Photographing Larger People

deludel · 08-14-2009, 06:05 PM

Preface: I am someone who had the gastric bypass surgery last year, and know a thing or two about obesity. What I don't know however, are strategies for photographing other obese individuals.

I have been asked to do Senior Portraits for a lovely young girl in my church, who happens to be very obese. She is just a wonderful girl: openly gay, involved in human rights, VERY creative, into poetry and writing, and just a beautiful spirit.

I am honored to do her pictures, and wanted to do some research to see if anyone has experience photographing larger people.

Angles/Tips/Samples, anyone?

Thanks,
Lori

K-9 · 08-14-2009, 06:32 PM

It's best to avoid low angles that make them look even larger, or higher angles that can compact their body. I would shoot with the lens at chest or neck level, with their chin very slightly tilting downward. Having them stand will benefit full body shots as opposed to sitting.

Avoid objects or settings that will make their size standout. For instance, don't have them sitting on tiny chairs, near kids bicycles, or next to anything that will give a sense of scale between them and the other item(s) in the scene.

Have them slightly angled to the side, and never straight on to the camera. Watch for body parts pressing in awkward angles/poses. Avoid filling the frame in full body shots.

Unless they ask you to crop their face or head shot tightly to try to make them look less like they really appear, I would avoid doing that and show them in their true light. They may take offense that you are trying to hide their body with tight crops. Again, unless they specify ahead of time that they actually want you to try to hide their weight on camera, then that's fine.

flyer · 08-14-2009, 06:39 PM

Position her so her body is angled by about 30 to 45 deg from the camera, and have her turn her head slightly toward the camera, and ask her to bring the foot that's toward the camera ahead of the other foot, pointing toward the camera, and have her carry her weight on the rear foot. Gee, that was a long sentence. This way, she'll seem "stretched" a little bit and will look somewhat slimmer. You can also "slim" her up a little in Photoshop, BUT DON'T OVERDO IT. And also try to avoid harsh light. Good luck.

*Wheatfield* · 08-14-2009, 08:48 PM

Use a somewhat shorter than normal focal length at a somewhat higher than normal height,
For example, when i am shooting a fashion model (twig with a head), I am generally using lenses in the 70-85mm range, and am tending to shoot from more or less eye level with the subject.
With a larger person, I will drop the focal length to the 50mm range and shoot from just above their head level.

*graphicgr8s* · 08-14-2009, 10:21 PM

Originally Posted by K-9

It's best to avoid low angles that make them look even larger, or higher angles that can compact their body. I would shoot with the lens at chest or neck level, with their chin very slightly tilting downward. Having them stand will benefit full body shots as opposed to sitting.

Avoid objects or settings that will make their size standout. For instance, don't have them sitting on tiny chairs, near kids bicycles, or next to anything that will give a sense of scale between them and the other item(s) in the scene.

Have them slightly angled to the side, and never straight on to the camera. Watch for body parts pressing in awkward angles/poses. Avoid filling the frame in full body shots.

Unless they ask you to crop their face or head shot tightly to try to make them look less like they really appear, I would avoid doing that and show them in their true light. They may take offense that you are trying to hide their body with tight crops. Again, unless they specify ahead of time that they actually want you to try to hide their weight on camera, then that's fine.

Shooting like this increases the double/triple chins. You need to get them to hold their head at least level.

Frogroast · 08-14-2009, 10:26 PM

Deludel, based on your comments, remember you need to become comfortable shooting larger people, and not just from a technical standpoint. As you might know, there is the chance she is already self-conscious about her body - and here's a photographer capturing her image for posterity.

Without knowing the specifics of her body and knowing full well that not all large people are built alike, I would recommend you have her pick her outfits carefully. Think of clothing styles and colors that complement her physical attributes and fit nicely. Definitely avoid wide stripes and horizontal stripes.

Depending on the tone of her arms, you might want to have her wear a sleeved outfit and avoid having her arms just hang down tight against the body.

