Why You Look FAT In Photos - And 6 Ways To Fix It
Hi there humans!
I personally really, really, really hate the blog post title but I knew that you guys would click on it because so many of you guys think that about yourself. Time and time again, I hear people say “I look so fat in photos!”. Let's be honest, you are your own worst critic sometimes. So, i’m sorry about the blog post title, I don't like it myself.
Today though, I am covering the common mistakes that curvy women make and showing you my top tips on how to pose in photos. I want you to feel as good as possible in every photograph that you take, so hopefully these tips will be a life changer!
I know my body shape isn't curvy. I literally have zero curves, so why the hell am I talking about this topic?
First and foremost, I need you guys to understand that I am a photographer first and I see what looks good in photographs. I started my photography journey posing everyday women and showing them what looks good in photographs, so I know the little tips and tricks to help you to look your best. I am on your team and just want you to feel better about your own photographs.
HOW TO LOOK GOOD IN PHOTOS:
1. The Clothes You Wear
This is a very classic mistake that every women does, of every shape and size. We see all the ‘latest and greatest trends’ that you think you have to follow in order to look cool or relevant. Absolutely not the case! This is just companies pushing these clothes on to you, because they need to make the money.
I have certain clothes that look good on me and some that do not look good on me at all. If you are a curvy lady, you probably have the exact same thing. Not probably, 100%!
You need to put blinders on and figure out what looks good for your body shape.
STEP 1: IDENTIFY YOUR BODY SHAPE
Once you identify your shape, it’s time to find famous celebrities that have your body shape and see what their stylist is recommending for them to wear. This is free advice that you've been given. These women have professional stylists that they pay thousands of dollars for and your job is done for you.
Some curvey women that I recommend you study are…
1. Tess Holliday
2. Beyonce
3. Jennifer Lopez
4. Rebel Wilson
5. Amy Schumer
6. Ashley Marie
STEP 2: WATCH THE PATTERNS AND THE COLOURS YOU WEAR
This is an often forgotten part of the equation.
As a rule of thumb stripes going sideways actually make you look wider.
Low waisted pants generally don’t look good on - anyone, to be completely honest. I would recommend having pants that go right up above your hips, these look kick ass on curvy ladies, to accentuate all the right curves, in all the right places.
Any clothes that nip in around your waist, or any accessories that accentuate the waist, or create the illusion of a waist, are really good! That could be belts, or the high waisted pants, it could be t-shirts that stuff in around your waistline, it could be dresses that nip in at the waist. This is a winner!
Fully baggy clothes should be avoided, for example if you have a baggy top make sure that your pants are fitted. If you have nice loose flowy pants, make sure that the top is fitted.
All of these rules can absolutely be broken! They told me that I'm not allowed to wear thin spaghetti straps, because apparently my shoulders look too large if I do it? I actually ended up really liking my wide shoulders, so I go ahead and wear these tops anyway - & I feel damn good in them! So if there's any rules you want to break, you go for it honey, as long as you feel comfortable, that is literally the most important thing.
2. BODY POSITION IN RELATION TO THE CAMERA
This is where my photography know-how comes in.
Anything that is closer to the camera is gonna appear larger, so therefore anything you're really self-conscious about, you just move it back out of frame.
If you have concerns about your arm being too big, just move it back in, away from your body. If you think your booty is too big (is that even possible?) just move it back out of frame. If you think your boobies are too large, don’t lean into the camera. It's going to make them appear a lot larger.
3. THE DOUBLE CHIN DILEMMA
There are two ways that you can avoid this. One is to actually put your chin forward and then down. It looks really great in photographs. A lot of celebrities actually do this. They stick their head out and down on the red carpet because it does do the trick.
The second thing you can do is actually lift your tongue up to the roof of your mouth - for some people it works!
4. SQUISHY ADVICE
I'm sorry I couldn't come up with a better name!
Anything you squish against your body in a photograph (having your arms tucked by your side for example) is going to appear larger, so if you need to, just lift your arms away a little bit from your body or when you're sitting, raise your leg a little bit off the seat onto your toes.
Now for the part you have all been waiting for!
5. THE POSES
These are my go-to poses to always look good to photos! Firstly, make sure that you think about your body posture. You should always have your shoulders back and down and breath in.
If you desire a thigh gap and you don't have a thigh gap, you’ve just got to stand up on your tippy toes and tip your pelvis back - voila! Thigh gap - probably, most likely, hopefully, if not it doesn't matter.
Whenever you're doing a standing pose, turning your body 45 degrees to the camera looks the absolute best, because it accentuates those lovely curves that you have darling.
Tol create a nice bootylicious bum bum bum, standing straight doesn't look as good, so twist yourself and put all the pressure into one hip and pop your hip to the side. All your curves are now concentrated to one side instead of just like a bit of a blob (my demonstration in the video sucks because... I have no curves).
With the sitting proses, make sure you're not slouching - that’s not a pretty look. Try to sit closer to the edge of the seat as well to not cause any squishiness on the leg. If you can sit at a 45 degree angle to the camera, that is a winning sitting pose!
WARNING: CORNY MESSAGE ALERT!
The best thing you guys can do for yourselves to love the photographs that you are taking is to embrace your body shape. I know it's so cliche and everyone talks about it, but how rare is a confident woman these days?
I follow this amazing Instagrammer, who just looks so confident, that I thought to myself “finally, a woman that is unapologetically herself, in a world full of people that are hating on themselves! Yeah! One that I can look up to and I want to be like her!”... well it turns out she's also crapping on herself and super uncomfortable, but the photos she puts out are brilliant! I am personally sick and tired of it, so we just have to learn to embrace it and be okay to say you're beautiful, when you feel great.
Maybe you want to get healthy or fitter or whatever, but hey - you're working on it! Don't crush your beautiful body that's trying to take you through life and is just housing your perfect soul in there.
Anyway, that’s just a little pep talk because I feel horrible for this blog post title!
If you would love to have beautiful photographs of yourself but you sure as hell don't want anyone to take photos of you, with fear that the photos will be bad or you won't know what you're doing, I recommend you guys sign up for my Advanced Selfie University course. It is literally a course to teach you how to take beautiful, stunning, magazine worthy photographs of yourself, that don't look like selfies at all. I guide you through everything you need to know, poses, lighting, angles and equipment. It is for people that shoot with mobile phones or with a camera. It's for everyone!
Until next time guys!