Does anyone have any tips on the most flattering way to pose (particularly heavy females) in their senior portraits?

Smile

Aloha Smile!

Excellent question. I have found that generally speaking, all females want to look slimmer in their portraits! Especially heavier girls.

As a general rule, allways short light women. (Direct the shadows from your key light onto the cheek most facing the camera).

Shoot from a slightly higher angle so the subject is looking slightly upwards to the camera, reducing multiple "chins".

Pose the subject so her body is 3/4 profile and mostly in the shadow from your key light, and turn her face back toward the key light.

If you're outdoors, have her lean into a tree trunk so part of her body is hidden.

Laying her on her stomach and proping her head up either with her hands on the ground, or one or both hands framing the face is good.

So, basically, its about placing the shadows to hide what you don't want to highlight, and finding the camera angles that are flattering. So, play around, and see what works!

Also, I find that if the subject really enjoys the session and your company during the session, she'll like most of the pictures! So have fun, and make it as fun for your subject as possible!
SPC II

Aw gee Stan--ya took all my ideas! LOL

Clothing is important also. I find that heavy girls, and there are more of them than ever, benefit from V-necks or collared shirts as opposed to something like the attached photo. She showed up with only this top. Not good. It just makes her look fat. Black was also not the best.

http://slides.sitewelder.com/users/craigmurphy/images/craigmurphy170074.jpg

Aloha!

Craig, you are so right that clothing makes a difference too! And while the style of blouse in your example doesn't help, black is definately way better than light colors!

Regarding clothing for heavy people, yes collared or v-neck is good. Also Long Sleaves and loose fitting! Solid dark colors. And no matter how much I emphasize these things in consultation, invariably half of the heaviest women I photograph will come to the studio with tight, white, sleavless tops!! It makes me CRAZY!

And what do they say when they view their portraits? That's right...."Oooh, my arms look fat!" Or, "I look so fat!" I want to say, "what, you don't have a mirror in your house? This is the first clue you've gotten that you are fat?!!"... But I don't say those things, of course. I'm a professional...ggggggrrrrrrrrr

The only thing I don't like about black with heavy people is it can come across as just a solid black mass like it the photo I attached. Her fabric had no nooks and crannies/folds so to speak to create some contrast. You know. I told them to make sure to bring an assortment of clothes to choose from. Like you said. What does she do. She shows up with only the clothes on her back.