An example of my work.
Before I started this blog I was big into photography. I was trying to become a recognized art photographer. I have a just above entry level DSLR, which is a fancy way of saying "Expensive-less-than-professional-digital-camera-with-manual-modes-and-interchangeable-lenses". At current full list price It's a little more than 3.5 times more than a full price Cannon Powershot. Including my camera, I have equipment that is almost equal in value to what I make in a month. I've done portraits and even did a wedding. I posted free photography offers on Craig's list to build my portfolio and had some takers! I did some local photography shows too. I even ordered business cards and registered my own domain name. At one point I even wanted to become a professional photographer. Being a pro is a lot harder than you think. I'm just happy having my photography on display and getting comments on Flickr. Although selling some prints would be cool too.;) Nevertheless, I have decided to put my photography career on the back burner for a while. I'm devoting that energy to this blog and losing weight. It's much more important, but I think you knew that;)
Whenever I do a portrait or something special by request I do research. For example, for the wedding I bought five books about wedding photography. I even scoured the Internet for all the advice I could find. There were your classic wedding portrait tips, equipment tips, how to photograph the ceremony, etc. Of course there is the "if someone is heavy or has a double chin, have them turn their head to the side. There was also, "if you want to photograph someone sitting, move them to the edge of what they are sitting on because it's more flattering". Well, whatever, I don't mind a little manipulation of my subject. However, I believe everyone is beautiful regardless of size, unless of course they are a total jerk or something. As they say, beauty is only skin deep. I've known plenty of "beautiful" people who opened their mouths and were reduced to very unattractive people in my eyes.
I like to capture someone as natural as possible regardless of what they look like. I couldn't believe what I came across while researching for the wedding. I found "Photographing the Plus Sized Bride". Well, I never knew it needed it's own special set of instructions.
This guy had advice on how to photograph plus sized brides. It wasn't just the things I mentioned above. It was things like:
Another example of my work.
"I notice that photographers in general tend to get discouraged when their subjects are overweight. They think that this will limit what they can do. I couldn’t disagree more. I am asked," do you lay the bride on the ground?""That alone made me want to give up photography all together. He goes on to say:"I use two principles to help cover up the poor fitting gown as well as the excess skin that will tend to make the subject look larger ""
He really likes to use the word "excess"Ignore the 'shop talk' in this one... "I am using quadrants in the camera to detract her size as well as cutting into her with the crop..."
He has her on the far right of frame looking back and he has literally cut the front of her out of the picture.
"I will use him to hide excess I don’t want the camera to see. I have covered 3/4 of her body with him. This pose would work if he were husky as well."
There's that word again..."excess" and even "husky""I moved the bride to the backside of the cake enlarging him and again covering excess I don’t want the camera to see. What a difference without the veil though"Once again "excess". He had talked about using the veil to minimize the arms earlier in the page
A picture I took on my wedding day in '07
I think you get the idea.
The thing that really got me was the tucking the bride underneath her father's armpit to make her appear smaller.
Keep in mind, this page had pictures. I know I'd be pissed if my wedding pictures were used as an example of how to photograph someone who has "excess skin" as if she was some kind of horrible monster that only the photographer could turn in to a beautiful princess on her wedding day by making her bend over backwards.
At the bottom of the page, he goes on to sell his "How to Photograph the Plus Sized Bride" DVD for over 100 dollars. Um, well. It is really worth that much money? Do you really need to change the bride that much? Is she not beautiful as she is? Are plus sized women really so repulsive that you need to have her bend over backwards to make her look great?The wedding I photographed was two plus sized brides, it was in Vermont. Needless to say I didn't make them do all those crazy things. I just captured their day and showed them for who they were, beautiful people on a very special day. My motto for my photography is "There's beauty everywhere"It kinda makes me wonder. I've been a plus sized bride twice. The photographer at my first wedding was a teacher from my high school who had a photography business on the side. I am the same size now that I was back then, in 1996, a 22/24.
Me dancing with my Grandfather my first wedding
At my first wedding I didn't have any crazy things to do to look thinner. I didn't even have a well fitting dress, I didn't go the big white dress route. The photographer took the pictures like any other photographer would. That tells me that not every photographer is obsessed with "covering excess".
The second time I got married was in 2007. I was pretty close to being the biggest I ever was and I don't like looking at all of the pictures, but hey, I am who I am and I looked like I did. There is no way of getting around it. The photographers at that wedding were the guests. We only had nine people in attendance. That included the justice of the peace and his wife, whom notarized the paperwork.
It's like "Yes to the Dress: Big Bliss". Why do they need a separate show for large women? Are they afraid of offending people? Why can't they just include them in the regular show? Frankly I think it's discriminatory. Are they afraid of losing ratings? Are there any other wedding dress shows out there really?! No matter how thin I get I'm still going to think people of all sizes are beautiful just the way they are. Everyone has their own way of living. When I photograph someone I am not there to make them look good. They look great the way they are. There is no need to manipulate a subject! Yes, pose them or make them tilt their head, whatever. I prefer to just let my subject be and do what they like and then when I find a moment that is particularly beautiful I capture it. There are beautiful moments every day in life. Too bad there's not enough time, cameras or photographers to capture them all or people to recognize them.
