# Fat Bride



## Cinka

*sigh* I'm facing a dilema. I'm currently editing images from a wedding where the portly bride is literally spilling out of her dress. She has flab hanging down and it's unsightly. I knew that if it were me, I'd HATE the pictures, even if they were technically good because no one had to good sense to warn me that my fat was muffin-topping everywhere. I feel bad. I've been slaving over these images, fixing the flab and literally putting her back in her dress - which unfortunately is too tiny. I haven't even gotten to her groom's acne. 

Do you guys worry about this? Am I going overboard? My goal is to make her happy and love her images (mind you, while I'm fixing the flab, I'm not making over OVERLY skinny or anything gruesome like that)...problem is, it's just taking forever, but I can't tell her it's because she's so fat. 

Do I simply start over and let her deal with it or am I on the right track even though it's taking a long time?


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## thingsIsee

I would do the best you can even if it takes a long time.  just let them know it will be awhile for thier shots, make up something.  priority job came down, or computer crashed somthing nice. she knows she's fat even if she dosen't want to admit it so if you can do enough editing to make her a little less you won't hurt her feelings if it takes a bit of time.


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## The Shoe

Did she ask for any of this type of editing?  Is she ashamed of who she is?

I'm wondering if you're worrying a bit much, seems like you may be taking the pictures of her at the wedding and are turning them into the her at the wedding you think she should be.

If that makes any sense.  If she's happy with who she is, then I wouldn't worry about the fat.  If in the future she looks back and is unhappy with her size at the time, and she's changed her apperance than maybe she'll do another shoot with her new body.  And maybe you'll be there to take those, too!

Perhaps a way to see how she reacts is to show her a few samples of shots that don't hide her size but are edited to the point of being almost ready for print?  If she comments on how fat she looks, there's your sign!


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## Cinka

Knowing that the first person we seek out in pictures is ourselves and listening to clients comment in the past, it's something I've started doing - slimming arms, lessening double chins...but this girl takes the cake. It's extra terrible and even my husband said I can't send them as is. I'm afraid she didn't quite realize how bad the dress looked on her and no one told her. I also suspect she doesn't have the best self esteem. 

Just wondering what everyone else would do. This is probably the most work I've ever done on a bride. 

TheShoe, she's a very pretty girl, it's just that her dress is too tight and she has rolls of fat hanging out the top of her strapless, sweatheart dress, looks pregnant, has gigantic arms, and very thick thighs. Pretty bad. 

BTW, I just got a letter complaining about the delay and asking for a refund. Ugh. I've been keeping her updated on the delay, but she's become impatient (rightfully so).


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## MariClaire

Cinka said:


> Knowing that the first person we seek out in pictures is ourselves and listening to clients comment in the past, it's something I've started doing - slimming arms, lessening double chins...but this girl takes the cake. It's extra terrible and even my husband said I can't send them as is. I'm afraid she didn't quite realize how bad the dress looked on her and no one told her. I also suspect she doesn't have the best self esteem.
> 
> Just wondering what everyone else would do. This is probably the most work I've ever done on a bride.
> 
> TheShoe, she's a very pretty girl, it's just that her dress is too tight and she has rolls of fat hanging out the top of her strapless, sweatheart dress, looks pregnant, has gigantic arms, and very thick thighs. Pretty bad.
> 
> BTW, I just got a letter complaining about the delay and asking for a refund. Ugh. I've been keeping her updated on the delay, but she's become impatient (rightfully so).


 
Honestly, I think what you are doing is wonderful. As a person who could serve to lose a few, I would be thankful to have a photographer like you who puts everything into it for me on my wedding photos which will stick around for a lifetime. :thumbup:

However, if she is starting to grow impatient to the point that she is asking for a refund, I think it may be time to give it up. You might be doing the right thing for her through the editing, but most people don't understand the time and effort that these things require, especially because she does not know you are doing it (and why).  I would say at this point it's time to cut your loses, maybe send her an example of an edited and un edited photo..so maybe she understand..and see's what you  are doing...and why..without you having to actually say something ???? 

