I recently saw a photographer post a “before and after” photo of a beautiful woman. That photo was so drastically Photoshopped that it made the woman look like she had a dozen surgeries to make her 40lbs thinner.

The photographer was fishing for critiques from colleagues on whether her editing skills looked natural and proportionate. I couldn’t believe the comments I heard: photographers were praising the image on the effect of the natural editing, and saying how much the woman would love the images.

That woman’s body was so far from her natural shape that she was unrecognizable!

My question is this: Why do many photographers feel the need to distort shapely women to make them look like someone they are not?
There is a misconception that, in order to photograph and please women who aren’t super model skinny, the photographer must present their clients with liquefied images. Most women who aren’t stick thin don’t hire photographers to make them look 50 pounds less; they hire the photographer to help them look their absolute best!

When doing portraits, photographers should focus on creating a photo that shows the subject’s personality, dreams, hopes, fears and love. The minute you change the way a woman’s body naturally looks, you are sending the message that she is not beautiful as she is.

As photographers, we can encourage women with any body shape to embrace themselves and feel beautiful, just by how we interact with them during the session and by the photos we deliver. By combining posing techniques with simple editing, you won’t literally change your subject’s weight or shape, but can masterfully control the angles, lighting, and proportions to create images curvy divas would love.

When you photograph a woman, always remind her that you will not make her beautiful, but that she already is! I only imply that this will bring her beauty into focus, and allow her to recognize the beautiful woman that she is today.

POSING CURVY WOMEN: 5 TECHNIQUES FOR FLATTERING IMAGES

Technique 1: Give her body shape

You can give her body flattering shape by the way she faces and angles her body and by using her arms to enhance her curves and direct the eye. You can also strategically use the surroundings to cover parts of her midsection or hips, to either break up solid-coloured outfits, or to keep the focus on her face and not her body.

Technique 2: Drop the front shoulder and release arm

This is one of the best techniques you can use on any woman, and it is so very flattering! Just lower that front shoulder! Every woman wants to avoid the notorious double chin, and this is achieved by elongating the neck and pulling the chin forward.

If you direct her by saying, “Now pull your shoulders down towards the ground,” instead of “Lengthen your neck up”, you usually avoid her lifting her chin and eyes up awkwardly.

Technique 3: Shoot directly at or above eye level

I have found that, across the board, most women have a favourite part of themselves, and that part is her eyes.
Thus tightly framed beauty shots are usually the favourites of their portfolio, because of the focus on the eyes.

You can get away with shooting below eye level on slender women, but it is just not as flattering on women who carry more weight. When you shoot slightly above her eye level, it slims her chin and jawline.

Just be sure to not have her put her chin too far down, because it will make her forehead appear larger than it really is. These tight head shots are also the most flattering through 85mm lenses or more. I usually shoot these on my 70-200mm 2.8 zoomed all the way to 200mm. I think this is so because I can get a very tight shot of her face without invading her space by shooting a foot away from her. I am out of her “bubble”, and she can be more natural.

Technique 4: Chin towards camera, hips farther away
This is a simple technique to visually slim her mid-section and hips. Whatever is furthest away from the camera will appear smaller. By having her bring her face closer to the camera and pushing her hips away, she will look proportionate and the focus will be on her face (while also utilizing the previous techniques).

Be sure to have her slightly lower her chin while her jaw is still pulled towards you. She will feel strange leaning so far forward, but her neck and jaw will look amazing, and her midsection and hips will look flattering.

In the images below, her face was at least a foot closer to my lens than her hips were, creating this lovely slimming effect.Untitled-1

POSING DIFFERENT SIZED BODIES TOGETHER
Techniques 5: Flattering the mom in family photos

When posing the Mom in family photos, it is very natural for her to hold her children, but you can use this to balance the composition. Simply place the children in front of mom, to de-emphasize certain areas. Also be sure to use the previous techniques, and she would absolutely love her family photos. This same technique applies when using the surroundings to either cover parts of her lower body or midsection, to keep the focus of the attention on her face.