Fauxtog Finest


We think this one speaks for itself.

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53 Comments

  1. Sweet Jesus

    Oh… my… god…

  2. Faith S.

    It’s not speaking to me…it’s screaming at me! gah! horrible!

  3. Goodness, what a mess! People actually pay for this kind of stuff?

  4. I think she ate a weight watcher..

  5. Thats turrble…

  6. The photo is awful, but please people, do you really need to point out her weight? Are we 9 years old again?

    • Um, I kind of thing that the “fauxtographer” already pointed out her weight. The pose that is shown actually emphasizes it… It’s kind of asking for commentary, especially when there are a dozen other poses that could deemphasize it or at least show her normally. It also is clearly a pregnancy photo, and yet I wonder if she is actually pregnant or did the photographer think it would be “seductive”

  7. I just can’t pinpoint the worst part of this set up. The unflattering pose, the dreadful lighting, the vile use of “soft” (out of) focus, the gaudy colour, the awkward limb cutting – why oh why faux-tog why?

  8. And now that I know comments must be moderated prior to being posted, I’m disappointed in this website for even allowing such bigotry in the first place.

  9. wow… just. wow…

  10. Excuse me while I slam my head on the desk. *sigh*

  11. I’m overweight, and I would be FURIOUS if I got a pic back like this. Not to mention the fact that her face is out of focus, and the backdrop looks stupid. I hate this picture, and I am really upset that someone actually CHARGED someone else for this.

  12. Beer goggles: you’re doing it wrong

  13. No.

    ::walks away from computer::

  14. There is NOTHING about this image that is flattering! That poor woman…I’m assuming delighted at the end of her pregnancy…is positioned to look HORRIBLE…and then they make it worse by trying to edit it better…

  15. I mean, since her pants match the backdrop, it’s like she’s been amputated at the hips! I’m not a photographer, but I have eyes, and I can see that this is crap.

  16. Nicole there is someone somewhere playing the worlds smallest violin for you and your gripe…

    The folks are just merely pointing out how the Fauxtog Effed up and probably added the weight onto her victim…i mean subject. You know what they say, the camera adds anywhere from 10 to 100 pounds if they are not posed correctly…

    QUEUE THE SAD TROMBONE MUSIC!!!!!

  17. Pathetic. I feel sorry for this lady. A professional could have used a few simple lighting techniques and a decent pose to flatter her and make her look beautiful. I hate fauxtogs – and I hate Canon and Nikon for making cameras cheap enough that anybody with hands can afford one…and become a “photographer” too! :-p

  18. I think we can all agree that this is far from the best picture …. but can you image how this lady would feel if she ever saw her picture here? Have some respect. I used to think this site was funny, but com’on now. Let’s be better people and let’s help these photographers so they can better capture these precious moments for these clients. Reach out and help others instead of sitting there and laughing and mocking them. You’re better than that, aren’t you?

  19. I’m a pretty rotund individual myself. It’s a bit of an asset when talking to potential clients of this nature because I can fairly flatly state how the photos will look, especially for pregnancy photos. Something, as delicately as possible, should have been said before this was done. That’s all there is to it.

  20. Jesus Mary Murphy …

  21. What Christian said.

  22. What a horrible, unflattering pose. The woman looks like a beached whale all because of the mess the fauxtog made. I have a professional photographer friend who has a stunning portfolio, and often has maternity shoots with women who are overweight, she has never EVER made them look as bad as this fauxtog did. Please understand, it is not the woman’s weight that ruins this picture, it is how the fauxtog completely screwed up every single thing in this picture. I can’t believe this person charges for their work.

  23. Captain Eddie

    She looks like a disabled water buffalo. This image completely SUCKS!

  24. oh dear. yes this lady is very heavy. But even us fat moms want nice momentos of our pregnancies……. this is NOT the way its done. Nothing will change the fact that mom is a big girl, but my gosh it could have been done in a much more flattering way. I won’t even comment on the weird blur and the limb chop. sigh….

