Bennett: Fine Art Portrait
I very much enjoy photographing children in studio. Now, I love some of the more fanciful children’s portraits that I have seen, with very deep depth of field and a sort of etthereal glow to them. They are stunningly lovely but they sometimes seem more illustrative or editorial than showing WHO the child is. Again, I think that style is beautiful but I think the setting may take away from the subject.
A recent portrait session with Bennett was enjoyable for me not simply because of its simplicity but because it gave me the opportunity to spend time with a delightful young man. Bennett is a first grader with poise and charm beyond this age. I have photographed him before and I look forard to doing so again. This boy is so comfortable in front of a camera that I know some adults who could take lessons from him on how to relax.
Bennett got excited when I told him that I had a captain’s wheel he could play with. His striped sweater had a nautical feel to it and I could imagine a biy dreaming of someday going to sea, so I added the faint background of a lighthouse and ocean.
I chose to edit these images in a style that is more “painterly” than photographic. If one was to ask me what my “style” is, I would have to say that it is to create images mindfully. What I mean by that is just as people choose different outfits for a specific occasion, it would not make sense to pick up a camera and start taking pictures until there was some idea of what the finished image would look like. This is why a consultation with a client is so important beforehand - let me get in my head what is in your heart!
if you aheva son . . . you KNOW that look.
I never want a child to “sit properly” on a chair - because they don’t. And that’s all part of being a kid.
