{"id":33951,"date":"2016-02-11T16:34:26","date_gmt":"2016-02-11T20:34:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/?p=33951"},"modified":"2017-08-11T17:08:58","modified_gmt":"2017-08-11T21:08:58","slug":"dramatic-portraits-of-kids-lighting-and-intent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/dramatic-portraits-of-kids-lighting-and-intent\/","title":{"rendered":"Dramatic portraits of kids – Lighting and intent"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Dramatic portraits of kids – Lighting and intent<\/h1>\n

When photographing portraits of someone, we can only leave so much up to serendipity.\u00a0Deliberate action produces deliberate results. While things don’t always work out to plan, having a plan helps propel things in a certain direction.<\/p>\n

With that, we need to be able to pre-visualize the photographs we want<\/strong>. We need to shoot (and use light) with purpose. Even if you are just experimenting and playing with your camera and lighting, you will fare better if you have some intended result in mind.\u00a0Always that question in mind – what is it that we are trying to do here?<\/p>\n

When I had the opportunity to photograph my friend\u00a0Cate’s three kids, I knew I had to bring something else into the mix to make the photographs stand out.\u00a0I always feel an extra bit of pressure when I am taking portraits of\u00a0a photographer – or in this case, the kids of a photographer.<\/p>\n

I’ve shown in previous articles\u00a0here how I love the dramatic quality of light\u00a0that can be achieved with a single gridded strip box<\/a>.\u00a0Working with a single light helps\u00a0simplify the process.<\/p>\n

Since the lighting would be dramatic, I wanted the kids to have their normal expressions. Not all smiley. Just neutral, and perhaps slightly serious.<\/p>\n

I definitely did not want the cheeeeese. Besides, us stylish people say Lamborghiniiiiii. The words, “come honey, smile for the camera”, grates on my every last nerve. It is always disappointing when I am trying to sneak a candid, unguarded moment of a kid at a wedding, only to have the mom disrupt the moment with a “look at the camera!”<\/p>\n

I do feel that in allowing the child to relax into a normal expression, we can divine more of their true personality than a continually forced smile would.\u00a0So yes, I wanted that more serious expressions here. Serious, but relaxed.<\/p>\n

Gracie, Anthony and Olivia certainly brought their A-game for the camera.<\/p>\n

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Camera gear (or equivalents), and lighting gear used<\/h2>\n

The light was from a\u00a0single \u00a0Profoto B1 TTL\u00a0flash<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0(B&H<\/em><\/a>\u00a0\/\u00a0Amazon<\/em><\/a>), with a\u00a0Profoto\u00a01\u2019x4\u2019 gridded strip-box<\/a>\u00a0(B&H<\/em><\/a>\u00a0\/\u00a0Amazon<\/em><\/a>). As shown in previous articles (listed in the Related Articles link below), I’ve shown how it is possible to swing and rotate a\u00a0gridded stripbox for fine control over how the light falls on your subject and background. With these little kids, I didn’t need the size of the 1×6 stripbox. It might’ve been too intimidating any way. So I used the smaller 1×4 stripbox with the same effect.\u00a0The long shape of the softbox, as well as the grid on the softbox, create\u00a0a unique light fall-off \u2013\u00a0giving soft, but dramatic light.<\/p>\n