Senior Portrait - overweight female - sample images?

Hello,

 

I'll be doing my first Senior Portrait for my sister-in-law's daughter who's

overweight. I've already read books on posing seniors, but I'd still like to

see some of other people's work specifically where the subject was overweight.

Also, any tips on posing her would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Most books I read recommend shooting an overweight subject in profile instead of a frontal pose. You might have to ask her to hold her stomach in.

Try getting a little extra height, close cropping, and shoot slightly downwards. Short lighting will help as well. Weight on the back hip, body angled slightly, with front foot pushed forward (just like we shoot the brides....they all want to be slimmer).

there's actually a portraits and fashion forum hidden under "all forums" forum. you might check there also. are you shooting outside/inside, both? and how overwieght are you talkin'<div></div>

You might have her posing over a tree limb or something she can lean on which will hide her weight. Placing the main light high above the person will put a double chin into shadow and minimize it.

covering up skin with nice clothing helps alot

hey is there any advice on how to shoot a "skinny" person?

like David said, get up high, mabee crop tight<div></div>

or maybe you could swap bodies or heads in ps....or maybe you could find out if it's even a "visual problem" for your subject...or is it just for the rest of a society that trys to find a box to stuff women and men into some "norm"? hummmm - just something to consider.

Another thing to try is to have her lean into the camera... it reduces the extra skin under the chin.

maybe her extra skin under chin or her extra stomach is a part of her she appreciates and wants it the way she is....i'm sorry but why don't we all just start using certain lenses and vantage points so everyone looks the same....same face structure, noses and hair color and body type i mean hey photoshop can do the trick

meg, I think you are taking this post a bit harshly. I have struggled with my weight off and on my whole life... I WANT to look my best in a photo, and that is all this photographer is trying to do. No one is happy when they get a photo back with 10 chins or rolls. That is not meant insensitively as I'm speaking from personal experience. It is not a box issue it is a health issue... i want to be thinner to be healthier, and feel better about me, i could care less what others think. While there are some out there who really are content with their size whether it be a 3 or a 26, I would say 3/4 of men and women, who struggle with weight would like to lose it, but just feel helpless in knowing how. I give the photographer props for trying to flatter his/her subject. There is nothing wrong with being overweight, if you are happy about it, but many people aren't. As a matter of fact how many cases of obesity are caused by depression in the first place??? what about diabetes?

 

As far as posing goes, I would not try to ask them to suck in... OUCH!!! i would try the one where they are sort of lunging out like a runner pose, but not as extended, you get above them and shoot down, and have them look up slightly at the camera, that eliminates the double chin... A friend of mine did this and they turned out so well, and very natural looking, if she hadn't told me how she was posed, i'd have never known. It was a head and shoulders shot. Also if using studio lighting, try rembrandt lighting. 3/4 view or profile, or use hair to swoop around face if doing full face... hair is your friend... hides neck wrinkles etc.

i'm sorry i disagree. i think being educated about "ethno - centrism" (Ethnocentrism is the tendency to look at the world primarily from the perspective of one's own culture. It is defined as the viewpoint that ?one?s own group is the center of everything,? against which all other groups are judged.) is what i'm speaking up about.

 

EXAMPLE:

 

an artist i know in town painted a protrait of a woman and her dog. the artist made her hand smaller and more thin because he thought her hands looked too "masculine" well the subject was very upset because it didn't capture her "true" self and felt a lot of her work was portrayed in her hands....and all the soil she sifted...