I also second shooting about face level and positioning her slightly angled away.

You could also focus on her skills and talents as part of the shoot, so perhaps photos of her writing on an overly sized pad with a large marker so you can actually see the words. Get creative with the words too.

Best of luck and hope you have an excellent shoot!

K-9 · 08-14-2009, 10:37 PM

Originally Posted by graphicgr8s

Shooting like this increases the double/triple chins. You need to get them to hold their head at least level.

That's why I said "very" slightly. Holding it level or slightly upward can produce light on the neck area, which isn't a strong point you want lit. A slight tilt down, can cast a slight shadow there, which is preferable. You can also have them tilt their body slightly down with their chin, so it's not a forcing of the chin into their neck area.

kerrowdown · 08-15-2009, 03:23 AM

Aye, as said above looking slightly down, make sure the clothing worn for the shoot helps, colours and strips.

Remember you can also do a tweak or two in PP as long as it's not too much to help slim a little.

*raymeedc* · 08-15-2009, 10:58 AM

Use the largest lenses you have..... and/or don't feed them for a week before the shoot.
Also, if you turn the lenses upside down, the camera will subtract 10 pounds from the subject.

deludel · 08-16-2009, 05:13 AM

Originally Posted by Frogroast

You could also focus on her skills and talents as part of the shoot, so perhaps photos of her writing on an overly sized pad with a large marker so you can actually see the words. Get creative with the words too.

I was wondering how to incorporate some "writing" shots, but everything I thought of seemed too boring. This is TERRIFIC! Thanks so much. It won't be for a few weeks, but I'll post a keeper or two.

Thanks to all for their feedback on angles/positions .. will keep it all in mind.

*dadipentak* · 08-16-2009, 05:58 AM

This is an interesting discussion! What about lighting?

*emr* · 08-16-2009, 06:33 AM

Originally Posted by Wheatfield

Use a somewhat shorter than normal focal length at a somewhat higher than normal height...
With a larger person, I will drop the focal length to the 50mm range and shoot from just above their head level.

This is an interesting topic. I'm a bit surprised by Wheatfield's advice. I'd guessed the opposite would work better. I'd assume that with some wide glass shot from close, the roundness of a round person would be exaggerated. But since I really do not know much about photography and lack the experience, better take his/her advice.

*Wheatfield* · 08-16-2009, 08:56 AM

Originally Posted by emr

This is an interesting topic. I'm a bit surprised by Wheatfield's advice. I'd guessed the opposite would work better. I'd assume that with some wide glass shot from close, the roundness of a round person would be exaggerated. But since I really do not know much about photography and lack the experience, better take his/her advice.

Remember, a 50 isn't really a wide lens. I'm presuming that a DSLR will be used, so the 50 is a short tele. The shorter lens will give somewhat less compression, which is a good thing with a bigger person, but it's not going to be obvious because the lens is still on the long side.
Try it yourself, take a half length picture from a person's eye level with something in the 70mm range and then take another from a foot higher with a 50mm lens (adjust the camera distance and angle to get a similar amount of the subject) and see the difference.

GossesPhoto · 08-16-2009, 09:31 AM

In addition to some of the great tips posted, I suggest attention to your lighting. Very generally...if your main light is illuminating the side of your subject's face that is slightly turned away from you, the greater side of her face toward you will be in shadow (shadow depending on how you choose to fill that side). Your eye will go toward the more narrow more brightly lit side of her face subconsciously decreasing the over all face size. Just make sure you are controlling the shadow!!! Too much is too much. A flat, evenly lit face looks much wider. Something for you to think about.

Digitalis · 08-16-2009, 06:52 PM

for god's sake don't use a fisheye lens....

but in all seriousness I would suggest the sidelighting but you also might want to go for a more overall diffused lighting, because one of the major drawbacks of sidelighting is that it's very contrasty.