Good luck with this one!


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## Canon AE-1

Oh man! I would show her the originals first and see what she says,
if she complains she is too fat then you could offer to edit them for her.
If you do it anyways and show her, she may take offense to it saying,
you think i'm so fat you felt the need to edit them.
Good luck.


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## tirediron

Is there anyone in the bridal party you could contact to quietly discuss the situation and try and get a sense of the bride's view of herself?  This would help you decide what feelings might be.  I would guess though, as you alluded too, she's a person in denial.  

I would suggest contacting her and tell her that the work is taking longer than anticipated (perhaps because "the dress doesn't look right in the photos"), and you want to ensure that she has the very best product, but, "not to worry, as you are not going to charge any more for all of this extra work"


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## subscuck

At this point, with her growing impatient and using the "r" word, deliver the images with your normal editing and don't worry about her flab or her husbands acne. Her weight and his complexion aren't your fault or your problem. What you are trying to do is a very decent thing, but unfortunately it's negatively impacting your business now. Deliver the pics with the basic editing you would normally do, and if she complains about her appearance, or her groom's, offer to edit a select number of them gratis. Remember, she bought the dress, she saw herself in a mirror wearing the dress, she knows how she looked in it.


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## xjoewhitex

Canon AE-1 said:


> Oh man! I would show her the originals first and see what she says,
> if she complains she is too fat then you could offer to edit them for her.
> If you do it anyways and show her, she may take offense to it saying,
> you think i'm so fat you felt the need to edit them.
> Good luck.


Agreed completely. She is who she is, your a wedding photographer she wanted her memory's recorded. I would keep the best photos out of the bunch, its not like your shooting glamour and she needs to look flawless. She could take offense to the editing.


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## KmH

There are posing techniques used to make photographs of people so as to minimize their body flaws when the shutter is released.


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## Sam6644

better hope she doesn't find this post on google somehow.


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## burgo

If she looked like that on the day then I am assuming she has already seen pictures of herself from friends & family pictures. I don't see the dilemma really. If the photos are technically correct, then you can only do so much.  Give her the product then she has no claim for a refund. Have you shown her proofs? Does she have an online gallery on your website?  These are ways you can prepare her for what her images will ultimately look like.


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## gsgary

I wouldn't alter any images, she is what she is you were there to record the wedding as my dad always said "you can't make a silk purse out of a sows ear"


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## RauschPhotography

Sam6644 said:


> better hope she doesn't find this post on google somehow.



Cannot agree more!


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## gsgary

You could put a clause in your contract for Salad Dodgers extra 20% for photoshoping


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## Robin Usagani

I suggest only do liquify tool just a tiny bit.  Dont go too much.  Be very selective of what photos to use.  Some angles will probably hide her muffin top better than the other.  Good luck!


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## waynegz1

I say deliver them as is. Especially if she wrote a letter using the "r" word.  Like it was mentioned earlier- she bought the dress, she saw herself in it, so she knows what she looks like.  I have had my share of larger brides, but nothing to this extend.  They all have 'playfully asked' if I could slim them down a bit. So I let them know before hand it will take a little while. 

Give provide the prints as is, and if she asks for more editing have her select a hand ful and get those done.


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## GerryDavid

RauschPhotography said:


> Sam6644 said:
> 
> 
> 
> better hope she doesn't find this post on google somehow.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Cannot agree more!
Click to expand...


That is why I do not use forums with my business name or links to my website, for this sort of thing.


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## Josh66

Are you sure she wants her pictures 'slimmed up'?

Some people get offended by that sort of thing.  Like, by slimming her pictures up, you're saying she's fat - even if she _is_ fat...

I don't think I would do it without running it by her first...


