For all the women out there who hate having their photos taken – here are my favorite Photoshop-free tips for better portraits!  Because… Admit it… One day your kids are gonna love seeing you in these photos (and you should, too)!

1.  Scoot to the edge of whatever you’re sitting on.  If you’re sitting at the back of a chair or bench or sofa, your thighs will look flat and wide.  So scoot to the edge and let gravity be your friend!
2. Put your weight on your back leg. Turn your body at a slight angle to the camera.  Whichever leg is furthest away from the camera, that’s the leg you want to shift your weight to.  Then pop up your heel on the other leg and give a little flirty shoulder. Now you’ve got (smaller) curves in all the right places!
3. Put your arms around me, baby! If you’re in a couple’s pose, have your hubba-hubba put his arms around your arms, instead just around your torso.  If he wraps his arms around your waist and your arms end up resting on top of his, they’ll look flat and wide.  So get cozy inside HIS arms!
4. Create a little space between your arms and your body. If you arms are stuck to the side of you, then your torso looks twice it’s size. No, thank you!  Lift your arm away (put a hand on a hip, or just move your elbow away from your body) so that you can see between your torso and your arm.  We don’t do this naturally, so when you see your picture with your torso the size it actually is (instead of torso+arms glued to torso), you’ll be pleasantly surprised!
5. Put your best foot…er… feature forward.  I don’t like my gut or my hips, but I do get lots of compliments on my eyes and my smile.  Therefore, I tend to lean forward with my shoulders just slightly.  That brings the focus of the photo to the areas of my body that I don’t mind so much.  So far I haven’t had anyone try to push their tush toward the camera, but let me just say if you’re older than four…. don’t…
6. Be quiet.  When getting family portraits taken, it is soooooo tempting as a mom to try to draw the best out of your kids (or your husband) with funny comments or strange sounds or bribes… What you end up with is a bunch of photos where you’re lips and eyebrows are in a weird shape.  So give yourself more photos to choose from in the end by just concentrating on giving your best smile and letting the photographer draw great smiles out of your kids.  (I’m sorry to all the photographers I sabotaged by not doing this with my own family!)
7. BREATHE! Yes, it’s important to be relaxed and enjoy the session, but what I really mean by this is to wear a waistband that let’s you breathe!  You want to be comfortable during your portrait session!

Those are my favorite posing secrets for women like me!  I hope they help you go to your next portrait session confidently.  Remember…  You are beautiful and worth getting your portrait taken.  Like I always say, you’re gonna love seeing yourself in these photos someday!