21 Natural Posing Prompts To Get Better Couples Photos

I’ve been doing more and more portraits lately and I find that at a certain point during the appointment I run out of prompts to give clients. I always want to try to get natural looking photos instead of stiff posed ones. Genuine laughs and playful moments always end up being my favorite photos! Today I’m just focusing on couples shots – most of these are appropriate for an engagement or anniversary shoot, but a couple of these can work for a maternity shoot as well!

The Run And Jump: Have one person stand still while the other runs up and jumps into their arms. The jumping partner bends their knees and brings their feet up off the ground.

The Run, Jump, and Spin: same as the run and jump but have the couple spin in a circle. Legs can be bent or wrapped around their partner.

The Sneak From Behind: Have one person sneak up behind their partner and surprise them by grabbing their waist.

The Hug From Behind: This one can be done either sitting down or standing up, depending on the heights of your clients. If they’re roughly the same height, have one person kneel behind their partner and hug from behind. This also works on steps.

The Side Hug And Sway: Have them side hug, sway back and forth and look into each others eyes.

The Ring Shot: Wide aperture. Have one person on your left side holding the left hand of their partner in front of you. Focus on the ring!

The Slow Dance And Twirl: The couple slow dances with a twirl (arm over head).

The Spin Out: One person stands still while holding one hand of their partner. Their partner spins in and out towards them while wrapping their arms around the spinning partner’s waist.

The Spin Out With A Dip: For those who are comfortable, add a dip after the partner spins inward

The “Come With Me” Walk: One person walks in front of the other while they’re holding hands. The person in front looks back at their partner.

The Splash: At the beach, have them lightly kick water at each other.

The Watch The Sunset: The couple sits together facing away from the camera looking at the sunset. One partner puts their head on the other’s shoulder or goes in for a kiss.

The Slow Walk: Have the couple slowly walk away from you and towards you again slowly. Every few steps have them kiss or look at each other.

The Hip Check: Have the couple side hug and walk towards you while bumping each other’s hips every few steps.

The Piggy Back Sway: Have the couple do a piggy back and sway back and forth – it’s definitely going to give them some laughs!

The Kiss With Your Teeth: This one is meant to just get your clients to laugh with their faces close together. Have them try to kiss just with their teeth and not their lips!

The Slow Dance: Turn on some slow music and dance the night away. My favorite is La Vie En Rose by Chloé Stafler – it’s not too slow and it’s super romantic (because anything in French sounds more romantic in my opinion).

The Touch But Don’t Kiss: Have them touch their noses together, nose to cheek, forehead to forehead, forehead to temple, etc.

The Mirror: Have the couple face each other and lightly touch their hands or fingertips together. Have them move their hands and try to mirror each other’s movements. This can lead into holding hands.

The Backpack: The shorter person stands behind their partner and wraps their arms through the armpits and reaches up towards their partner’s shoulders.

The OMG You Just Proposed: Have the couple re-enact their proposal, even if it’s already happened. Keep in mind if the ground is wet, you want to do this at the very end so there isn’t a wet spot on the proposer’s knee throughout the shoot.

Your main goal with these prompts is to get your clients to connect with each other, to have fun, and be as comfortable as possible in front of the camera. Do you have prompts you use often? Please let me know in the comments!

Let’s create some memories.

Kim