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Ian Ivey wrote:
This depends on how skilled you are at dealing with questions like this with sensitivity, grace, and humor. I suspect many of our members wouldn't say a word about it, fearing it would be taken personally, and in some cases, depending as much on the photographer as on the subject, it probably would.
I might ask whether the fit is intentional or whether it's just how things turned out (being careful not to denigrate the look in case the subject was partial to it, or in case it was all the subject could afford, etc.). I'd want to avoid causing needless self-consciousness about the issue. Offering options in terms of looks and poses is always useful. Offering fashion advice is only useful when there's a suitable opportunity to alter the fashion. ...Show more →
Thanks Ian, I agree on sensitivity, grace and humour. Wanting someone to feel self-conscious is obviously the exact opposite of what any of us want - but making people look good, well, that's just expected.
rondphoto wrote:
I had a situation just like this. The groom was a fitness junkie and was in really good shape. Unfortunately, his suit wasn't. He wanted to show off his physique and thought a tight-fitting suit was the way to go. Same thing with the cuffs.....as soon as he moved, his sport coat was half-way up his arm. I had him take off his coat, but the dress shirt wasn't any better. It was so tight, that it didn't look flattering.
Being that I had very, very little time with the couple, I just did photos of him that were of the tighter headshot variety. I did do some full lengths of him, and reverted to having him lean into a wall with a hand in his pocket. For pics of the both of them, I positioned him with one hand behind the bride and the other in his pocket. As soon as he'd touch the bride or wrap his arms around her, I was dealing with 6" of sleeve.
In situations like that, you can't help a bad suit fitting and just have to work with what you have. I made a mention to him about alot of cuff showing and his response was "Well, I like it like that."
...Show more →
Thanks Ron, sounds sort of a similar situation. There are lots of different body types of course, and how you wear something like this can disguise your more sensitive areas or draw attention to them. Or just make you look a bit odd.
L-O-L at him "liking" the 6" of cuff :o)
brianclary wrote:
I'm the exact opposite, lol, and pay no attention to something like that, and here's an example of why. Recently I shot a wedding where the bride told me there was a groomsman meltdown, because one of the groomsmen couldn't afford what he was supposed to wear, and was depressingly bowing out of the wedding, and wouldn't accept $ from anyone. To fix everything, the groom knew he owned a dark blue suit, so all the groomsmen changed the plan so they'd be wearing dark blue suits instead of what they had originally planned. I kinda teared up when the bride was telling me the story, and was thinking what a shame it is that clothing and its perception can ruin moments, make people cry, create stress and go completely against the sentiment of the wedding day.
If there's a stain on a suit or dress, I fix it in PS. But if someone's suit or dress doesn't fit quite right, I smile and am just so glad that the person is wearing it is there, regardless of how their clothing fits. Stay positive, smile, and keep them happy.
Now some people approach weddings as more of a fashion shoot, and that's awesome for those markets and clients, but for me, it's all about the people, the smiles, and being there. I shoot it all, and show it all, and don't for a second consider mentioning the fit of their clothes, because my clients hire me to photograph them, not stress them out by pointing out something that they were or weren't aware of, and can't fix.
On a personal note...if I had an ill-fitting suit, and someone brought it up to me, it would make me feel HORRIBLE. I am not fashion forward, and not a rich person by any means, and it would make me feel cheap and stupid. If the photographer could pose me and everything WITHOUT mentioning it to me, great. But don't mention it to me on my wedding day, please, it's not something I can fix, and you would only be making me feel bad. I'd rather be blissfully happy, happy with myself, happy with my bride, than feeling self-conscious during every moment of my wedding because of something the photographer said. That's just me....Show more →
Thanks Brian. You may have taken this the wrong way though. I am 100% NOT saying you should bring attention to something and make someone feel terrible... on their wedding day or in any situation. That is just basic personal skills, I am not a sociopath believe it or not . What I am saying is there is a grey area, where you can suggest something, like removing a jacket, or obscuring an odd fit, that will actually make someone look better.
I appreciate you sharing your thoughts, but a bit unfair of you to skew this out of proportion here.
And for what it's worth, I am also not speaking about being fashion forward either . I don't usually list all the different things I'm not speaking about in order to cover my behind though... hopefully everyone else will get what I'm on about here.
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