If she's already complaining about it taking too long, I would just give her the pictures with the work you would normally do for anyone else - like others have said.  Maybe throw in a few of the edited ones to and see how she reacts to it.  If she gets all offended that you tried to 'slim her up', well then, all the time you spent on that was wasted.  On the other hand - if she likes it, you have a head start if she wants more.


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## Fujito

KmH said:


> There are posing techniques used to make photographs of people so as to minimize their body flaws when the shutter is released.



Exactly. Just study Myspace angles :lmao:

Wow, attractive blond with some big breasts, right?






NOOOOOO






Pretty girl, right?





NOOOOOO





Sweet looking girl, right?





NOOOOOO


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## rudawydra

It's all about the angles LOL


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## PerfectlyFlawed

@ the Tags. 

Im sure the Bride [ assuming she googled something ] is bound to find this...
*brides pictures for editing,fat bride images,fat bride is not good,fat bride pic,fat brides and skinny husbands pics,photos sample user canon-speedlite-155a,picture of fat bride pictures of massive fat brides
*


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## FoggyLens

WOW!!!!!!


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## Cinka

Follow up: I finished the images and sent them off. Haven't heard from her yet. Not sure what her thoughts were. I hope she liked them


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## Cinka

rudawydra said:


> It's all about the angles LOL



I agree, the formals were fine, but the candids were the most troublesome.


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## StevenW

Tough dilemma trying to avoid an insult either way you go.  If you are a retouching master and you can duplicate the results you may edit one and slim her up a bit then show her the re-touch.  I think a tactful approach would be to suggest that some of your brides want you to pull out all the stops and create something a little more fantasy than reality.  In sales school, I'd tell you to shut up and wait out the answer and watch carefully for the signs (facial expression and body language).  She'll let you know in seconds how she feels.  Slippery slopes are just no fun.  Best wishes on a positive outcome.


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## mwcfarms

KmH or anyone else.Can you suggest any books on posing you found helpful. I have a couple I looked at online but no idea if they are decent or not. And living in the boondocks there is no book store close for me to check. Even in the city the chapters we frequent has limitted tog books.


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## gagey

personally I would only cahnge something that wont be there next week i wouldnt do plastic surgery on the images. if that is who she is that is who she is and she will still have that fat im assuming next week.acne on the other hand ususally goes away so to touch up blemishes is one thing but to remove hunks of fat is another imo. maybe fix it a little but i would make it disapear all the way because if someone looks completley different than what they normally look like they might feel offended that you changed their complete image.


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## Rekd

mwcfarms said:


> KmH or anyone else.Can you suggest any books on posing you found helpful. I have a couple I looked at online but no idea if they are decent or not. And living in the boondocks there is no book store close for me to check. Even in the city the chapters we frequent has limitted tog books.


 
I can't suggest a book but I can suggest you look at some galleries and find things you think will work.


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## Tryfan

maybe it's just me........ She is probably completely aware of what she looks like and unlike most of us she may be totally cool with it ..  who knows.  
    I am assuming she hasn't specifically requested you to work on her images in this way.
Chances are you may be providing her with the first professional photos she has ever seen of herself which can easily show the beautiful essence of who she really is...... just a thought.


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## vfotog

wow. I think the OP is the one with some problems. VERY judgmental towards the bride's appearance. The bride chose the dress. She saw herself in it. She knew what her weight and shape was. Guess what? So did her fiancé. He married her too. So if he loves her the way she is, who are you to decide that her body isn't good enough? If she didn't like the photos and asked you to alter some of them, that's different. But in this case, you're the one who decided you didn't like her appearance. That's not your place to do. Perhaps if you find larger people distasteful you shouldn't shoot them; you'd save yourself a lot of time in unrequested PP.


