Shooting plus-size ladies (and men for that matter)

kdthomas · Nov 20, 2014

I'm being completely serious here. Everyone wants to look beautiful and feel good about themselves.

So, any go-to tips for posing, lighting etc. I realize there's limits for wardrobe. Do you generally get best results with flowy smooth clothes, breakup patterns, sweaters, etc? head position, hiding skin folds, etc?

For guys, it would seem the masculine, brawny working-man approach would work better, but guys have an easier time getting away with being overweight.

JustJazzie · Nov 20, 2014

Sue Bryce has an hour long youtube video called "posing for all body types" It it WELL worth the hour it takes to watch! Take notes, or plan to watch it twice.

Edit:Obviously this is geared towards women, but I am sure some of the tips could still apply.

Derrel · Nov 20, 2014

Sue's tip on "faux waist" hand placement is invaluable. I mean invaluable! She used to be a very full-figured lady herself, but has recently lost probably 75 pounds or so I'd guess. I used to wrestle at 168, or 178, or even at 191 in high school, and have only gotten thicker as the decades wore on, so I've been on both ends of the spectrum. We've had some discussion on this subject in the past, so a search might unearth some of the threads. Classical portraiture has a bunch of strategies on how to angle and pose and posture the human body to emphasize/de-emphasize certain physical traits.

Sitting "tall", leaning forward from the waist, hip-popping, back-leg-weight-placement + opposing foot extended, all those kinda' things are well-known to trained portrait shooters who've studied posing from master-level teachers. Sitting on the EDGE of the posing stool, feet barely touching the floor, preventing squished-flat thighs, what to show, what to NOT show within the frame, chin-jutting, neck-tightening, high camera angles, all these kinds of things are well-known among trained professional portrait photographers, but you'll most likely need to go to books written by experts to gain access to these types of posing tips in any good numbers.

rexbobcat · Nov 20, 2014

I have to agree with hand placement. I've seen a lot of photographers who use the same poses regardless of body type, so they'll have a full-figured woman strike that pose where she places her hand on her shoulder and tilts her head over toward her hand (I don't have an example photo unfortunately

).

It just accentuates the woman's arms and is incredibly unflattering.

paigew · Nov 20, 2014

Shooting from above would be my tip.

Rick50 · Nov 21, 2014

paigew said:
Shooting from above would be my tip.

Yes, this will make someone look a little thinner.

JustJazzie · Nov 21, 2014

For those who don't have time to watch the video I shared, one of the most helpful tips to me was this; leave space when posing the body. Space between the arms and body, space between the legs. Not only does does the space make one appear thinner (as opposed to blocking body parts toghether) but leaving space also allows for easier photo retouching to smooth out any bumps. It's better to see what she is talking about with examples, but hopefully I made a little bit of sense.