Tactifully? What do you do with overweight?

[grasshopper]

I'm not sure how to pose this question, but I ask in the most respectful of intents. I recently did some engagement shots for a couple. They are a cute couple - but the girl is slightly overweight. The guy is slim. They both have great smiles, personalities, etc, so I really tried to focus on that. When they received the prints, she was unhappy with shots - which boils down to, I believe, she is unhappy with the way she looks. I've shown a few pros I know and they think technically the shots are fine. They are clear, show great smiles and personalities, great location for the shoot, good lighting, etc.
Some folks she worked with that I know loved the prints. ????

This is not my full time job, but it is my passion. I charged them good money, so I want them to be happy with what they got. I've offered to do another shoot if they wanted.

What do you do, if anything, to help in this situation? I've run into this a few times. In some of the poses, I had her behind him (he was sitting). Do different colors in clothes help? Anything?

Just looking for ideas. Thanks for any suggestions.

Roger

[EagleGirl]

You can do some amazing stuff with the liquify filter. If you do it just right and not too much, they don't even realize you did it and they just think they look good. The girls don't care about the technical side, they just want to look good. I've been using that filter a LOT lately cuz I seem to be getting a lot of heavy people.

[adirty1]

hide it as much as possible and do some really tactful retouching. Normally if the women is a little on the heavy side you can place the man in front of her or the other way around. You can do a lot with lighting by putting the heavy one in broad lighting that is shadow side to the camera. It really depends on how overweight. There comes a time when there is just so much you can do. For posing have them stand at a 45 or more degree angle to the camera. then turn the shoulders to camera a little. try it in the mirror. You can take off 10 or more pounds that way and with board lighting it works out well. Leave space between the arms and body. you can also help to add some space in PS. PS out any folds in the shirts and pants. I had a really heavy groom and by the end of the night his pant where wrinkled and would always bunch up at the crotch. I did some retouching and it help out a lot. By making the clothes smoother you have given the look of lighter person with out really taking much away or changing that person. If you have a person sitting down dont bend the front leg but bend the back leg.


I had to come out and ask this one couple why she didnt like the images. She told me she thought it made her look big. This was a big girl to start with. I said ok and went back and did some retouching. showed her the images again and she loved them. She replied I know what I look like but I want to look like I think I look like at least for my wedding day.

Just don't go over board with the retouching. I learned that the hard way. only way to get get at it is to practice and see the difference having the shadow side facing the camera verse the light side. you can notice a difference in thin people and changing the lighting and pose.

[EagleGirl]

Yeah, absolutely you can't go too far with the retouching. If possible try to do it where they don't even notice.

[grasshopper]

Guys and gals,
Yall are awesome. Thanks for some sound advice. I'll experiment over the next few days with liquifier on PS3, as well as with lighting next time around.
I really appreciate you taking time to post.
Roger

[carrbowl]

Originally Posted by grasshopper

Guys and gals,
Yall are awesome. Thanks for some sound advice. I'll experiment over the next few days with liquifier on PS3, as well as with lighting next time around.
I really appreciate you taking time to post.
Roger

I have had this problem too and would love to see some samples of good posing and PP if someone would share I think it would be a great learning experience for everyone.

[OTRphoto]

With as many times as this kind of question comes up, and considering how many brides are not the size of models... I'm suprised no one out there has offered a class/seminar/workshop etc on posing and photographing plus-size people. I think it would be beneficial for all kinds of shoots - Brides, Seniors, Engagments and just families in general.

Not meaning to hijack this thread.. just wondering....

[CFord]

I had a situation similar to this for a friends daughter and these two resources in addition to advice from some of the pros on this board helped me immensely.

Corrective lighting and posing techniques by Jeff Smith

and a pdf from Ben Jones that can be found here
http://www.focusingonflorida.com/Doc...ortraiture.pdf

There are some individuals on here that make a living shooting everyday people warts and all and they are very good at getting it right in the camera so that any post is minimal.

[onewingedangel73106]

wow that pdf from Ben Jones is amazing reading

[AndrewCCM]

Ask her exactly what she doesn't like about them. Ask for specifics so you can better understand what her issues are. I personally am not a fan of liquifying weight off a person unless they ask for it.

