Almost every single person says the same thing to me at the start of their session.

"Just so you know, I'm really awkward in photos."

"I don't know how to pose. You'll have to tell me what to do."

"Please don't make me do anything weird."

And I love hearing it, honestly, because it means I get to tell you the thing that usually makes people's shoulders drop with relief.

You don't need to know how to pose. That's my job.

Posing is my job, not yours

Let's get this straight before we start.

You are not coming to a family photography session with a list of poses memorised. You are not expected to know what to do with your hands, or where to look, or how to angle your chin. That's like being asked to perform your own dental work before the dentist arrives.

Your only jobs are:

  1. Show up.
  2. Let me guide you.

Everything else is on me. And I've thought about so that you don't have to.

Whether you're here for family photos, a maternity session or newborn photography, you don't need to arrive knowing how to pose. That's part of what I'm there for as your photographer.

Pregnant woman at maternity photoshoot in white lace dress cradling bump at Sydney Harbour Bridge during golden hour sunset.
A smiling woman sits on a bed holding a newborn while a young boy in a green shirt hugs her from behind during in home newborn photoshoot.

I already know the poses before we start

Here's something you probably won't notice on the day.

Before we begin, I already have a range of poses in mind. I know roughly what we're going to do, where the light is going to be best, and which shots I'm aiming for with your family.

Not a rigid script. A plan. I've been doing this long enough that a relaxed photography session has a shape to it, and I'm steering us gently through that shape the entire time. You're just along for the ride.

So when I say "put your hand just there, turn your chin towards me, now look at her like she's told you something ridiculous," you don't have to think about it. You just get to do it, and then we move on.

Comfort comes first (and it shows when it doesn't)

This is the part that matters most, and it's the reason I don't force anything.

If you don't feel comfortable, it will show in the photos.

It's not subtle, either. A forced pose reads on camera as exactly what it is: tension in the shoulders, a smile that doesn't reach the eyes, hands that are clearly being held in position by willpower alone.

I can spot it in a second. So can you, when you look at the gallery. That's why I'm not chasing a shape. I'm chasing the moment just after the shape, when you forget to hold it.

If something feels unnatural, say so. That's genuinely useful information, not you being difficult. We'll change it.

That's also why I love natural family photos so much. You don't need to look perfect or perform for the camera. You just need to feel comfortable enough to be yourself.

Prompts, not poses

The trick, and it's really not a trick, it's just the honest way of doing this, is that I don't pose you so much as I prompt you.

A pose is: "stand like this, hold it."

A prompt is: "tell him what you were thinking about on the drive here."

Do you see the difference? One makes you a mannequin. The other makes you laugh, and a laugh can't be faked, and that's the photo.

So instead of holding a stiff shape, you'll be doing actual things. Whispering something. Taking three steps towards each other. Picking up your toddler and pretending she's a rocket ship. Walking away from me and then turning back when I call your name.

You'll be doing the thing. The photo happens while you're doing it.

That's the kind of family photography I love. The photographs feel natural because you're actually experiencing the moment rather than just trying to look like you're experiencing it.

Pregnant woman in red dress and man in blue shirt hold hands with toddler son while walking in green field at Rouse Hill Regional Park.
Black and white photo of a happy family with two young children laughing together with their parents in a sunny field in Rouse Hill.
Family of four playing and dancing together in a golden field in Rouse Hill Regional Park at sunset, parents twirling children around.

With children, we go with the flow

If there are children involved, the plan becomes a suggestion.

Kids don't hold poses, and any photographer who tells you otherwise is going to hand you a gallery full of forced grins. Your toddler will run. Your baby will want to be fed at exactly the wrong moment. Your seven-year-old will announce that he's finished, and he will be finished.

That's fine. We go with the flow.

Some of the very best frames I've ever taken happened in the seconds between the "official" shots: a sister grabbing her brother's hand, a dad lifting his daughter up and her mouth open in a full, genuine laugh, a toddler leaning in for a kiss that nobody asked for.

You cannot plan those. You can only be ready for them, and let them happen.

This is especially important when you're looking for a family photographer in the Hills District who works with children rather than expecting children to behave like tiny adults for the camera.

The moments in between

I want to say something about the in-between moments, because they're my favourite part of this whole job.

Between the planned shots, there's a rhythm to a session. You relax. You stop performing. Someone says something funny and you actually laugh. Your child buries their face in your neck.

Those are the photos people frame. Not the ones where everyone was looking at the camera.

And here's the thing. Nobody has to do anything for those moments to happen. They happen on their own, exactly when they're supposed to. My job is just to notice.

That's what I want your family photography session to feel like. Less about getting everyone to look perfect and more about capturing the connection that's already there.

A few things that actually help

You don't need to memorise any of this, but if you want something to hold onto:

  • Bring the kids' favourite toy. Not to pose with. To make them feel safe. A calm child is a photogenic child.
  • Wear something you can move in. If you can't lift your arms or sit on the ground, we can't do much. Comfort always photographs better than tight.
  • Don't get a fresh spray tan the day before, or do anything that normally isn't 'you'.
  • Eat before you come. Hungry people are sometimes hangry, stiff people, and that goes for adults too.
  • Warn me about anything you're self-conscious about. Your arms, your teeth, a scar, your left side. I'd so much rather know. I'll change the angles and you'll never see it once.
  • Tell me if you hate something. Mid-session honesty is always better than a gallery you don't love.

You're going to be okay

Here's what actually happens for most people.

The first five minutes feel a bit stiff. That's completely normal, and I expect it.

Somewhere around the ten-minute mark, you forget I'm there to take photos of you. Your child does something ridiculous, you laugh, and I get the photo.

And then at the end, when you look at the back of my camera, you say the thing I hear more than any other: "Oh, that's actually me."

That's not because you suddenly learned how to pose. It's because you stopped trying to, and I was ready.

So if the only thing holding you back is the fear that you'll be awkward, then book it. Being awkward is genuinely fine.

It's my job to make sure it never makes it into the photo.