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## vidrazor

vfotog, I think as a professional you have to think ahead of the curve. As a professional you should know what will look good and what won't. Just because someone may know they're overweight doesn't mean they're going to like how they look in photos, especially photos taken at a momentous time in their life. If the client doesn't like what they see, they will almost definitely blame the photographer. So you have to go out of your way to make sure the images look the best they can. I've retouched countless images of beautiful professional models photographed in ideal conditions, and there has never been a single image that wasn't totally retouched. Ever. Under the worst of conditions (such as these), as a professional you have to go above and beyond the call of duty. So ultimately Cinka did the right thing for the job and the satisfaction of the client.


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## RLM

****ty situation to the OP (&#8978;-&#8978;; ) 

But between this post and the guy looking for advice on how to shoot lesbian porn (sorry dont have the lnk) i had a few good laughs.

Please post what happens in the end with this problem.


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## vfotog

vidrazor said:


> vfotog, I think as a professional you have to think ahead of the curve. As a professional you should know what will look good and what won't. Just because someone may know they're overweight doesn't mean they're going to like how they look in photos, especially photos taken at a momentous time in their life. If the client doesn't like what they see, they will almost definitely blame the photographer. So you have to go out of your way to make sure the images look the best they can. I've retouched countless images of beautiful professional models photographed in ideal conditions, and there has never been a single image that wasn't totally retouched. Ever. Under the worst of conditions (such as these), as a professional you have to go above and beyond the call of duty. So ultimately Cinka did the right thing for the job and the satisfaction of the client.



The comparison doesn't work. A professional model who is hired to look good isn't remotely the same as a bride who hires a photographer to capture one of her most important and happiest life-cycle events. This isn't a photo meant to create the illusion of perfection and sell a product. It's meant to be a reminder of a real person's real-life wedding. The OP was really insulting in describing the bride. Would you publicly talk about your clients that way? It's far from professional.


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## hildandr

I would say that you should do it for some but not for all of them. If she sees the ones where shes got the flab them she can ask you to take them out like the other oones. That way you your not spending all this time up front editing and she's still happy, and you don't have to make something up about why they're taking so long to process.

Andrew Mark
Andrew Mark Photography | » Weddings and Portraits with Flare


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## vidrazor

>>The comparison doesn't work.<<

Sure it does. It's best foot forward. In both cases. The end result is to create a positive image of the objective. I have retouched overweight models to look perfect. I highly doubt the wedding images were retouched to the point of making them look completely transformed. I'm sure they were retouched to take away distracting visual elements. I would've done the same thing.

>>This isn't a photo meant to create the illusion of perfection and sell a product. It's meant to be a reminder of a real person's real-life wedding.<<

That's a matter of opinion. Weddings are quite the fantasy fest, if you think about it. People want to have positive memories of the event. We look at such events through rose-colored glasses from the word go. It's a personal call as to how each individual will handle such assignments.

>>The OP was really insulting in describing the bride. Would you publicly talk about your clients that way? It's far from professional.<<

If the client was positively identified, you would have a point. But the client is not identified. Furthermore, this is supposedly a forum for professionals to discuss issues with other professionals. You yourself have made valid points, and the OP will have to take all comments into consideration when dealing with similar situations in the future, but in the end as a professional you have to make judgment calls based on your own judgment and personal experience. Personally I agree with the decision made by the OP. You don't, and others are somewhere in-between.


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## AmberNikol

I don't know if I would have edited them that much, as most have said, she knew what she looked like so maybe a tiny bit but not to the extent of what you did. 


I hope to hear how it turned out for you.


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## TylerV85

I had this same problem earlier this year...and I did use all the poses that cover up this flaw...but there was literally nothing more I could do...

What matters is the bride's self esteem? Do you think she is self-conscious about her weight?

The bride I shot that had this problem was not too worried about her weight and she ended up loving the photos just as they were.


