Posing Hands in Portraits: What to Do With Them

Give your hands a job, keep them soft, and set them at a slight angle to the camera. That’s the short answer. Hands look awkward when they have nothing to do and you’re thinking about them too hard, so the fix is almost always a small action: hold something lightly, rest them on something, or let them fall from a relaxed shoulder.

We photograph headshots, actor portraits, team days and personal branding sessions in London, and hands are the thing people worry about most. Usually the first thing we hear at the start of a session is “I never know what to do with my hands.” So here’s what we actually say to people, and what the research and other photographers back up.

Why hands cause so much trouble

Your face is easy. You’ve looked at it in a mirror for years. Your hands are a different story. The moment a camera points at you, you suddenly notice them, and they go stiff, or curl into odd claws, or disappear behind your back.

They matter more than you’d think too. The Society of Photographers makes the point that the way someone stands, sits, turns their head or holds their hands can completely change the feeling of a photograph. In another piece, the SWPP says the placement of hands can either emphasise or detract from the face. So a great expression can be let down by a hand that looks like an afterthought.

The good news is that you don’t need to be a model. You need a few simple rules and a photographer who tells you what to do, rather than leaving you to guess.

Start from the feet, not the hands

Here’s something most people don’t expect. If your hands look wrong, the problem often isn’t in your hands at all.

The usual advice from posing guides is to build the pose from the ground up: feet first, then hips, shoulders, hands and arms, head, and finally eyes and expression. The Society of Photographers lays out exactly that order, and notes that if you skip the base of the pose you tend to get stiff, forced results in the hands and upper body.

What does that look like in practice?

• Shift your weight onto one leg. The hip drops slightly, the shoulder on that side drops too, and the arm hangs more naturally.
• Turn your body a little away from the camera. Standing square on makes arms look wide and hands look big.
• Let your shoulders drop. Raised shoulders pull the arms up and make your hands tense.

We go through this in more detail in our guide to portrait posture, and if you’re not sure whether to stand or sit, our standing versus sitting headshot tests will help. Get the body right and the hands often sort themselves out.

The basic rules for flattering hands

These are the habits we come back to in nearly every session.

Keep fingers soft and slightly curved

Straight, rigid fingers look tense. Fingers that are slightly bent look relaxed. One posing round-up suggests letting your arms hang and keeping fingers slightly curved rather than straight, and that matches what we see on set. Think of how your hand looks when you’re holding a cup of tea, not when you’re making a fist or splaying it flat.

Bend the wrist a little

A dead-straight wrist looks stiff. A small bend, with the hand angled gently, gives a softer line. Not too much though. A big bend looks theatrical and can make the hand look broken.

Turn the hand to the side

A hand facing the camera flat on looks wide and large. Turned so the edge faces the lens, it looks slimmer and more elegant. The SWPP also suggests thinking about which finger is nearest the camera: when the little finger is closest, the hand can look smaller and more refined.

Separate the fingers a touch

Fingers jammed tightly together look like a paddle. A tiny gap between them looks more natural. But don’t spread them like a starfish either.

Keep arms a little away from the body

Pressing your arms tight against your sides squashes them and makes them look wider. A small gap, even a couple of centimetres, gives a cleaner outline and a more relaxed look.

Don’t hide your hands completely

Hands hidden behind your back or buried deep in pockets can make you look closed off. If they’re going in pockets, go partway. One photographer’s advice is to put them only partially in, because a full tuck adds bulk around the hips. Thumbs out is a nice, casual look.

Hand poses that work, pose by pose

Here are the poses we use most, and when each one suits.

We walk through several of these in a studio setting in our headshot posing guide.

The one-arm 90 degree trick

If you only remember one pose, make it this one. Bring one arm across your waist so the elbow bends at roughly a right angle. Let the other hand come up to your collar, or just hang loose. It works for most people, and a photographer who covered the idea in her round-up of hand poses lists it first among her natural solo poses.

