As discussed in my earlier article, ‘Baby Photography with Magic’, photographs’ can be analyzed by deconstructing the whole into individual elements. The first element to consider is composition. The baby in the photograph needs to be the first element your eye is drawn to initially. Secondly, a good baby photographer will consider what additional compositional elements will add to the portrait. This takes a mixture of skill and experience. A good baby portrait needs to have additional element(s) to put the baby into some sort of context. This could, as in my experience, consist of a background of white floorboards, white background coupled with a few carefully chosen brightly coloured geometric baby toy shapes. These small toys both amused the baby and added additional compositional interest. The secondary compositional element, the background was deliberately understated and provided no strong visual interest, simply a context in which to place the baby. A good baby photographer will be able to offer a variety of styles of background to suite your individual tastes. I personally liked the modern, minimalist style. The bright geometric toys where part of the overall modern look.
When we look at an image, our brains automatically try to make sense of this two dimensional representation of the world. One of the ways we do this is to put objects into context. In the case of my sons’ baby photograph the clues as to his surroundings are provided by the lines of the white washed floorboards. These provide the clear visual clue of a potential vanishing point. Our brain projects the third dimension given just the slightest suggestion provided by the reseeding lines. From these clues we also calculate the size of the object or in this case baby. We already have a mental picture of the relative size of a baby. Having put the baby in a safe three dimensional context we subconsciously relax and focus on the chief visual element, the baby.
Deliberately playing with these assumptions will result in a portrait which will evoke a very different emotional response in the viewer. In some baby photography the photographer has deliberately put the baby into an ambiguous environment, i.e. playing with the scale of the environmental elements or placing the baby in an unexpected place. That’s fine if that is the style of baby photograph you like. Such images often have a great sense of fun and I have seen some excellent examples of this technique used with older children to achieve just this response. Again as a potential customer it is important to recognize these compositional elements and be clear what it is you need for you and your baby. As with many aspect of life a picture paints a thousand words, be sure that the photographer has examples of what you want on his wall and don’t be shy to point out what you do and what you do not want for your Special Baby Photograph.
Another important constituent of a good baby photograph is the way in which the studio photographer controls colour and shade. My next article will deal with what to look out for in terms of colour and the use of light in a Studio Family Photograph.
Author Resource:
With over 150 photographic studio awards to their name http://www.davidpmacdonald.com/babies.htm David P. MacDonald Photography can create that Special Baby Photograph for you.
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