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## Stephen.C

vfotog said:


> vidrazor said:
> 
> 
> 
> vfotog, I think as a professional you have to think ahead of the curve. As a professional you should know what will look good and what won't. Just because someone may know they're overweight doesn't mean they're going to like how they look in photos, especially photos taken at a momentous time in their life. If the client doesn't like what they see, they will almost definitely blame the photographer. So you have to go out of your way to make sure the images look the best they can. I've retouched countless images of beautiful professional models photographed in ideal conditions, and there has never been a single image that wasn't totally retouched. Ever. Under the worst of conditions (such as these), as a professional you have to go above and beyond the call of duty. So ultimately Cinka did the right thing for the job and the satisfaction of the client.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The comparison doesn't work. A professional model who is hired to look good isn't remotely the same as a bride who hires a photographer to capture one of her most important and happiest life-cycle events. This isn't a photo meant to create the illusion of perfection and sell a product. It's meant to be a reminder of a real person's real-life wedding. The OP was really insulting in describing the bride. Would you publicly talk about your clients that way? It's far from professional.
Click to expand...

 
This guy's only posts are him whining / scolding. 
Either a bad troll or a dumb guy.


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## RockstarPhotography

fat bottom girls you make the rockin world go round!!!!!!!!


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## vfotog

Stephen.C said:


> vfotog said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> vidrazor said:
> 
> 
> 
> vfotog, I think as a professional you have to think ahead of the curve. As a professional you should know what will look good and what won't. Just because someone may know they're overweight doesn't mean they're going to like how they look in photos, especially photos taken at a momentous time in their life. If the client doesn't like what they see, they will almost definitely blame the photographer. So you have to go out of your way to make sure the images look the best they can. I've retouched countless images of beautiful professional models photographed in ideal conditions, and there has never been a single image that wasn't totally retouched. Ever. Under the worst of conditions (such as these), as a professional you have to go above and beyond the call of duty. So ultimately Cinka did the right thing for the job and the satisfaction of the client.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The comparison doesn't work. A professional model who is hired to look good isn't remotely the same as a bride who hires a photographer to capture one of her most important and happiest life-cycle events. This isn't a photo meant to create the illusion of perfection and sell a product. It's meant to be a reminder of a real person's real-life wedding. The OP was really insulting in describing the bride. Would you publicly talk about your clients that way? It's far from professional.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> This guy's only posts are him whining / scolding.
> Either a bad troll or a dumb guy.
Click to expand...


are you name-calling? ooh, my feelings are just so hurt. isn't it past your bed time? if you knew anything about professionalism, you'd know you don't go on a public board and go on and on about your client's "flab."  You're a junior in high school. You know exactly what about business?


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## Chris of Arabia

I think it would be a good idea if the slurs being cast about each other's experience (or lack thereof) came to halt. Please be so kind as to give each other's opinions a degree of respect, you may not agree with them, but name calling is not the way forward.

As an aside, one tip I did pick up from a professional post-processor once, was that if you want to help out a subject who is carrying more weight than they'd like, just reduce the width of the image by no more than 5% - the client will be pleased with the outcome and will never know what you did.


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## digital flower

:addpics:


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## Stephen.C

vfotog said:


> Stephen.C said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> vfotog said:
> 
> 
> 
> The comparison doesn't work. A professional model who is hired to look good isn't remotely the same as a bride who hires a photographer to capture one of her most important and happiest life-cycle events. This isn't a photo meant to create the illusion of perfection and sell a product. It's meant to be a reminder of a real person's real-life wedding. The OP was really insulting in describing the bride. Would you publicly talk about your clients that way? It's far from professional.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> This guy's only posts are him whining / scolding.
> Either a bad troll or a dumb guy.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> are you name-calling? ooh, my feelings are just so hurt. isn't it past your bed time? if you knew anything about professionalism, you'd know you don't go on a public board and go on and on about your client's "flab."  You're a junior in high school. You know exactly what about business?
Click to expand...

 
Although I agree with you there about going on a forum, almost all of your posts are just scolding. Oh yeah plus one for the bedtime joke. Really got me there.


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