60 couple photo ideas: at home, outside and faceless

The best couple photo ideas are small and a little ordinary. Think of the two of you cooking, your hands around one mug, your shadows on a sidewalk at five o’clock, or one of you mid-laugh with your eyes shut. Every idea here works with a phone and a timer. Below are 60 of them, grouped by where you are and how much of your faces you want to show, with tips on light, timers, bursts and framing at the end.

Couple photo ideas at home

Home is where you look most like yourselves, so it’s the easiest place to start. Most of these work just as well on an ordinary weeknight as on one of your date night ideas at home.

1. Cooking side by side. Prop the phone on the counter while one of you stirs and the other steals a taste off the spoon. Flour on a cheek is a bonus.
2. Coffee in bed. Two mugs, rumpled sheets, a window behind you. Shoot from the foot of the bed with the timer.
3. Reading on the couch. Sit at opposite ends with your legs tangled in the middle, each lost in a different book.
4. The blanket fort. Build one out of chairs and a duvet, hang string lights inside and shoot from the entrance.
5. Dancing in the kitchen. Put on one song and shoot a burst while you spin. Most frames will blur, and one of them will be your favorite photo of the year.
6. Brushing your teeth in the mirror. Foam, bedhead and all. It’s the least glamorous photo on this list and the one you’ll laugh at most.
7. Game night standoff. Cards in hand, both of you glaring over the top. Shoot from table height so the cards fill the front of the frame.
8. The puzzle from above. Stand on a chair and shoot straight down at four hands reaching for pieces.
9. Window light portrait. Stand side by side facing a big window in the afternoon. The soft light does the work a photographer would.
10. Takeout on the floor. Containers spread across a blanket, chopsticks mid-air, the TV glowing behind you.

Try it today: Prop your phone on a shelf tonight, set the 10-second timer and take one photo of the two of you doing whatever you were already doing. Don’t tidy up first.

Outdoor couple photo ideas

Outdoor photos are mostly about light. Go out in the hour before sunset if you can, and bring something to lean the phone on.

11. Walking away down a path. Set the timer, walk away from the camera holding hands and don’t look back. Leafy trails and empty streets both work.
12. Golden hour on any street. Stand with the low sun behind you so it puts a thin line of light around your hair and shoulders.
13. A picnic from above. Lie head to head on a blanket with the food around you, and have the phone shoot straight down from standing height.
14. Under one umbrella. Rain makes the street shine. Huddle under one umbrella and let the wet sidewalk reflect the lights behind you.
15. Farmers market haul. Arms full of bags, one of you holding up the strangest vegetable you bought.
16. The photo booth. If you pass one, squeeze in and make a different face in each frame. Keep the strip in a wallet or phone case.
17. Sharing one ice cream. One cone, two people, a drip running down someone’s wrist.
18. Leaf piles and snow. Jump into a pile of leaves in the fall, or lie in fresh snow, and shoot from above.
19. The top of a hike. Red cheeks, messy hair, a view behind you. Wedge the phone between two rocks and set the timer.
20. Your regular spot. The café, diner or bench you always go back to, at your usual table with your usual order. In a few years you’ll be glad you have it.

Couple photo ideas without showing your faces

Faceless couple photos are good for a profile picture, a post you want to keep private, or days when neither of you feels camera-ready. They still look like the two of you.

21. Hands across a table. Your two hands reaching for each other between coffee cups at a café.
22. Feet from above. Stand toe to toe and shoot straight down. Mismatched socks and very different sneakers say a lot.
23. Shadows on the sidewalk. In late afternoon your shadows stretch long. Hold hands and photograph only the shadows.
24. Backs to the camera. Sit on a bench, a dock or a low wall facing a view, and shoot from behind.
25. Silhouette at sunset. Stand between the phone and a bright sky, tap the sky to set the exposure, and your outlines turn dark.
26. A hug from behind. Shoot over one person’s shoulder so you see arms wrapped around a waist and the back of a head.
27. A reflection in a puddle or window. A shop window or a rain puddle blurs your faces just enough to keep you anonymous.
28. Holding something together. Two hands around one bunch of flowers, one snow globe or one very full mug.
29. Feet off the edge. Bare feet hanging off a dock over the water, or sneakers up on the dashboard on a road trip.
30. Faces hidden on purpose. Hold up menus, books, sunflowers or two takeout cups in front of your faces. Playful, and still private.

Aesthetic couple photo ideas

These are the ones you’d print or post. Most of the look comes from light and a plain background.

