Mariah

[Stacey McEwen]

Hi Everyone!

I took this photo (among others) of the daughter of some good friends of mine. I was hoping to do a portrait of her as a Christmas gift, and shot these photos without them knowing when they were in town last month (they live in Kansas). Unfortunately, she looks kind of vacant in all of the other photos I took and this is the only one that really shows off her personality. Unfortunately, I'm wondering if the pose is a problem. It's actually very true to her personality/gestures, but I'm hesitant about the position of her hands.

Do you think the pose looks weird? Does it make you wonder why her hands are like that or can it just be passed off as a kid being cute?

Since I can't take any more photos, or request any from her parents (it's a surprise) I'm trying to figure out if this is workable at all. Any opinions you guys have would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks

[Stacey McEwen]

Here is a closup.

[Michele Rushworth]

Cute kid, cute pose, interesting light -- I'd say go for it.

[Stacey McEwen]

Thanks for the vote of confidence Michele. I really liked this picture when I took it because she's just so cute, but didn't know if the pose looked funny. It's good to get someone else's opinion!

Cute kid and cute pose, but I'd be worried about the light. You have that cool bluish window light from the right, and a good deal of uplight from the floor, I'd guess, that's a bit yellowish. Was she standing behind a patch of light on the floor falling from the window? Beige carpet?

If you look at the arm on our right, you have a cool outer plane, a warmer inner plane, and a column of warmish shadow between them. That's a lot going on, maybe unhelpfully complicated.

Then on her face, because of the uplight you have pronouced shadows under the eyes. In adults there's a creepy stage effect from this that can run from vaudeville to horror movie. In a child I think it's aging her, not really creepy but very unusual.

I like the pose, but I'd redo the shot with more controlled lighting. Sorry to be the dubious one!

Best
Lisa

[Michele Rushworth]

I kind of like the unusual light colors and directions -- and it sure is better than so many photos I see that are flattened out with flash! Just my opinion.

[Stacey McEwen]

You guys aren't supposed to disagree!!

I do agree with you Lisa that the lighting is a bit bizarre. The room has 8 windows and a sliding glass door - I think the light from the sliding glass door bouncing off of a cream colored kitchen island is resonsible for the uplight. I was a bit concerned about the angle of the light too, but was hoping it was subtle enough to get away with.

As for the light temperature, I tend to agree with Michele - I kind of like the interesting effect of the cool light from the windows with the warm shadows.

In any case, since she lives 8 hours away I can't take any more photos. Since it's not a commission, I'll probably try to tackle it anyway. I figure working with the different light temperatures will be a good challenge!

Thanks for your input.

[Karin Wells]

This is a really cute photo but will not, I think, be suitable as a photo reference because of the lighting. Light is always best if it comes from one single source.