Sometimes you need your kids to look straight to the camera and smile or you want your subjects to do something to capture a moment or an emotion.

Sometimes it is fine to coach them so that you can compose a great shot.

Today I’m going to start a new series, to let you in on a few of my favourite poses and how to encourage the subjects to do them.

One of my favourite poses is ‘hugging cheek to cheek’.

• When you use this it allows you to take extremely close up face shots, without cropping too much out or having too much space that is not filled (dead space).
• It shows closeness, love, friendship between the subjects.
• Ivy and Noah have just learned the art of this pose. So I’d say it is a good one to use from the age three and up, although Imogen and Madeline were using it from about two years of age.

• You can use it for three people as well. I’ll ask Immy and Maddy to go cheek to cheek with Lily in the middle when I want one of the three big girls and it is also great as a foundation when I want all of the kids in together.

• There are variations on the cheek to cheek, such as the kiss on the cheek. Very cute, if you are looking for that factor!

• Cheek to cheek can be done standing up or lying on bellies but standing with arms wrapped around each other is my favourite.

My kids are so used to this stance they don’t think anything of it when I ask them for that pose but with other kids and sometimes adults they think it’s a little odd.

The girls’ friends are starting to get used to me now and I usually warn them they are fair game when they walk in the door but in the beginning I had to jolly them into it.

They would stand in a line with very little emotion. You would not know to look at them that they were best friends. I’d say things like, “Come on, girls, look like you like each other, cheek to cheek, hug each other, I know there is a lot of that going on in the playground, now you just have to do it in front of a camera!”

It usually gets a good laugh and they relax a bit or pull funny faces (which can be a good thing). I just snap away a series of photos as they lark around.

• The belly to belly variant is great for portraying love and comfort.

Try getting the subjects to do the cheek to cheek post then ask them to pull away from the hug and look at each other. Sometimes it’s even okay to coach them in looks.

For example, you could direct one of the subjects to look directly to the camera, while the other is looking towards that person.

It conveys a level of intimacy.

Good for mums and children or boyfriend/girlfriend (not that I am in that place yet), even sisters.

• Another variant of the cheek to cheek is the cheek to chest.

I like to get lots of natural photos of my kids. I want to capture what their life was like and what they did but I think there is also space for coaching so that you can capture something that you might have already seen or want to portray.

I hope you like these ideas.

I would love to hear if you have any particular poses that you like and use!

When Tiff isn’t spouting photography tips, she is blogging about life with seven little Australians over at Three Ring Circus.