Beauty, charm and posing…
Some children are naturally beautiful. Some have amazing personalities. Some have a combination of the two and it reflects, in some manner, in photographs. Here, we have a little girl around 6 years old. She was part of a group of siblings and cousins with whom group shots were being taken and in which many individual photographs were taken. While shy, she was willing to be posed. And, indeed, this is a posed photograph.
It’s been said by professional photographers, that posing is more than half the battle. A good photograph of a person cannot, necessarily, be one without a little posing. With children, however, posing is not natural. Their pureness generally comes out when you capture them “in the moment;” when you wait for their cues. However, an older child, such as this young lady, may be able to combine posing and capturing the moment in one.
In “Ringlets,” the child was asked to sit on the floor, on a white, fleece backdrop. As she was in a dress, she was asked her to sit such that her knees were bent, together with feet behind her… a very common sitting position for any kid. It thus necessitated putting her left hand down on the fleece to hold herself upright. The Alzo continuous Cool Lights were on and to her left, a single silver reflector to her right. In this particular case, as this was an on-location studio shoot, the room was also lit with overhead ceiling fan lights. Therefore, a custom white balance was set prior to any photographs being taken. The Canon 20D with fixed 35mm Canon lens was set to ISO 400, aperture of 4.0, shutter speed of 1/80 with a +1 exposure compensation.
This photograph would not have been as effective if shot from in front of her. Instead, her chin was tilted upright and the camera was angled down, from above her. Her smile is not complete… she was asked not to smile as a matter of fact, just to look directly at the camera. A center point focus was set, just at her nose and reframed to incorporate more than just her face – and to give this photograph depth.
Some have commented on the crop, with the hands being cropped out. It has been recommended that the crop be tighter, up to her neck to avoid the hand issue. However, in doing so, this photo loses a very important aspect and that is in seeing the positioning. A tighter crop reduces the effectiveness of the tilt of her chin; without seeing her sitting position, the tilt is somewhat lost.
The goal of this photograph was to capture beauty and innocence, bring a sparkle to her eyes sparkle and keep the entire focus on her face; while not being a “standard” headshot. The aperture of 4.0 kept clarity to her face and hair, extending down just below her neck. The remainder of the photograph thus exhibits a slight blur based on these settings.
While all children are beautiful, in this photographer’s opinion, and in one way or another to most all people, not all get the chance to show their beauty simply due to the lack of photography skills. Would a snapshot have been as effective? Perhaps, but probably not. The correct lighting, an idea and a pose, the correct camera settings and a child, combined, make this photograph a winner.
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Written in response to receving the first place winning photo for “Ringlets” at POTY.