TRUE NORTH VINYASA
  • TEACHER TRAININGS
    • 200 hr vinyasa teacher training Portugal >
      • APPLICATION APRIL 2023
      • APPLICATION NOVEMBER 2023
      • FAQ:s
      • Deposit payment
      • OUR PORTUGAL VENUE
    • 50 HR ADVANCED TRAINING SWITZERLAND >
      • BOOKING SEPTEMBER 2023
      • Deposit Switzerland
      • FAQ:s Immersion
  • TESTIMONIALS
  • FREE CLASS
  • FREE INFO TALK
  • ABOUT
    • TRUE NORTH VINYASA
    • ELIN JENSEN
    • LISA ANDERSSON RHODINER
    • GUEST FACULTY
    • ONLINE CLASSES
  • Stories
  • Contact

Stories and Insights
from the
World of Teaching and Living
Vinyasa Flow Yoga
​

Yoga Photography Posing Course

11/17/2022

 
Picture
Marketing is uncomfortable for many yoga teachers. It can feel egocentric to talk about yourself and your strengths. It can feel show-off-y to pose in front of a camera. But of course, if you want someone to attend your class, you may have to promote yourself to some degree. Generic stock photography might feel like a good idea at first. But it's not personal and it's a missed opportunity to be authentic. So let's talk about posing for yoga pictures. Here are our top tips and tricks. The list is based on years of working with our in-house talent, photographer Isla Grossi, and it's a compilation of our combined experience. 

Prepare well:
  1. Spend some time on your brand. Consider your purpose as a yoga teacher, as well as your core values and how you can get them across in your classes. Doing this will help you decide poses, locations and outfits. Is playfulness important to you? Show it in your pictures. Is spirituality important? Get that across visually. 
  2. Consider who your target audience is – who most appreciate your classes? Having some clarity here will also help you decide the details. Will they be inspired by your one-handed handstand, or just intimidated?
  3. Hire a professional photographer.
  4. Have a plan, image by image so you can be efficient and professional. 
  5. If your photographer doesn't know yoga, bring another yoga teacher or yoga practitioner who can help you with alignment details. It makes a big difference. 
  6. Taking pictures in a few different outfits and colours, in different hair styles and locations might be useful. Make it look like several photo shoots, basically.
  7. Arrange a few pictures with a lot of sky or an empty wall or floor where you can place text in promotional material.
  8. Some close-up details of hands and feet can be very useful.
  9. Simple is usually a good idea.  
  10. Be respectful of cultural and religious symbols and attributes that are not fully yours.

Yoga photography things that may not work for everyone:
  • Yogi squat - tends to draw the mind to urgent pee-breaks and crotches.
  • Headstand straight up - strangely enough doesn't look very interesting. A leg variation makes all the difference. 
  • Goddess pose has a tendency to not photograph very well.
  • Standing splits unless you are extremely flexible tends to look unimpressive.
  • Forward folds tend to not invite the viewer in.
  • Anything with a lot of butt, like Downward facing dog or Puppy pose means some angles just won't work.
  • Low to the ground arm balances, like Eight angle pose, can be hard to photograph well.

Yoga photography things that usually work well:
  • Warriors and lunges usually look accessible but strong.
  • Side plank variations are also strong and your face is shown.
  • Twists, looking over the shoulder, usually photograph well.
  • Dynamic backbends like Dancer's pose or Wild thing tend to photograph well.
  • Arm and hand variations can be good for close-ups or to put a personal twist on a simple pose like High lunge.
  • A non-typical outfit can also add personality to a simple pose (jeans, boots, a hat...).
  • A smile takes the edge off and a serious face can make you look more spiritual.

All this is general but maybe helpful if you are about to get (possibly) out of your comfort zone and into yoga photography posing. Have fun and good luck!

    Author

    Articles about the world of teaching and living Vinyasa Flow Yoga by Elin Jensen and Lisa Andersson Rhodiner

    Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    July 2022
    April 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    November 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    April 2021
    January 2021
    November 2020
    October 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    October 2019
    September 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    January 2019
    October 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    May 2018
    January 2018
    August 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017

    Categories

    All
    Teaching Vinyasa
    True North Graduate Stories
    Yoga Teacher Training

    RSS Feed

POLICY TEACHER TRAININGS
POLICY IMMERSIONS
©TrueNorthVinyasa 2021
Sign up for our newsletter!
Photo used under Creative Commons from shixart1985
  • TEACHER TRAININGS
    • 200 hr vinyasa teacher training Portugal >
      • APPLICATION APRIL 2023
      • APPLICATION NOVEMBER 2023
      • FAQ:s
      • Deposit payment
      • OUR PORTUGAL VENUE
    • 50 HR ADVANCED TRAINING SWITZERLAND >
      • BOOKING SEPTEMBER 2023
      • Deposit Switzerland
      • FAQ:s Immersion
  • TESTIMONIALS
  • FREE CLASS
  • FREE INFO TALK
  • ABOUT
    • TRUE NORTH VINYASA
    • ELIN JENSEN
    • LISA ANDERSSON RHODINER
    • GUEST FACULTY
    • ONLINE CLASSES
  • Stories
  • Contact