 

its really very simple. we as photographers should consider our subject and how they "desire" to be "portrayed" for their "portrait" and maybe Chris M. did and his subject wished to look "thinner" or maybe not. if not, i think it is very important for one to realize it's not up to us to decide if thining someone down or beefing someone up is more flattering. Try it on some of my nubian beautiful close friends - where "black curves are considered beautiful" and they would have your ass too and i not talking photoshop sistas and brothers. If they ask then fine. But otherwise "it is what it is". Threads like this certainly don't encourage larger people to feel good about themselves now would it and certainly this is a society (although it is 60% obese) that definitely discriminates overweightness and i will always speak out on behalf of somthing like that. I don't think Chris probably even considered this but it doesn't stop me from speaking my mind either. I don't mean to be harsh but ignorance certainly can be harsh as well to many people and i think there's nothing wrong with being aware of how other's feel. BTW if this is only about a health issue than why don't we photoshop out people's grey lungs that smoke....oh i guess we just can't see that visual trainwreck....i'm just asking people to consider letting your client decide what is flattering and what is not. are you going to add legs to someone who had none? i mean the norm is most people have two....i could go on and on....and on that note we should be really adding weight to "thinner" people because that statistically isn't the norm anymore....no pun intended but a thread such as this walks a "thin" line on discrimination if you think about it. all things considered i understand the necessity to use differnent lenses to achieve different results but let your client decide what that should be.

I feel very sorry for Chris M....

 

This is a photography forum , not a debate forum on political issues, or being PC, or any of that.

 

A lot of people don't come to this forum anymore because they can't even ask a simple honest question without unhelpful posts... or irrelevant posts that don't answer their questions... I sure hope that part changes, otherwise a great site, will just continue to deteriorate.

 

I hope it goes well for you chris.

oh please...i'm not attacking "Chris" i'm asking people to think. it's about wording "overweight female" do you ever see "underweight" who ever - sample images? no. it's about education and about considering other's perspectives. i contribute as much as i can on here and have also had a lot of help which i appreciate a lot and i also paid 25.00 to help keep it going - and for you to feel sorry for him is a clear execution of IGNORANCE for the point i bring up. but hey that's what ignorance is - being blind. Maybe a post that said something like what to do to when someone who is larger would like to look thinnner would be much better worded. Again maybe Chris knows his sister in law's daughter is uncomfortable and if so - i'm sorry but he didn't indicate that and i don't think there is anything wrong for photographers to have some cultural and social awareness brought up....so spare the pity party and try to understand not "everyone" despises having a double chin or bigger stomach until possibly they read posts like this.

again - i also am self evolved enough to consider "intention" i don't think Chris had any intention of wording or implying anything to insult another but there would be plenty of people highly insulted about this post. yes - i do think we should try to be PC as much as we can - that is if we care about other's perspectives and realize are own are only ours but may not be shared by others.

Most of the women I've taken pictures of want to look thinner, and younger - rants against "ethnocentricity" be damned. Bring on the make-up, and the helpful advice, and less of the "telling people to be happy with the way they look", I say.

exactly what i mean...people can't think evidently...as i'm not telling anyone "HOW TO FEEL" or "to be happy w/ themselves" i'm suggesting people to use some deeper thinking and consider as to what your client desires....so again go look up the word alec....and everyone else who doesn't get ethnocentrism..... and anyway i think Chris has gotten lots of advice here such as:

 

hide a big girl behind a tree

suck in her stomach (what ever)

cover up her skin in nice clothing

have her do some "runner's pose"

and go tight in on her face.......

 

everything short of throughing another body w/ her head or a tarp over her OR asking her to turn inside out....because obviously to these people being larger is something to be covered up....my point exactly that possibly the subject is quite comfortable w/ not leaning over a fricken tree branch or hiding "who" she is but i'm sure in your world you can't consider that evidently...i'm not attacking Chris and again undertand this is a skill to have too when clients request it but it seems that didn't occur to anyone on here....then again IQ had nothing to do w/ joining did it or throughing down 25.00? again if the subject requests this fine but i have trouble w/ the wording so i will defend my stance and views.

oh and btw:

 

"I feel very sorry for Chris M.... I hope it goes well for you chris." i hope is GOES WELL for the overweight subject too...that is mabye you Chris might have nothing to shoot if all here "broad body parts" are to broad to shoot...maybe chris can explain that they all need to be covered up and see if that helps her self esteem - maybe there's a reason so many women hate how they feel about themselves maybe that picture is a self reflection of society....or maybe it will be a blessing because now Chris has a handful of ideas on how to deal w/ someone who would like to look thin w/ good reason evidently.

