The little girl’s eyes and expression are the heartbeat of the facing-page image. Everything else serves to make it more dynamic and more connected emotionally. Above all, it is her expression at the moment of capture that is the key to success.
Posing
Mom is sitting very tall, leaning forward and keeping a strong posture. She is posed in a true profile, with her far eye not visible. The tilt of the little girl’s head and Mom’s profile created two very strong diagonal lines. Following Mom’s hand with her daughter’s arm brings the viewer back to their faces. This circular composition enhances the feeling of connection that makes the pose work so well. This unbroken circle in the composition symbolizes love.
To work quickly with young children, I ask myself what I can do with the hands to make it acceptable without overworking things. I generally ask the parent to lay their hand down with the palm to the ceiling. Then I slide the child’s hand through it. As long as I can get a nice side view of the parent’s hand connecting with the child’s hand, I have the intimacy I want.
Lighting
Here, I have a loop-lighting on the little girl and nice profile lighting on Mom. The separator light, coming from behind and above the subjects, played a key part in this image. It gave me a warm glow on the little girl’s hair and the back edge of Mom’s hair. Working with blonds against a dark background can be difficult; every time they turn their head, any out-of-place hair becomes very visible.
Cropping
I strategically cropped into Mom’s head so that her face remained within the parameters of the image, holding the viewer’s gaze on the subjects.
Additional images from the same session.
“This circular composition enhances the feeling of connection that makes the pose work so well.”