The “about to” pose

This one sounds silly, but it works. Bring your hands together in front of you as if you’re about to clasp them or fiddle with a ring, then stop and hold it. You get movement and softness, rather than a locked-in grip.

Give them something to hold

When nothing else works, hand over a prop. A pen, a notebook, a mug, a pair of glasses. Holding something gives your fingers a reason to be where they are, and it tells a story about you at the same time. The National Portrait Gallery notes that props placed purposefully by the sitter are part of how a portrait communicates who someone is.

A nice example is the NPG’s look at Shirin Neshat’s portrait of Malala Yousafzai, where she’s sitting with her hands crossed and one finger lifting the corner of a page. The hands aren’t doing anything dramatic. They’re quietly telling you something about her.

Different tones, different hands

Hands can change the mood of a picture. The SWPP describes how feminine hand poses tend to lean on curves and delicacy, with bent wrists and elbows creating soft lines, while masculine ones often go for strength and angles, with relaxed fists or a slim prop such as a pen.

That’s a handy starting point, but we don’t treat it as a rule. Plenty of our clients want something that doesn’t fit either box, and that’s fine. What matters is the feeling you want to give off:

• Confident and capable: firmer, more angular shapes, arms folded or a hand at the lapel.
• Warm and approachable: open, soft hands, a relaxed gesture, maybe a slight lean forward.
• Creative and thoughtful: a prop, a hand near the chin, hands busy with something real.
• Calm and polished: hands resting lightly together, or one hand over the other.

If you’re after more on how feeling comes through in an image, we’ve written about the role of emotion in visual storytelling portraits.

Hands in headshots (when they barely show)

In a tight headshot your hands may be out of frame completely. So why bother?

Because they still change your shoulders and arms. If your hands are clenched or tucked in oddly, your shoulders go up and your posture tightens, and you can see that in the face. Even when the camera can’t see your hands, we ask you to keep them relaxed, just as if they were in the picture.

For wider crops, such as a half-length executive portrait or a personal branding shot, hands usually show, and then placement really counts. Our executive portrait guide covers how we plan and pose these, and our piece on what to wear for a headshot is worth a look too, because sleeves, cuffs and watches all affect how hands read in the frame.

For actors: hands and the casting shot

Actor headshots are usually tight, so hands tend to matter less in the frame. But actors still get asked to loosen up, and we tell them the same thing: tension in the hands shows up in the shoulders and face. In a more relaxed or full-length frame, a hand in a pocket or resting on a chair can add character without distracting from the eyes.

We’ve written about what really matters in headshots for an actor portfolio if you want to dig into that side.

Seated, standing or leaning: where your hands go

The pose you’re in decides what your hands can do.

Standing: the easiest. Let one arm bend across the waist or tuck one hand partway into a pocket. Keep your weight on one leg.

Seated: hands can rest on your thighs, on the arm of a chair, or on a table. Lean slightly forward from the hips. Watch for hands that go into a tight, fidgety clasp.

Leaning on a wall or desk: one hand can rest on the surface, the other loosely at your side or in a pocket. It’s relaxed, and it works nicely for environmental portraits. Our environmental portrait ideas give you setups to try.

What to do when you feel awkward anyway

Let’s be honest: sometimes you know all the rules and still feel daft. Nerves go straight to your hands. A few things help.

1. Shake them out. Seriously. Shake your hands and arms for a few seconds between frames. It resets the tension.
2. Breathe out. A long exhale drops your shoulders, and your hands follow.
3. Change one thing at a time. The National Portrait Gallery suggests experimenting by changing one element, such as gaze or hand position, and seeing how it shifts the feel of the image. If a pose feels wrong, move only your hands and see what changes.
4. Think of a small action. Imagine you’re about to pick up a pen, or smooth a sleeve. A tiny intention beats a frozen shape.
5. Ask for direction. You aren’t meant to figure it out on your own.

If the whole camera thing makes you tense, our guide on camera shy headshots has breathing and phrases that help. And the same calm applies off camera too. Our friends’ piece on interview body language without rigid rules makes a similar point about hands and posture in a different setting: relaxed and purposeful beats stiff and rehearsed.