  25. Really Sarah? How many of these hacks are you taking under your wing, and trying to teach them how to actually turn a camera on, stop using auto settings, how to use lights, how to edit correctly, what your white balance is for, how to pose someone, etc.? I am all for helping someone out who ASKS for help, but I am certainly not seeking them out. Especially in this case, where you just don’t even know where to begin. If this photo is all the better you can do, then just hand over the camera right now, and stop. Immediately. What really frosts my cookies is, I would be willing to wager 99% of the fauxtogs who show up on here are trying to make a quick buck; not paying taxes, overhead, utilities, classes, etc., or taking their time, practicing for years before actually charging people, yet I am supposed to feel bad for them? Or their clients? Sorry, but I don’t. While I am investing in my clients and my future by keeping up-to-date on the latest techniques, finding a better way to skin a cat, these hacks are cutting my legs right out from underneath me. They couldn’t tell you how to use depth of field, much less what bokeh is, What an F-stop is used for, how to file quarterly taxes, how much to budget ahead for, who has great seminars online, etc., they couldn’t tell you the first thing about photography, but hey ‘I have a white sheet, and I have a lamp with no lampshade, I have a spare bedroom, and a really expensive camera, POOF! I am a photographer!!!!’ This is horrendous, and while I feel somewhat badly for the subject, I really don’t much. You look for a portfolio, see examples of horseshit, but it’s about 50.00 cheaper than the experienced studio down the street? You got what you deserved. If your money is more important than catching the memories that flash before your eyes all too quickly, then maybe you shouldn’t be having your photograph taken ‘professionally’ in the first place.

  26. First of all… I’m totally stealing “what really frosts my cookie” since I think that might be my new favorite thing to say EVER. 🙂
    And secondly… it isn’t her weight that’s in question here people, the fact of the matter is she isn’t french model thin and even if she was…and posed and edited like this disaster, it would still be equally terrible.
    If that woman ever does see her horrible fauxtograph here I bet she would feel rather vindicated and amazed at how people stood up for her rights as a client, and a mom to be who deserved to feel beautiful and special and to end up with a treasured momento of a special time in her life. I am probably not the only one here who would step up and offer her and her new baby a portrait session that will hopefully make this tragedy a little easier to look back and laugh over.

  27. Wsroadrunner

    I am going to have nightmares over this one.. thanks a lot.

  28. Scee – so only people who can afford to spend thousands of dollars on a camera should be allowed to take photographs? Ridiculous.

  29. ithurtswhenipee

    @Judi
    I agree with you in that these people aren’t asking for help, so why give it too them. And I am with you on – these are probably just bored soccer moms looking to pad their Christmas budget. Here is where we differ. They are not cutting into my business. The people that actually pay these fauxtogs aren’t about to pay a real photographer a fair price. If they did, there would be no fauxtogs to make fun of. Well there probably would still be some – hubby’s bonus will cover a $500 DSLR and facebook is free. The only effect fauxtography has on me is it makes my stuff look even better by comparison. Not that it is needed, but it might make my price a little easier to swallow when people price the “bargain” alternatives.

  30. Yes, it is horrible to say anything about this woman’s weight, so that can stop. But this picture makes me so angry because I’ve photographed several overweight pregnant women and you know what? As a professional, I pose them the correct way and light them the correct way – this posing, lighting, and everything about this photo is BAD. Every pregnant woman deserves to have beautiful images of herself that are flattering and that she can look at and say “wow, I look amazing pregnant!!!” She should have been standing, with photographer up on a stool to shoot down slightly, but the lighting should have been nice and dramatic to accent the fact that she’s pregnant – her belly should be the focus. The fabric wrap is absolutely absurd looking because no one took the time to wrap correctly for a flattering effect. I’m so mad at fauxtographers. People pay for CRAP anymore because they don’t know any better. If someone tells a consumer that they are a professional photographer, they assume they know what they are doing. This whole industry is going to hell at the hands of idiot photographers who absolutely do not know what they are doing.

  31. I still can’t get over this… even the upper arm – this happens on the skinniest of women too and there are ways to make that not happen. SERIOUSLY… WTH? And people, stop using flat lighting on pregnant women… this is such a bad decision for lighting.

