Teaching Posing
These images were photographed while we were instructing a class on how to create relationship portraits—and what we might do to make an image interesting and different. Teaching posing can be difficult because, to me, posing is directed by the family, their relationship, and what is taking place. I may set out to do one thing and wind up doing something entirely different depending on the family dynamics.
Storytelling: Dad and Baby
In the facing-page image, the child is significant but the light and the focus are really on Dad. A really good story has depth; it makes more than one point. In a family, one of those stories is Dad’s relationship with his new baby. The pride, the fulfillment, and all of those other things that come with fatherhood make it a story in and of itself. My question, therefore, is why does everything need to be about the child? Why can’t it be about how that child makes the parent feel? Now the storytelling has greater depth.
Because I wanted to emphasize Dad, I did not worry if you could see the child’s chubby cheeks. In fact, it was a strategic decision to leave the child’s face in shadow to attain the dynamics I wanted.
Telling the Whole Story
As I begin the creative process and think about telling the story in front of me, it can sometimes be a hard sell to a parent when I say, “Let me make a portion of this about you.” I overcome this by explaining that I want to tell a greater story with their images by making it about a number of different relationships within their family dynamic—not just showing the child’s face. If we show only the child or only the family as a group, we have missed many of the important nuances of the family’s true relationships.
Additional images from the same session.