Why good direction beats a pose list

Pose lists are helpful, but they only go so far. Everyone’s hands are different. Some are long and narrow, some short and broad. Some people talk with their hands, others keep them still. A pose that looks lovely on one person can look odd on another.

That’s why we direct, rather than hand you a printout. And how we direct matters. Guidance from South Manchester Camera Club says hands can be a vulnerable area, so photographers should give clear, actionable direction rather than touching the sitter. Phrases like “relax your fingers” or “hold it lightly” work well. We do exactly that. You’ll hear things like “let the thumb drop a little” or “turn your hand towards me”, never a physical adjustment.

The National Portrait Gallery also describes a portrait as a collaboration, where posing is a way to communicate personality and emotion. So we ask you what you want to come across as, and we shape the hands around that.

Our view on hands

We’ve done over 500 sessions, and the pattern is always the same. People arrive convinced their hands are the problem. They aren’t. The problem is that nobody’s told them what to do with them.

Our approach is simple. We give you a job for your hands in every frame, we change one small thing at a time, and we show you the back of the camera as we go so you can see what works on you. Usually by the third or fourth frame you’ve stopped thinking about them, and that’s when the good ones appear.

The other thing we’d say is don’t copy a pose from the internet and hold it rigidly. A pose that’s technically right but feels fake will look fake. We’d rather you were slightly imperfect and relaxed, and we’ll tidy the details with honest retouching afterwards.

— Emmet

Want us to direct your hands on the day?

If you’d like someone to talk you through it, that’s what we do. For a London headshot, our Single session is £99 and Professional is £165, and you can see what’s in each on our headshot page. Actors can look at Essential at £75 or Casting at £135 on our actor headshots page. If you want wider frames where hands really show, The Refresh is £120 and The Executive is £450 on our personal branding page.

We shoot in the studio or on location around Fulham and West London, and we turn images around the same week.

Quick checklist before your shoot

• Wear sleeves and cuffs that fit and aren’t going to bunch up.
• Moisturise your hands the day before, and tidy your nails.
• Keep jewellery simple if you don’t want it pulling the eye.
• Practise one or two poses in a mirror, but don’t memorise them.
• Shake out your hands before you start.
• Tell your photographer if there’s anything you’re self-conscious about, such as a scar or a ring you’d rather leave out.

FAQ

What should I do with my hands in photos?

Give them a simple job. Rest one hand lightly on the other arm, put a thumb in a pocket, hold a small prop, or let your arms hang with soft, slightly curved fingers. Keep your shoulders dropped, because tension there travels straight down to your hands.

How do I hold my arms in pictures?

Keep a small gap between your arms and your body so they don’t look squashed. A bent elbow, like an arm across the waist, usually looks more natural than a straight, locked arm. Turn your body slightly away from the camera rather than standing square on.

Should hands be visible in a headshot?

In a tight headshot they often won’t be in the frame, but relaxed hands still keep your shoulders and posture loose. In a half-length or environmental portrait they usually show, so placement matters more. Your photographer can decide the crop and pose together.

Is it better to hide my hands?

Not completely. Hands tucked fully behind your back or deep in pockets can look closed off. Showing part of the hand, such as thumbs out of pockets, keeps the look natural and relaxed.

Sources

• Hands hands and more hands, SWPP
• How to Pose People for Better Photos, The Society of Photographers
• How to create a photographic portrait, National Portrait Gallery
• Photographic portraiture: props and staging, National Portrait Gallery
• Telling stories through portraits: changemakers, National Portrait Gallery
• Guidance for Photographing Models, South Manchester Camera Club
• What to Do With Your Hands in Photos, PureWow

Recommended

• Look Natural in Minutes: Photographer Tested Portrait Posture
• Headshot Posing: 8 Poses Tested in Studio for Natural Photos
• Headshot poses for men: 8 go-to looks to nail confidence
• Headshot Angles: How to Find Your Best Side