  32. I think we are all here to have a laugh at the Faux-togs, not at the subject/victims. She is a woman who wants to enjoy her pregnancy and have nice pictures to keep and remember. She should not be ashamed or embarrassed by herself in these pictures, she should be embarrassed that she got ripped off by a so called photographer.

  33. David Gutierrez

    I got scared when I saw the title “Fauxtog Finest.” I thought it was going to be one of my photos on here. Someone was talking about overhead on here, so I thought I would ask about another accounting question. A “real” photographer has a lot of gear, so what pieces of equipment require accumulated depreciation on the books?

  34. Can’t unsee that…thx 🙁

  35. Bad pose, bad use of the blur tool in what ever editing software they were using – Blur tools should be disabled from all editing software until / unless you (the user) can pass a basic photography skills course. And even then they should not be used like it was here.

    So obvious that the whole photo was in focus and then selective blur applied.

    Yuck… If I gave this to a client I’d beg to be shoot. (and not with a camera.)

  36. David Gutierrez

    So the blur is part of the actual image?

  37. melissa

    I agree with Nicole. Moderator should keep out the comments on the subjects. Lots of people have mentioned this before; never does any good.

  38. melissa

    BTW…first YANAP took away the abitliy to “like” on the blog. Now we can’t even respond directly to a comment. That was half the fun! 🙁 And I’m not touching this with a ten foot pole on FB….I have too many friends who would think this is horrible.

  39. What the HELL is this? Seriously. What the HELL.

  40. I thought the poor lady’s face was blurred out by this site to protect her anonymity.

  41. Oh ithurts, what I mean when I say cuts my legs is that it is killing the collective industry. I have some pretty amazing clients who know better, but these hacks are coming out of the woodwork. They make every legitimate professional look bad by sheer proximity. Potential clients should know better but as someone else said, they often don’t do more than skim and unfortunately end up with horrid results for things like weddings that you can never get back.

  42. The shot is SO wrong, because although she is clearly overweight, she also appears to be an attractive woman with a pretty face which is entirely lost (or more accurately thrown away) by the shot!

  43. Anne Shiever

    I feel sorry for the beautiful girl…cause all women no matter what size are usually “glowing during pregnancy” and you don’t see her beautiful face. This is what I meant on an earlier post by clients not understanding that you get what you pay for, then doing a session with someone because they were cheap isn’t going to necessarily give you the results you would want to show to your children someday. It amazes me in the first place that some one some where posted this intending for it to be beautiful. I only wish that those who were serious about wanting a career in photography understood it’s a lifelong adventure with new challenges and learning curves on a daily basis. As technology changes, the photographer has to keep up with the times which means continually studying and striving to become better everyday with the equipment they have to work with. It’s really too bad that many people worry about “how big she is” and they aren’t seeing the real photo overall. Again, I feel bad for people who are clearly taken advantage of by someone who just “pushed the button” and click they are a photographer. The client should already love themself both inside and out meaning (be as comfortable as you can be in your own skin for you never know what may have happened to cause someone to be bigger than their appropriate weight and it’s not our place to be judging them)…think next potential client! The photographer should bring out the “beautiful person”. It only makes me realize more and more that the pros need to focus, practice, learn, grow, and continue growth and education to be the best possible photographer and surround themselves with others who do great work thus continuing to learn from some the best, then the clients would all become great “pieces of art”. Thanks for sharing.

  44. O_O

    ¡Absolutamente horrendo!

  45. There should be a waiting period for the purchase of wide-angle lenses. Someone teach these people about foreshortening.

  46. @Judi … #standingup #slowgolfclap #noddinghead

  47. Veronica

    What such waste of a good frame…for .. uh this.
    She even cut off her hand O_O

  48. I have asked before for someone to show me examples of “good” pregnancy shots and I have yet to get a reply.

    I know it is a magical time and all, but I haven’t seen a good shot.

    I really would like to se eexamples of this done well…I really would!

  49. Derpface

    Poor woman. I bet she was scared the fauxtog might take unflattering images, but this is worse than anyone could imagine. WTH is with that blur?

    @john: just google for ‘pregnancy photo’ and press ‘images’.

  50. melissa

    @John…Hmmm, I posted a link yesterday, but my comment was not posted. Check out Linnea Lenkus. Her work is amazing.

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