Comp & Colors

[SuperDan]

Recently did a shoot fora little overweight beautiful woman... she has some hard self esteem issues and I tried to overcome those as much as I could
My question though, for this pic... does the composition truly work?

This is 99% SOOC *did a crop and a very slight levels adjustment
Exposure 0.004 sec (1/250) Aperture f/5.0 Focal Length 85 mm ISO Speed 400

Thanks for looking

others can be seen here

[becksjd]

Hi Super Dan,

It is a nice picture and she IS beautiful! One thing I have been taught about shooting people who are overweight is to stand a little above them on an angle, it looks a little more flattering. The only other thing I make sure to do with anyone with bigger arms is to make sure they aren't pressing them against their body, it makes them look a bit bigger than they actually are. This this photo is great though, I liked how you framed it with the trees. There is a mood in this photo too, it's serious, kind of moved me, and maybe that is because of what you wrote. It would be nice to see a smile from her in a photo, even just a little smirk. I think she will be happy with these though.

[NgaiHill]

Hi,
I find the tree in the foreground a little distracting, although I guess you may be using it partly as a cover. Other than that the lighting, colour and setting are good, she should be happy with this.

[klam]

At first glance the hand looks akward and unatural because you don't see the right arm that the hands belong to.

[daddyoproductions]

Well it is tricky, I know. I'm a little above average sized (what is average even anymore?) and even taking a self portrait is a nightmare to get me to look good! There must be some more secrets to be had to help out...I think the best advice is to try and focus on her face instead of her body. Maybe next time try more headshots, get good catchlights and make her laugh. Agree about the arm placement...it looks wonky with the one hand in there. The rest looks good with exposure and colours and sharpness. You did well with trying to have something else going on to take focus off her body. I saw the others in your stream, and the idea of having them lay in the grass was a good one! Other ideas like that, and always have them pose on an angle. Just an idea, but check out the Oprah magazine covers for ideas...yes, they Photoshop the *$&^ out of her (gotta love the liquefy tool!), but they do usually use some creative positions and props to hide parts of her.

Thanks for posting this, it is a great discussion area.

~C

[SuperDan]

Thank You all for your comments... much appreciated.
side thank you to daddyoproductions for checking out the stream..

Here is another one from the session, doing some of those techniques listed... so, I am glad that it seems I have actually learned something...
more thoughts on this?


Exposure 0.006 sec (1/160) Aperture f/2.8 Focal Length 50 mm ISO Speed 400