You Must be Slim to Athletic Build to Pull This Off

While looking at posing guides on Digital Photography School, I came across this gem:

"19. Note that full height settings are very demanding and work well only with slim to athletic body types. Posing guidelines are simple: The body should be arched in an S shape, hands should be relaxed, while the weight finds support on just one leg."

Aside from forcing poses feeling unnatural, there is just so much wrong in this "tip". "...work well only with slim to athletic body types." No. Just, no. In one blog on Tumblr that I follow Curve Appeal, there is a plethora of beautiful full-figured women who are not "slim to athletic" in shape. You don't have to be "STA" to be beautiful. Body image is a huge thing to me. I'm very self-conscious and having a "photography" website essentially shoot down women who are full-figured is just wrong. We should be empowering women to feel beautiful, not telling them that they can't do a certain pose because they're not STA.

I am not anywhere near STA, and I am working on being comfortable in my skin enough to have full body shots and "tips" like these are destroying the possibility of some people to come out and attempt these shots, for fear that someone will say "She's just too big to do that pose".

(All photos borrowed with permission from Curve Appeal on Tumblr) (If any of these belong to you and you do not want them up here, feel free to send me a message and I will remove it.)

Looks to me like there's some absolutely beautiful women in these photos. Look! Bellies! None of them are STA, and they're all beautiful, confident, happy, and just inspiring! 

/rant.

TTFN.

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