How do you post someone who is morbidly obese?

[meljdavis]

Hi folks
I have a photo session coming up soon of a family of 3 with their two dogs. Mom runs marathons, daughter is 7ish and active, Dad is morbidly obese. Any tips on how to pose the family??????

Thanks in advance!

[Tzetsin]

There are a couple things I'd try.


1: No matter what, dont take his picture from the front. have him stand/sit/positioned at an angle from the lens and turn his head towards you. angle him as much as you need to in order to decrease his "surface area" to the lens and still look natural.

2: use light. I dont know where your shooting, but if you can control the light have the light fall off half way around his body so that its partially lost to a black background.

3: Position him behind his family with the kid and the wife in front on either side.

4: Have him "peek" around something for a more humorous shot, hiding his bulk behind whatever hes peeking around.

5: Tell him to wear darker colors and NO stripes. especially wide bands horizontal around the mid section.

I'm not a portrait photographer, but that is what I would do if i was to do it.

[NicoleScraps]

^this^ is good advice. I was definitely going to say position the mom and daughter in front of the dad as much as possible.

[GreggObst]

Another trick you might use is to do a fun sort of shot where you shoot with a wide angle lens, something in the 10-35mm range preferably, standing up on a ladder shooting down on the family. Position them with daughter in front, mother a little behind her and to her side and then finally dad in the back. Have them all wave their hands above their heads and yell towards you like they were trying to get the attention of a passing plane. What that perspective will do is mitigate some of the dad's surface area.

You might also try finding a rock wall somewhere close by that the father can be behind and position the mother and daughter sitting on top of the rock wall on either side of him.

Does the father know you are going to try and mitigate his weight issues in the photo ? I would tread very delicately if he is not with the program.

[RLucas]

Originally Posted by GreggObst

Does the father know you are going to try and mitigate his weight issues in the photo ? I would tread very delicately if he is not with the program.

Quoted for truth. Be very careful with this. Some people can get very defensive, even if they know how they look.

[meljdavis]

Thanks everyone for your responses and I will work on these.
I haven't actually spoken to "Dad" yet, but mom mentioned that they would never walk into a physical studio for photos 1 because they are very active and inside wouldn't capture the spirit of Mom and daughter, and 2 because of Dad's weight -- she's concerned about the reception she would get. So I my goal is to get great image of the family that bring out their personalities without highlighting his weight. I am hoping it'll be a non-issue rather than a glaring difference between super slender mom and daughter and him. We'll be photographing outside in a park

Thanks again!!

[rdobney]

As someone who fits in this category, you aren't going to be able to hide the weight. Trust me, everyone who knows him knows how big he is, so there isn't a point in hiding the fact. And he knows how big he is.

As far as practical shots though, if you have access to a slide at a playground, dad on the ground and mom and daughter on the slide will hide some of the girth. Also, make sure you take a few shots from slightly above the group. Does wonders for a double chin.

[dlambert]

A few more tips: http://photo.stackexchange.com/q/6471/269