Posing advice - large man, tiny woman?

Snowgirl

Hi. I'm doing a 35th anniversary shoot next week. The husband is 6' 4" and probably weighs 250+ pounds. The wife is barely over 5' and weighs next to nothing.

They want the shoot in their home - which is lovely, but dark. It's a charming older home with a huge fireplace in the living room, high ceilings, tall windows and very heavy upholstered furniture.

My first thought is to have the husband seated in the chair and the wife to his side, perhaps perched on the arm of the chair? All the chairs have high backs, by the way.

The husband is, shall we say, 'portly'? And we are dealing with multiple chins.

HELP?????? Please?

angevin1

Snowgirl wrote: »

Hi. I'm doing a 35th anniversary shoot next week. The husband is 6' 4" and probably weighs 250+ pounds. The wife is barely over 5' and weighs next to nothing.

They want the shoot in their home - which is lovely, but dark. It's a charming older home with a huge fireplace in the living room, high ceilings, tall windows and very heavy upholstered furniture.

My first thought is to have the husband seated in the chair and the wife to his side, perhaps perched on the arm of the chair? All the chairs have high backs, by the way.

The husband is, shall we say, 'portly'? And we are dealing with multiple chins.

HELP?????? Please?

I can understand how you might scream HELP!! I do!

I think your ideas..even perhaps with her perched on the arm of the chair is a fine idea.

I am certain someone will come along here and help you figure this out...but what comes to my mind first is: They've been together all this time, and they've found a way to work with their size differences....SO why not first ask them what they had in mind? Sounds like you've already talked with them some, but it'd be much easier to address size with them, something they are well aware of, if they break the ice first by mentioning it!

Depending on the people and your relationship to them it can be inappropriate to even cross certain lines. And yet others don't or wouldn't mind at all if you said: You're a Bear of a man, etc.

As for posing , I'd simply ask: How do you want to be pictured here? What is it you'd like to portray? They're prob not looking for the Wal-Mart Shot, otherwise they'd go there. Though I have read whewre some folks are too embarrassed to do so...I hope your client isn't one of those....simply because you'd have to tread ever so lightly in your word choices.

All I have to offer really it seems is to be very thorough in your assessment of their needs and desires....Could be they're fun folks and want her sitting in his lap~all cozy! Which reminds me, A close up, breasts upwards might look pretty nice~

And....using shadows is a fine way to deal with full faces~

Good Luck!

zoomer

Pose her closer to the camera, in front of him, effectively she will look larger, he will look smaller.

Snowgirl

Thanks. Actually, the wife is my best friend so I can say pretty much anything to them - not an issue. I'd like to commemorate their survival together for 35 years with a 'loving' portrait so it should be a fun time.

The idea of having her a little to the front is probably a good idea too. What about focal plane front to back?

divamum

Snowgirl, have a dig through the weddings forum for engagement shots which deal with this - somebody asked something similar not too long ago and there were some great suggestions and examples. More of those were outdoors, but even so it may inspire some ideas.

Have fun!

ivar

As far as lighting goes, with a darker place, I would turn on all lights you can find on that floor. Don't try to light it by using a single source like the fireplace or your flash. You can use flash in addition, though

Snowgirl

Thanks everyone. Great suggestions.

Svennie

As for lighting: I would bring my own portable studio set. I can image you don't own this/have access to one. In that case I would still bring some additional light.
A fast lens could be handy, but considering the types of person here, the DOF of a 50mm@1.8 for instance will give you headaches.