SENIOR PICTURES - poses for a guy . . . UUGGGHHHHH

If you PM me your email, I can send you what both of my sons did. I was really happy with them, and mine were, like yours, not sporty or formal.

ETA: If you like a photographer, odds are that professional will give you fabulous results as far as poses, etc.

My favorite shots of DD's guy friends this year, have been the casual ones leaning back against a wooden fence...or sitting against a post on a wooden bridge. Not sure what locations you have, but I also like the ones of guys against a brick building...masculine, but still casual. Good luck! The whole thing stressed me out too!!

The ones taken outside and the background trees or whatever are slightly blurred always look nice to me.

Just don't do the ones where the guy has his hand under his chin gazing thoughtfully into the distance...as if he is contemplating his future...arrggghhhh....

I hate those!!!

My son is getting his done tomorrow. I feel for you with the struggle. My son is like yours that he really doesn't love pictures, but I assured the photographer that he will cooperate but it is definitely not something he is looking forward to.

As far as poses, I forwarded the photographer about 5-7 poses I saw on Pintrest that I (and my son did too)liked so that she could see what our style is so to speak and then I figured form there, she is the professional so I will let her handle it.

Good luck to him (and you!)

well, frankly, SHE should be doing the research on poses.  I'd never admit I didn't know what I was doing to a client. lol.
It's good that she wants to know about his hobbies and interests tho.  Remember, the photos are about him, not about what you like mom.  (I had a mom that wanted her punk rocker kid posed with a stream and a fence.  He looked so out of place.)

I like the leaning on something poses for guys as well. Does he have a favorite place in town? How about at home?

My son has a new to him car and we'll be incorporating that into his pictures. (It's a 1970 Volvo.)

ETA: it's true that boys generally aren't as adventurous in front of a camera as the girls are.   Boys do well when given something to do with their hands or something to lean against.  They need poses that encourage them to relax.   With my nephew, I had him lean on old walls, sit on the ground, and even jump in the air for me.   The jump one ended up being a favorite.  He was posed on a very quite block of a main street in town, so there he was jumping in the air with his town behind him.  It worked really well and jumping in the air and being silly loosened him up for 10-15 minutes.    

You might also consider asking if your son can have a friend along, if you think that will help him relax.  Some boys feel silly with a friend watching, but often the boys talk and joke and it helps the subject relax for the camera.   

My photographer (see my post about my dd's senior pictures) actually told my dd to look on Pintrest. She does have a hobby (as is evident in the pictures) but the photographer wanted dd to find ideas that she wanted to do. I would still have your son look at Pintrest and get some ideas. I had a photographer do my wedding shots and he never asked what we wanted. We had no close ups!

I say dont stress about it. My kid had his senior pics done 2 yrs ago. Like your son, getting pics taken was not on his "priority" list at. all. he is a thrifty kid and did not understand WHY we wanted to spend $ on something like that. His "dressy" outfit was a nice button down shirt that HE picked out and a pair of jeans. ALL of his photos turned out great and my favorites of him are when he is not smiling. We did get one smiling photo that I love. But he just take a better pic when he is more serious looking. We had an indoor and outdoor shoot. he had a few sitting on some steps that turned out nice, others he was leaning against a brick or full wood wall. We did have one taken of him and his dog, she sat next to him so proudly... that one he was standing and they were in front of an old garage door. But my favorite pic of all of them, he was standing in an ally, everything behind him is blurry and he is in focus. he is smiling and he has his hands in his pockets.

I would be happy to email you a few pics as well, Just send PM me with your email addy.

We were very pleased with our son's senior photos last year. I knew the photographer's work with boys and had seen his work years before and knew immediately that he was who we were going to use when the time came. I have photos from both in his studio and outside. Here's one of our favorites -

DS's only real interest in getting pictures done was picking out
a few new shirts and a pair of shoes Just not important to him.
So I let the photographer take charge. She asked about sports
and hobbies (same, nothing he wanted pics of). So we did
backdrops in the city (bricks, walls, coffee shop, etc.).

He had a good time, he looked very grown up and handsome, and it's done.
My stress level was merely my own "holy crap, he's a Senior!"

I will suggest having him wear a white undershirt, so he can quick change
anywhere. Very easy.

My favorite picture of my son was of him in his jeans, vans, and a t-shirt against a brick wall. That is who he was, at that time. My daughters are coming up this year. She is already buying clothes for certain "looks". She is a whole different ballgame.

A good photographer will get your son to relax and try different things. He needs to realize that just because they try a pose, that doesn't mean it's one of the ones you are going to purchase. When I looked for a senior photographer, I looked for one who had photographed a bunch of boys in poses that I liked. The fact that he isn't into sports or hobbies might only impact the number of different poses, but the basic poses will be the same.