Photographer Teaches Posing to Prove Anyone Can Be Photogenic

A posing coach and portrait photographer has a mission to help people who believe they aren’t photogenic.

David Suh, from Sacramento, California, runs a course entitled “How to be Photogenic in 30 Days,” as well as sharing quick and easy tutorials from his TikTok page.

@davidsuh Had this cool guy at the studio @withloveaugust ♬ VICTOR X DONT DULL Midé Naike – midenaike

The 26-year-old has posted dozens of clips where he explains how to pose properly for different kinds of photos. He offers tips on how to “level up” Instagram selfies, how to pose for graduation photos, and explains the best outfits for photo shoots.

Posing Techniques

Suh’s overarching philosophy is based confidence and authenticity, but he has specific poses that he likes to teach such as leaning against a wall.

“Kick the hip out a little bit away from the wall, then lean into the wall. Then use natural hand placements from grabbing the jacket button to grabbing the fingers,” he says in a YouTube video.

While this is a standard pose, Suh then likes to direct the subject to a more “fashion” pose by doing something more unusual against the wall.

“I love putting an editorial and magazine twist to my portraits. I don’t want it to look too traditional of a LinkedIn headshot kind of vibe,” he explains.

“Something you can do is stand further away from the wall and lean with your shoulder. What makes this have that fashion look is the fact that we don’t do this every day. A lot of fashion poses are meant to be striking so it captures the viewer’s attention so doing an exaggerated move is what gives that fashion look.”

@davidsuh

Always remember – you are the sunset 🥰

♬ original sound – David Suh

Another pose Suh likes is using a flight of stairs, a common feature in cities.

“One of my favorite things to do is give a strong masculine look by sitting wide-legged. You can go for various leans forward while keeping your chest forward. Opening up your energy towards the camera is what gives off a commanding badass energy.”

“You can also very easily turn this around and make it a softer look by turning to the side slightly and doing a leg crossover instead. As we turn our energy away from the camera we have a softer look. Turning to the side can also have a slimming effect.”

A third technique Suh encourages is to bring the camera lower down and place one leg on a slightly higher platform than the other.

“Having one foot higher will let you kick that booty out even more. A simple hand placement on your leg and go for a lean over the camera. Have fun with the hand placement for the other hand.

You can see more of Suh’s work by visiting his website, TikTok and Instagram.

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