Always use "short" lighting, and a higher than normal camera angle. Also angle the subject to the lens, and employ what's called a feminine head tilt.

google "Joe Zeltsman" and read his classic portraiture lessons, if you haven't already.

Skinny people need special treatment as well. The use of short lighting's cousin "broad" lighting is called for. This and a lower camera angle, and less body angle will widen a narrow frame.

 

 

I personally find it amusing that people here that claim to be "portrait" photographers, don't know this stuff. Basic posing, lighting and facial analysis. Should be the first things learned by the aspiring portrait shooter.

"maybe there's a reason so many women hate how they feel about themselves maybe that picture is a self reflection of society"

 

Meg, you may be right, but I'm bored of hearing "I don't want that picture because I look fat - can you take twenty pounds and twenty years off me please?" I don't have the time or energy (or right) to argue with what the customer wants.

mabee meg could post an example of what she's ranting about. and what success she's had with her thoughts...

Wow. Didn't mean for this post to turn into a huge debate. It was a simple question as far as I was concerned. Yes, my sister-in-law's daughter has concerns about her weight, but what other details (height? color of her hair/eyes?) does one need to post to get a simple answer without it turning into a PC debate? I really do appreciate those (Henry, David, Tim, Michael, Steve, Eve, Alec, Edsel) who gave useful, helpful, non-sarcastic advice.

 

Tim - I really like your images - especially the 2nd one you posted. Very nice! It will be both inside and outside. And she's about 100lbs overweight. (Just answering his question, Meg.)

 

Eve - Does your friend have a website or anything where I can see the head and shoulders shot she did? I agree with you in that if you hadn't posted your remark about "unhelpful posts," I was about to respond with, "Meg, do you have anything to add that is relevant to my question?" I wonder how Meg would feel if everyone responded to her questions with sarcasm.

 

Meg - You stated, "Maybe a post that said something like what to do to when someone who is larger would like to look thinnner would be much better worded." and "i also am self evolved enough to consider "intention" i don't think Chris had any intention of wording or implying anything to insult another but there would be plenty of people highly insulted about this post." Since you know what my intention was, do you have an answer besides something sarcastic? When I say sarcastic, I refer you to your first few responses to my question. If a client came to you wanting you to make her look thinner in her pictures, what would your technique be? And as Alec pointed out, what would you say to someone who tells you, "I don't want that picture because I look fat - can you take twenty pounds and twenty years off me please?"

did the girl ask you to take weight off her? I'm just curious? Did anyone actually READ my posts? My point is, (ONCE again) not eveyone is concerned about their weight as a "visual problem" and to say they are is to overlook the individualality of your subject. it's that simple. i get sarcastic because if i cut and pasted this thread somewhere where people actually "think" about these issues it would get huge scrutiney. i guess i've done a lot more than just photography in my life so i have the ability to see beyound just the poorley worded question and answers. if you have a "visual problem" than you can treat it as one but do you have one? on that note i've shot some larger women and so far i shot them no differnent than other people because i guess they felt fine w/ themselves or couldn't bring themselves to ask me to alter thier apperance in any way. and i certainly wasn't going to say, "hey i noticed you have a weight problem, would you like me to do etc"....because i have the abiltity to not apply what i think should be the norm to my subject....i certainly won't use a lense to exaggerate any attributes either unless asked. If you don't find my point of view helpful in any way its sad that you won't or don't have the abiltiy to consider these issues. If you did have the ability you might find it helpful before you go and insult someone...

and BTW - if someone wants me to take 20 years off - i will probably turn them away. that's just me but i'm a candid/photojournalistic type shooter and i find that super cheesy....i don't get that client sorry....i realize they are out there but so far hasn't happened w/ the people i deal w/.