How Cute?
Sometimes a client will arrive at my studio near Grantham with a whole bundle full of clothes to wear for their photo session, others will arrive ready to go. On some occasions the client will arrive dressed in an outfit that totally blows me away and is perfect for the image I want to create, even though they actually expected to wear something else. This is what happened to me recently when I had arranged to photograph a little girl in the studio.
Milly, arrived with her parents, all wrapped up a gorgeous little, military style, red jacket. The jacket was double fronted, with big black buttons in two rows down the front. Milly was keen to get started, and her Mom had another selction of clothes for her to get changed into, but as soon as I saw the jacket I knew it would be perfect for the idea in my head.
Little Milly in her wonderful Red Coat
I don’t know if you have seen it, but you will all have probably heard of the Steven Spielberg 1993 classic Schindler’s List. This movie is based the actual events based around The Holocaust during World War II and tells the story of Oskar Schindler and his efforts to save the lives of Jewish workers at his factory from the Nazi’s. This movie is one of the most powerful and moving stories ever to be put to film and my all-time favourite Spielberg movie. The film was shot entirely in Back and White, using some of the original stock that would have been available during World war II, this gave the scenes an incredible gritty and dynamic feel, adding to the tension and drama. The only colour used in the film are a few frames where certain elements of the frame have been tinted to draw attention to them. One of these elements, and definitely the most powerful, is the red coat worn by a little girl. The girl features in the background of several scenes during the film and Spielberg uses the jacket to tell the story of her pain throughout the film. The reason I mention Schindler’s List is the fact it is the only time I have ever seen spot colour(the term used for selectively colouring an item in a monochrome image) used sensitively and delicately to a point where it actually adds to an image…in most occasions it actually ruins a perfectly good image. This is why I will never spot colour an image, no matter how much a client wants me too, purely because I just do not like the technique.
Although I hate spot-colouring, I often desaturate colour and soften it to draw attention away from the colour, so that the eye is drawn to the face. Spot colour is a distraction, whilst this technique actually makes the viewer see more in the child’s face, so the colour is much less important. The colour then compliments the face, not distracts from it.
I wanted to create an extremely soft, delicate image of Milly that showed a vulnerable little girl…well it didn’t all go to plan, but we did get some incredible images of a lovely little girl who seemed to really enjoy herself, which at the end of the day is the most important thing.
For more information about Fine Art Portrait Photography of your children, please feel free to call me on 01636 658315
