Photo poses for friends that look like you are actually having fun

What poses work for friends?

Stick to poses that already feel like what friends do: walking side by side, sitting on a wall, clinking cups, leaning shoulders together or laughing. They need almost no explanation, which matters when the person holding the phone has never directed anyone.

In Posepass the Group situation holds 15 drawn poses for three or more people, such as Shoulder to shoulder, Walk toward the camera, Bench row, Arms around, Cheers and Laugh break. For two friends, the Couple situation has poses like Follow me, Walk and look, Laugh together and Dance step, and they work for any pair.

How do I make it look natural?

Give the group something to do before the camera comes up. Tell one story, count down together, or have everyone say a word at the same time. The cues in Posepass for group poses include talk to each other, lean your heads in a little and make it a game, not a pose.

Avoid the long pause that starts when someone says ready. People freeze and their smiles go stiff. Start the action first, then ask the photographer to start shooting.

What should the photographer do?

Stand back, hold the phone at chest height and keep everyone inside the thirds, with a little space above heads and at the sides. Step back before you zoom. With three or more people, the 0.5x lens fits everyone in a small space, but keep people toward the middle of the frame, because the edges of a wide shot stretch faces.

1. Choose a pose together and read the directions out loud.
2. Set the phone at chest height and check the level.
3. Fit everyone in with a little space on the sides.
4. Shoot a burst of about five frames.
5. Look at the result, then run it again with one change.

How do we fit everyone in?

Space is the usual problem. The 0.5x lens is an ultra wide camera that fits more of the scene in, and it exaggerates anything near the lens, as Wikipedia explains in its page on perspective distortion. Keep faces away from the edges and step a pace back, then let the lens do the rest.

Heads at different heights make a better picture than a flat row. Ask the tallest person to bend a little, or have one friend sit and the others stand behind. Posepass has Two rows, Steps cascade and Bench row for this.

What if one of us is camera shy?

Put the shy friend in the middle, since the group frames them, and give them the simplest job, like looking at the person next to them. Show the first result immediately. Seeing a good frame calms most people more than any reassurance does.

Let the group make a few silly frames first. After a bad joke and a few throwaway frames, the serious ones usually come out better.

Can we take friend photos with a timer?

Yes. Rest the phone on a bench or bag, set the timer and run into position. Posepass has Four on a timer, which asks for a steady phone, the timer and everyone close together. The iPhone timer offers 3 and 10 seconds, and ten seconds is the right choice for a group that has to walk back into the frame.

How do I send the pose to a friend?

Open the pose and tap Send to my photographer. The text carries a link that opens that pose with directions for whoever holds the phone. It saves you from explaining, and your friend can read steps on their own phone before you start. See the pose library for how poses are organized.

A simple order for a short session

Ten minutes is enough for a good set.

• Start with a walking shot, so nobody poses yet.
• Move to a seated shot on a bench, wall or steps.
• Do a laugh shot with the photographer ready right after the joke.
• Finish with a close shot, heads in, for the keeper.

What do we do with the photos afterward?

Pick one, delete the near duplicates the same day and share it. A card with the pose name makes it easy for the others to try the same shot. See share cards.

How do two friends pose together?

Two people can walk, talk or lean into each other. A hand-in-hand walk is not only for couples. Friends can link arms or walk side by side with a small gap. The Posepass pose Follow me has one person leading and the other trailing a step behind, which makes a story out of a walk.

Keep both people at the same distance from the lens. If one is closer, they look bigger. Shoulder to shoulder fixes this, and a low phone height makes the pair look taller.

Which poses are good for a night out?

Low light is hard on phones. Choose poses that keep everyone still for a moment, such as Cheers, heads in or a table shot. Move toward a light source, hold the phone steady with both hands or rest it on a table, and ask the group to freeze for a second after the shutter sounds.

The Posepass pose Cheers sits at a table with an eye-level phone and a frame to the waist. Hands raised give faces a prop and the clink gives a reason to laugh.

What are some funny friend poses?

Funny poses work when everyone commits. Try a synchronized jump, a stare in a line, a dramatic walk away, or everybody pointing at something off camera. Silly frames take the pressure off, and the pose after them is usually the best of the set.

Posepass has Jump together and Walk away together in the Group situation, and Dance step and Twirl for pairs. Count down from three out loud and keep the phone low with the 0.5x lens, so the sky or the street fills the frame.