31. Flash at night. Turn the flash on, stand close to the phone after dark, and let the background fall away. It looks like a disposable camera shot.
32. Through a rainy window. Sit inside looking out, tap the raindrops on the glass to focus on them, and let the two of you go soft behind.
33. A matching palette. Wear cream and denim, or two shades of green, and stand against a plain wall in the same tones.
34. Morning sheets. White bedding, window light and tangled arms. Slide the brightness up a little for a soft, washed-out look.
35. Traffic streaks. Prop the phone near a busy road at dusk with Live Photo on and hold still. In the Photos app, switch the shot to Long Exposure and the cars turn into streaks of light.
36. Black and white close-up. Foreheads together, eyes closed, then turned black and white in the editor.
37. Through a doorway. Stand inside a door frame, an arch or an open window so its edges frame you like a picture.
38. Wildflowers in front. Crouch low and shoot through tall grass or flowers so they blur across the bottom of the photo.

Cute couple photo poses

Poses look natural when your hands and eyes have a job. Each of these is a small action, so you can do it over and over until you stop laughing.

39. The forehead kiss. One of you kisses the other’s forehead while they close their eyes and grin.
40. The piggyback. One climbs on, and you both look at the camera mid-laugh. Shoot a burst, because someone will wobble.
41. Nose to nose. Noses touching, eyes on each other, both about to crack up.
42. The spin. Hold both hands and spin in a circle, or lift each other if you can. Burst mode catches the hair flying.
43. The whisper. One leans in to whisper something ridiculous, and the photo catches the other’s reaction.
44. Back to back. Sit on grass or the floor leaning against each other, knees up, faces turned toward the camera.
45. Walking toward the camera. Hold hands and walk slowly, looking at each other or at the ground. Do it five times.
46. Fixing each other. One straightens the other’s collar, tucks hair behind an ear or wipes a crumb off a chin.

Couple selfie ideas

For when there’s no one around to hand the phone to. The back camera is sharper, so use it when you can and hold the phone at arm’s length.

47. The high angle. Hold the phone a little above your heads and tilt it down. Both faces fit and the light usually lands better.
48. The car selfie. Parked, seatbelts on, snacks on your laps, right before a road trip.
49. The mirror selfie. Elevator mirrors, gym mirrors, the wobbly mirror at a fair. Keep the phone in the shot on purpose.
50. The cheek squish. Press your cheeks together until your two faces fill the whole frame.
51. The same selfie every year. Same spot, same pose, once a year on the same date. Line them up after a few years and watch yourselves change.
52. One of you asleep. One is out cold on a train or the couch, the other grinning next to them. Ask before you post it anywhere.
53. Before and after. A selfie before a hike, a haircut or a big night out, and another right after.

When you’re apart

You can still make couple photos with miles between you. Each of you takes one half, and the photo only works once you see both. They also make good warm-ups before one of these long-distance date ideas.

54. Same sky, two places. At an agreed time, you both photograph the sky and look at the two shots next to each other.
55. The video call screenshot. Agree on a face, count to three and screenshot the call while you both pull it.
56. Matching mugs. Each of you holds your morning cup up at the same angle, so the two photos line up.
57. Almost holding hands. Each of you photographs your hand reaching toward the edge of the frame, one from the left and one from the right, so the two photos nearly touch.
58. The countdown. Each of you photographs a calendar with the next visit circled.
59. Wearing their hoodie. Whoever has the sweatshirt the other left behind takes a mirror selfie in it.
60. Your view at 8 p.m. Wherever you each are at eight, photograph what’s in front of you. Looking at the two side by side is the next best thing to sitting together.

Try it today: Pick a time this evening and each take a photo of exactly what’s in front of you. In Pairloom, your two photos of the day sit side by side, and you can turn each one over and write a line on the back.

If you want a reason to pick up the camera every day for a month, try our 30-day couples photo challenge. And when a photo needs a caption, here’s what to write on the back of a photo.

Tips for better couple photos on a phone

• Face the light. Stand facing a window or open sky so the light falls on your faces. Midday sun from straight above puts shadows under your eyes, so look for shade or wait for the late afternoon.
• Use the timer. Lean the phone against a mug, a stack of books or a bag at about chest height, set the self-timer to 10 seconds and walk back into place. If one of you has an Apple Watch, the Camera Remote app works as a shutter button and shows you the frame.
• Shoot in bursts. On most recent iPhones you slide the shutter button to the left and hold it to fire off a run of photos. Movement, laughs and spins almost always need a burst.
• Lock the focus. Tap and hold on your faces until the phone shows AE/AF Lock, so it doesn’t refocus on the background when you move.
• Frame with some room. Leave space above your heads, and avoid cutting people off at the wrists, knees or ankles. Turn on the grid in Settings, then Camera, to keep the horizon straight.
• Keep the camera at eye level or a little higher. Shooting from below flatters almost nobody, unless you’re making a joke of it.