posing big people?

[mabusincarnate]

My friends asked me to do a couples session for them. I need all the experience I can get so I said ok. I didn't really know how to pose anyone. I'm going to buy a book on the subject today. This is the number 1 thing I need to improve upon. Info on resources would be great...

The guy looked like he was about to cry when he saw his pictures. I know everyone is more critical than they need to be about pictures of themselves. Most other people liked the pictures because it's how we see him every day. He looks big because he IS big. I can't really tell my customers "if you don't wanna look fat in your pictures, get off your ass and lose weight." How do you pose fat people and give them a picture they'll be happy with?

Here is a sample.

[Elsaspet]

Shoot from above. That's the easiest way.

[Jezebel]

posture helps a lot too. it looks like he's slouching a bit. if he stands straight and keeps his shoulders back he'll lose an instant 10-15lbs. i find that a slight 3/4 view tends to be slimming as well, at least that's what i try and do when i take shots of myself. i'm not sure it works as well for men, but i don't see why it wouldn't. also, like elsa said - having the camera angled downwards does wonders.

[Clayton Wallace]

Shooting from higher than your subject makes them seem smaller and possibly less significant.
Shooting from the front or back will usually make them look wider, so have the subject angled a bit. Another trick I've used is not including all of the closest arm when they are turned. Crop in tight so you can't see ALL of the curves.
Your lighting makes a HUGE difference, as does the clothing they wear. The number one thing that makes a person look larger than they are is when they try to wear clothing that is too small. Tactfully direct them to appropriate sized clothing (good luck here).
There is no rule saying you have to shoot all of the person. Find their better features and use it.

I think the photo you posted is a good one. Sillouettes tend to be excellent ways to communicate about the person without showing all of the person.

[agillette]

Great tips here, thanks guys. I got a little session with some big folks, and i sure don't want to ruin it for them. In fact one of them asked me if i could make them normal. I said i would give it my best shot.

Cheers',

AG

[Patti Edens]

I'm no expert and hopefully others will have more and better suggestions here, but here's one tidbit I learned in a photography class with Kathy Adams Clark (Leisure Learning, Houston).

She said that when you are shooting with a wide angle lens, never put people out on the edges of the photo because it will make them look wider than they really are.

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[KeepsakeGirl]

don't let them push their arms tightly to their sides..it makes them look bigger than they really are.

never have them look down at you and shoot up at them. Causes bad doublechins

Have them twist and look up at you. It makes them look slender and they stretch their necks which gives a nice silhouette to their face.

[Bruce M. Morris]

To add on to what Patty said above, and this will seem obvious, when shooting larger people, DONT use the wide angle lenses.. Normal to tele so there is no distortion that adds to the size effect.
The effective use of shadows in the image could go a long way to hiding the body mass.

[mabusincarnate]

these are all great suggestions! Thanks!

[JohnRushing]

I know the books won't help you right now but they may have some information in them you could use later. Two books I found very interresting and helpful were:

Secrets Of Boudoir Photography By Robert and Sheila Hurth (HP Books)
and
Posing for Portrait Photography a head-to-toe guide By Jeff Smith (Amherst Media)

I know the first one may sound a little strang but it really has some great tips on how to cover up flaws that people don't like about themself and to really highlight their good features.
The second one has some great information on dealing with issues such as double chins, thick waist lines, heavy legs, large noses and such.

I'm not much on reading unless it is something I'm really interrested in like photography, cars and home projects (yes I'm a Tim the ToolMan Taylor).
One of the best tools I found was a class like the one Scott Watters put on several weeks ago. I attended the one on lighting but just getting to watch the models in action really showed me someareas I was really screwing up in. I would love to have attended the Glamour workshop the day before, might have caused me sensory overload though.

Check out these two books and try to attend one of the workshops. Don't get me wrong though. I can tell by the photo you already know what your doing, way more than me, but hey you can always pick up little tidbits from watching how others so it. I've rambled enough now.

[digitaldooda]

Be careful of using telephoto lenses. The longer the lense, the greater the compression of dimension. This will add pounds. Use a normal lens range for full length shots and for digital, 60-85mm (depending on your sensor format) for head shots of adults. Use a secondary flash or light source to illuminate the side of the head. Use short lighting instead of broad lighting (you can google this) I do find that flipping the image horizontally will sometimes gain better acceptance of the portrait. Folks never see themselves as they are. They only see their reflection in a mirror. When I flip an image, it sometimes looks odd to me.....but they almost always like that one the best! Watch for writing or nametags. Also, since the camera adds weight, I feel totally justified in a little manipulation in photoshop via the tranform tool or the liquify tool....but just ever so slightly and only to the degree they look to me in real life.

[Dsheree]

this is my engagement pic from a few years ago....even though I'm not that big the pose will still show you how to twist a female and hide a maie.