A Little Bit Dressier
As much as I like to work with relaxed clothing and little to no jewelry, it is appropriate for some people to be a bit more dressy. The necklace seen in the facing-page image was important to this mom; she wanted it to be included in the photograph. Even with the slightly dressier clothing, the portrait still shows the level of intimacy that I like to present in my work.
Lighting
Our portrait lighting has a flow, normally from left to right. When I talk about lighting, I ask my audience to imagine that they are walking along the ocean’s edge and a huge wave washes from one side to the other. Lighting is like that; you want to make sure that it has the appearance of just one direction.
“As much as this is about intimacy and emotion, it is also about understanding simple refinements you can make as you structure the pose.”
Refinements
Sometimes, I want a subject’s appearance to be secondary; I want more drama. Here, for example, I leaned the mom toward the main light but turned her face away from it (toward her daughter). This took her out of the flow of light, naturally putting her in shadow. The daughter pops and the mom is secondary. As much as this is about intimacy and emotion, it is also about understanding simple refinements you can make as you structure the pose.
Supporting the Child
Children will often slump down, lean back into their parent, and let their heads fall back. That’s why I had this mom place her hand on her daughter’s shoulder. I generally tell Mom that she is the back of the chair. If I did not position this mom’s hand to support the girl, I would have been photographing up into the child’s jaw and nostrils, losing the beautiful shape and structure of her face. I never let the child lean back into the parent; I always have the parent lean into the child and use her hand for support on the child’s back. With the parent’s hand acting as the back of the chair, keeping the posture just right, I can also communicate freely with the child.
Another image from the same session.