Posing ideas for self conscience people

applegal

I wasn't sure what to title this thread, but I am looking for some advice/ideas. I have a few families coming in for Christmas pictures and several of the moms have expressed "Make me look good and skinny", especially those still trying to loose baby weight. Any words of wisdom for posing families when 1 or more are uncomfortable with their weight?

As of right now, all of my families are 2 adults and 1-2 young children/infants. All will be indoors.

Thank you!!!

adbsgicom

By no means an expert but watch the video the Hackbone referenced in here. In particular the part about broad/short light on the body.
Also use children to hide parts you don't want seen.

applegal

Thanks Andrew. I will be sure to check the link out

anonymouscuban

OK... I'm going to give this a shot because I've being doing a lot of reading and studying on this very topic.

• You want to pose the subject so that the body is not facing directly at the camera, angle it away. How much you angle the body away depends on the subject. If the subject has a pretty round tummy, you don't want to position it too much in profile or you will begin to see it protruding. By placing at an angle, this will make the waist and hips look smaller. Also, you can use shadows to conceal any issue they have. You can also have the subject bend their arm and place it on their lap so it follows the tummy, again concealing it.
  
• Shoot from above the subject and have them sit up straight and also lift their chin slightly. This will extend the neck and prevent double-chins.S ince they are turning their neck to face toward the camera, watch for lines/creases in the neck. Have them turn a little less until the lines aren't there or you can use a scarf or even their hair, if long enough, to conceal it.
  
• As for lighting, you want to use short-lighting; main light should be lighting the side of the face that is furthest away from the camera. This will make the face look slimmer. You don't want to use broad-lighting which has the main light hitting the side of the face closest to the camera... this broadens the face, hence the name.
  
• You also want your subjects to wear long sleeve shirts. Exposed arms can pose a problem because they may look large. Again, use shadows to your advantage here. Since you should be using short-lighting, the arm closest to the camera should be somewhat in shadow.

applegal

anonymouscuban wrote: »

OK... I'm going to give this a shot because I've being doing a lot of reading and studying on this very topic.

• You want to pose the subject so that the body is not facing directly at the camera, angle it away. How much you angle the body away depends on the subject. If the subject has a pretty round tummy, you don't want to position it too much in profile or you will begin to see it protruding. By placing at an angle, this will make the waist and hips look smaller. Also, you can use shadows to conceal any issue they have. You can also have the subject bend their arm and place it on their lap so it follows the tummy, again concealing it.
• Shoot from above the subject and have them sit up straight and also lift their chin slightly. This will extend the neck and prevent double-chins.S ince they are turning their neck to face toward the camera, watch for lines/creases in the neck. Have them turn a little less until the lines aren't there or you can use a scarf or even their hair, if long enough, to conceal it.
• As for lighting, you want to use short-lighting; main light should be lighting the side of the face that is furthest away from the camera. This will make the face look slimmer. You don't want to use broad-lighting which has the main light hitting the side of the face closest to the camera... this broadens the face, hence the name.
• You also want your subjects to wear long sleeve shirts. Exposed arms can pose a problem because they may look large. Again, use shadows to your advantage here. Since you should be using short-lighting, the arm closest to the camera should be somewhat in shadow.

Thank you so much! Great advice

kdog

anonymouscuban wrote: »

OK... I'm going to give this a shot because I've being doing a lot of reading and studying on this very topic.

• You want to pose the subject so that the body is not facing directly at the camera, angle it away. How much you angle the body away depends on the subject. If the subject has a pretty round tummy, you don't want to position it too much in profile or you will begin to see it protruding. By placing at an angle, this will make the waist and hips look smaller. Also, you can use shadows to conceal any issue they have. You can also have the subject bend their arm and place it on their lap so it follows the tummy, again concealing it.
• Shoot from above the subject and have them sit up straight and also lift their chin slightly. This will extend the neck and prevent double-chins.S ince they are turning their neck to face toward the camera, watch for lines/creases in the neck. Have them turn a little less until the lines aren't there or you can use a scarf or even their hair, if long enough, to conceal it.
• As for lighting, you want to use short-lighting; main light should be lighting the side of the face that is furthest away from the camera. This will make the face look slimmer. You don't want to use broad-lighting which has the main light hitting the side of the face closest to the camera... this broadens the face, hence the name.
• You also want your subjects to wear long sleeve shirts. Exposed arms can pose a problem because they may look large. Again, use shadows to your advantage here. Since you should be using short-lighting, the arm closest to the camera should be somewhat in shadow.

Great summary! I should print this out on a little cheat-sheet. :giggle