Has this happened to you?

[MonkeyBoxers]

This morning my partner told me to remove a photo that I took of her from my flickr and facebook. And she then commented that sometimes I made her shoulder look wide, her arms look flabby, her legs too short and etc. She said I need to learn how to guide people and learn how composition, I need to tell her to “hold in the arms, tummy tuck” and etc.

I got a bit annoyed, as this has happened before, and I said that I took pictures/snap shots for that particular moment. I do tell her where to stand and where to face and if her posture is unnatural. I personally feel that if I go thru all, at the end I can’t be bothered taking the picture

Maybe I’m just releasing my frustration, but has anyone been in the same boat?

[drmaxx]

Been there - had the same discussions - and learned my lesson that other people look at pictures differently then me. Especially, if its a picture about themselves (also check out: http://photography-on-the.net/forum/....php?t=1180562).

I don't think it's a big deal. I just let my partner decide what to delete and what to publish. She has after all the right to decide how she presents herself to the world.

[irwaffles]

I'm doing graduation portraits right now - my clients don't complain that much, very little if anything at all.

However, one day I let a good friend stop by for a quick session (charged her half price), and she kept insisting that my camera 'adds ten pounds', and that no matter how I posed her it made her look fat. In the end, she found a couple that she 'liked', but over the next couple of days some of her friends have been telling me that she didn't like my pictures at all.

I confronted her (nicely) and offered some retakes, but I really don't know what I can do this time around to make her look 'less fat'...

[kuraz]

This mainly happens with friends, family members, etc, or people that dont want to come to terms of what they looked like.

One client wanted me to photoshop her skinnier which I could only shave about 20 lbs off without making it look crazy (or taking 10 hrs to do it which I was not about to do).

We as photographers have a natural eye for photographic elements such as lighting, overall composition, ratios, etc. but when doing this we tend to forget to look at the subject in more detail than what affects the photo.

Try this. Look at the person posing in the photo before you do anything else then, once she is perfect get your overall composition, lighting, etc. correct. This is something I think all of us had to do at some point.

Also read some "How to model" type books/dvds/youtube vids/etc. They do alot of things that are easy to tell clients to do like the look down with your eyes then on 3 look at the camera type techniques.

[LONDON808]

Originally Posted by irwaffles

I'm doing graduation portraits right now - my clients don't complain that much, very little if anything at all.

However, one day I let a good friend stop by for a quick session (charged her half price), and she kept insisting that my camera 'adds ten pounds', and that no matter how I posed her it made her look fat. In the end, she found a couple that she 'liked', but over the next couple of days some of her friends have been telling me that she didn't like my pictures at all.

I confronted her (nicely) and offered some retakes, but I really don't know what I can do this time around to make her look 'less fat'...

give her a refund and so bye, some people you cant make happy,

[kfreels]

YEah. I don't post pics of the wife without prior permission. I give her the shots, she choses what she wants to upload and then I'll go view her photo and share from there. Saves a lot of trouble.

[mike_311]

were you taking candids or posed images?

candids are about the atmosphere and setting, portraits are about the model. if you are doing portraits you have to learn and be comfortable directing the model. for candids, just do your thing and get the picture.

[AvailableLight]

Originally Posted by kfreels

YEah. I don't post pics of the wife without prior permission. I give her the shots, she choses what she wants to upload and then I'll go view her photo and share from there. Saves a lot of trouble.

I made the mistake of posting a picture of the wife before clearing it with her. Never again...

[tagnal]

Originally Posted by AvailableLight

I made the mistake of posting a picture of the wife before clearing it with her. Never again...

Yeah, I ALWAYS ask if she is okay with a shot of herself before I post it.