle this part of the posing challenge.

  112. Mark

    I love taking pictures of my beautiful wife but never know what to do with her hands. Now I know!

  113. John_Deumers

    Very helpfull and HANDY pdf.
    Printed on large paper as a storyboard I can show where to put their hands and relax.

  114. mk_

    Great stuff, thanks

  115. Blair

    Thanks for the offer of these free hand poses…… looking forward to using them and improving my photography.

  116. Sretep

    A really interesting and informative read.

  117. Keri s

    I think this book was full of helpful tips and I really enjoyed reading it

  118. Billy Chan

    The posing of hands in the sample pictures are very useful and helped me with my photoshoots.
    Well written e-book and good information.
    Well worth getting.

  119. Ulrike

    Very helpful, I learned a lot.

  120. Tom Kok

    About “Free Hand Poses Guide For Women” …
    I have read and viewed the PDF, nice tips for portrait and people photography regarding the posture of especially the hands, good advice regarding the position of the fingers, which can indeed look strange in some photos! Educational article!

  121. Nadene

    Really sooo very helpful! Thank you for offering these resources!

  122. E, Mac MacKay

    Great help and very useful both to me and showing new models about what to do with there hands and accessories.

  123. Kerrtigan Evans

    Now I know how to tell them what to do with their hands

  124. Pat

    What great info! Thanks so much!!

  125. Duong

    I really enjoy reading this book.

  126. Ismail

    awesome guide

  127. Marcel Dzaja

    I like those cards. Especially the explaination for each Pose and some other possibilities for them.

  128. Wayne

    How handy and helpful this is, never again will I have uninteresting postures when taking photos, this guide is certainly a must have in your camera bag toolkit.

  129. [email protected]

    It’s a “MUST HAVE” book to have in your toolkit because the posture of hands is an overlooked important aspect of photography and this is great in helping achieve a more professional level of photography. I accidentally pushed the wrong link and downloaded it again. Please don’t charge me for it…

  130. Marshall Blansfield

    Can’t wait to try it on my girls and clients.

  131. Marshall Blansfield

    Can’t wait to test poses out on clients!

  132. Melanie C Goins

    It’s sometimes an issue on what to do with the hands when you’re taking a portrait. They sometimes look awkward or misplaced. The free guide gives you some nice options that you can put to use to improve your shots. It’s informative, shows examples, and sold by PhotoWhoa, so you know it’s good!

  133. Bob

    I always have high school senior girls asking “what do I do with my hands”. This book helps!

  134. Parth

    This Guide is so awesome and anyone who poses like that can look really cool, I really like the creativity of how you came up with such beautiful poses.

  135. JEFFERY

    It is a real handy guide short and to the point.

  136. Nadene Smit

    I have always struggled with this part of posing. But thanks to this guide I now feel super confident and can pose my clients with ease.

  137. BILLY

    really usefull guide, well worth the time to read.

  138. dervish images

    really usefull guide, well worth the time to read

  139. [email protected]

    I find it very useful. It’s easy to miss the hands when concentrating on posing a model especially if you are not an expert.

  140. [email protected]

    This is about more than posing hands, it’s a really nice little starter to posing female models. It’s not fashion magazine stuff but it is the sort of thing that will get you taking better pictures of family, friends and models who are starting out. The hards bit is REALLY useful however. It just covered those basic rules that you need to know so you don’t get ugly hand shapes spoiling otherwise excellent images.

  141. Nasroullah Dinally

    helpful information about where to put the hands in a pose.

  142. Johnson Leung

    Please add menu so that direct access to different poses is possible. Right now I have to slide through all “standing” poses before I can reach “sitting poses”.
    Also the text comes out too easily. Need a setting to suppress the appearance of the text for each image. Thanks

  143. Frank Bruch

    it is all very good!!!

  144. Jean-Louis

    Full of useful information. Well worth getting. To be honest I have never really given it a lot of thought until I read it, but it is something I’ve missed.
    Great stuff

  145. jack zucker

    not really a tutorial on hands posing. More of a general (mediocre) posing guide. More focus on arms than hands.

  146. Peter

    By making ME more aware, I can better help my SUBJECTS relax — and give us BOTH the better images that we both want.

    • Amruta

      Hey Peter, take your time and explore all available options. Let me know how do you like it.

  147. Bruce Walker

    A fairly complete list of basic poses, and explanations of why they work. The author also adds many tips about general things to do or avoid doing, and why. Hands can make or break a shot, so are important. Giving your subject something to do with their hands can relax them and make the difference between okay and great shots.

  148. Al Gillar

    Some good information provided.

  149. Hal

    Very nice – thanks!

  150. Mike

    I was expecting an Ebook so I can read it offline. Instead this is a online course that requires me to have Internet access to view course.

  151. lydia

    great information, thanks!

  152. Claudia

    Thank you!

  153. louis

    useful lnformation thank you

  154. BigBear

    Not realy a revelation, I was familiair with most tips ‘n tricks, but the “deja vu” experience was a good thing to realize the way we work.

  155. Lennard

    Liked them

  156. Lester Strawbridge

    Great advice, I have never really given it a lot of thought until I read it.
    I thought wow this is something that I’ve missed.
    Great stuff

  157. Colin Hart

    Great read

  158. Mike Ling

    Thank you very much.

  159. Jonno

    Full of useful information. Well worth getting.

  160. Martha

    Thank you. Well written e-book and good information.

  161. Pom

    Very useful, Thanks!

  162. Martha

    Thank you. Useful information and well presented.

  163. Wade

    Great information to have “handy” when shooting women.

  164. Ramnath

    Useful one. Thanks for sharing. 🙂

  165. D

    I took a quick look at this tutorial and deleted it. The posing of hands in the sample pictures are stiff, unnatural, worst of all that the back of the hands are facing the camera. Take a closer look at the hands from the original image and discover for yourself.

  166. D

    I very appreciate your great effort to offer products at reasonable and affordable price. I wish you could offer higher quality products than just the average.

  167. CARLOS RUIZ

    to the point and very useful, ill try it right away, i love ur products overall, thanks!!!

    • Amruta

      Wow.. thanks for your kind words Carlos

  168. Sushma

    nice product

  169. Andrzej

    I can’t download the guide. I get “Invalid download link. Go to homepage” message.

    • Amruta

      Sorry for this inconvenience. Just sent you download link. Check your inbox and let you know your thoughts on this freebie 🙂

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