[PhotosbyHollyWood]

as they all say posing... light and position can really benefit...

if I might add from a womans point of view... and not so model size...lol... black is a VERY slimming color, avoid whites or khaki pants, large prints tend to bring the eyes to the "problem areas" of course this is sorta out of your control... some women just wear the wrong things to photos... what may want to do is offer... GENTALY some photo session TIPS... such as solid colors, NO patterns, blah blah... but make it seem like these are suggestions that you give to all your potential clients... just a thought!!

on the other hand I think the getting specifics that she does not like about herself will help as well... the retouching thing can be a bit tricky... I would think that if her photos made her self concious(sp?) then if you present her with retouched photos... they could offend her... so be very very careful with your PP!!


GOOD LUCK

[PhotosbyHollyWood]

I was reading the PDF... and WOW.. there are some great tips in there... I like this one.....


copied:
Proper Camera Height Generally
speaking, the camera lens should be at about eye
level for head and shoulders portraits, chin level to chest level for ¾ length and chest
level to waist level for full length portraits. An even lower camera height for heavy set
brides, that are posed standing, will make her appear taller and more "regal."

[HotHolly]

I am against using liquefy when your talking couples/ weddings. If you are shooting their wedding later, you'll have to go back and do that to all the images. It also sucks to look at a shot and think, wow I lost 10 lbs, and find out it was photo shop - like when you tell her she's only thinner in this shot b/c you liquefied her. When you have 2 different sized people it has a tendency to make the skinny one look skinnier and the big one look bigger. Posing, placement, light and especially shadows make a big difference without ever touching liquefy. If you want some posing suggestions, post some stuff. Im sure you'll get more specific help. I dont think offering a reshoot will fix it unless its something you can learn from and alter how you shot/ posed to make her look better. And Mel, we'll have a plus size model at the workshop in Dallas in June and be talking about this topic as well.

[toverman]

This is my journalism background speaking, but if you can't make them look good with careful posing and flattering lighting, they just aren't going to look good and it's time for them to take a bite of a reality sandwich (hold the mayo). I say this at a time when I'm not happy how I look in photos, either.

I appreciate the technique associated with digital plastic surgery, but it's not for me. Is it for the clients? I think some good answers have been posted here, and being careful is key.

[CFord]

Originally Posted by PhotosbyHollyWood

as they all say posing... light and position can really benefit...

if I might add from a womans point of view... and not so model size...lol... black is a VERY slimming color, avoid whites or khaki pants, large prints tend to bring the eyes to the "problem areas" of course this is sorta out of your control... some women just wear the wrong things to photos... what may want to do is offer... GENTALY some photo session TIPS... such as solid colors, NO patterns, blah blah... but make it seem like these are suggestions that you give to all your potential clients... just a thought!!

on the other hand I think the getting specifics that she does not like about herself will help as well... the retouching thing can be a bit tricky... I would think that if her photos made her self concious(sp?) then if you present her with retouched photos... they could offend her... so be very very careful with your PP!!


GOOD LUCK

While I normally agree that black is a slimming color I have found that a color that blends in with the background works best. In the images I shot she brought a black and white shirt. We used the black when we shot in shaded areas with darker backgrounds. I used the front porch of their victorian house as the backdrop for the white shirt since the house and porch were both painted white. The white shirt actually let her blend into the background better on the front porch and I was able to hide some of the unwanted areas via a shallow depth of field and similar tonal ranges of the clothing and backgrounds.
I would also add that long sleeves are better for heavier clients or women who don't like the way theur arms look and you can gently and tactfully steer them away from full length poses thru careful coaching. Thank you to Coby on this forum for this advice for when the clients want something specific and you have to make the best of what tools you have. Based on advice I have gotten I would think that liquify would be okay for smoothing out an area but not changing the way a client looks. The best advice I got from several of the seasoned photgraphers is that I may be the artist but the client has to live with the results of my work and so I should spend more time learning what the client wants than I deciding how I want the images to look. The old measure twice cut once adage applied differently.