How To Get Really Stunning Shots of Overweight Models?

Non-format models are always a challenge to a photographer. It’s easy to make good shots of people with perfect appearance and figure, but the real skill of work is to discover beauty in any appearance type and show it to the world. Not every photographer can feel it, but there are different tips about working with models whose appearance is out of the bounds of social standards. It is much more difficult to work with such people, but it’s surely more interesting and helps you to develop your skills and enrich your esthetic vision, that is a very important part of any creative work.

Usually overweight people don’t really like to be photographed. They often think that they look awkward and even bigger than in real life on these pictures. It makes them sad and lowers their self-esteem. Especially it concerns women, who are permanently stressed about high beauty standards of our society. And mainly it is because of the wrong approach of the photographer, who wasn’t able to discover their beauty and encourage them by his work. But there are some rules of taking shots of big weight people that helps you to make them look really beautiful and bring out the best in their appearance.

Try to make an emotional contact and to understand the model. You need to talk about the future photoset, to know what she expects from it, to feel her personality. And while doing this, look for some charming little traits, which every person has, to emphasize them later while photographing.

The clothes are very important. Overweight people look better in dark clothes of cold tones. Vertical stripes or details are also good; it will visually protrude the figure and make it slimmer.
Full face is not a very good decision for a big model, same as the side view. The more suitable point – half-side. But you must be attentive about the posture of model – straight spine, breast forward, shoulders thrown back.
If a girl sits, ask her to stretch her toes, it will make her legs look longer and slimmer. But don’t forget about the half-back view.
The light is also important. It’s better to darken the outlines of figure with emphasizing the curves.
The hair can hide doubled chin and if you can blow it with a fan, it will make the image look playful and dynamic.
No light on the face from below! It will make it look big and awkward.

Hopefully, those advices will help you to make beautiful picture of any plump model. If it’s a marriage photography, you can’t dress a model in dark or make her hair loose, but mind the light and the half-back position, and it will surely help you to make it a masterpiece.