Children Without a Mask
Monday 4 June 2018, 15:51 by Bernadette Boon | 16,019 views | 20 commentsThis article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.
I have a strong interest in technique and a strong need for creativity in my photography. That is why I mainly photograph children, as they are very open to this. In this article, I describe my vision and how I work.
Coming up with an overall concept, arranging the styling and everything else involved in consultation with the children's parents, and then bringing it all together in Photoshop to create a complete picture.
Rembrandt lighting is something I really enjoy working with. For me, a photograph is the result of a collaboration between child and photographer. I work with what the child gives me.
Children cannot be directed
Because no matter how much you would like to, it is not possible to fully direct children aged between 5 and 12. You can give them some small instructions, but apart from that they have to do their own thing.
You rarely see a smile in my photographs. It is about the direct contact between the photographer, and the viewer, and the child, who is not hiding behind a smile, but has dropped all their masks.
As a viewer, that can feel quite confronting because the child is looking deep inside you too. But that is precisely its strength.
The “Rembrandt” portraits
Just like in Rembrandt's time.... The light is essential to the atmosphere in these portraits. As it is in all types of photography, of course, but every type of light gives a photograph a particular atmosphere.
People who have been photographing for a while, with or without flash, know the characteristic Rembrandt triangle under the eye on the side of the face that is not directly lit.
This can be on either the “long” side or the “short” side. The short and long sides of the face are already explained clearly in this post, so I will not go into them any further here.
What I see in Rembrandt's work is that he lit both the long and the short side and used both. I used to have a clear preference for lighting the short side, but in my latest work I seem to have chosen the long side again.
Equipment
I often use flash as my light because I have everything under control, and perhaps also because the space, formerly my garage, where I photograph, 3.2 x 4 metres, is not large enough to work with daylight.
I prefer soft light with medium contrast, so in this case a large light modifier with diffuser, a 1.5-metre octabox with double diffuser.
My lights, 300W, are from an unknown brand, (Visico, not very expensive, bought from Cameranu.nl). Almost all of my light modifiers are from that brand too.
What I really like about this is that I have a separate remote control for the settings of two of the lights. But for most of these portraits I only worked with that one octabox. I do like KISS, Keep It Super Simple.
The further your light source is from your subject, the harder the light becomes. But because I am limited by my small studio anyway, I do not have to worry about that. So every disadvantage has its advantage, as they say.
And when I do not have flash available, I try to find a solution for the light. I call that “Hack the light”. Almost everything can also be done without flash.
Clothing and styling
Clothing and styling is often a collaboration with the parents, but is also often handled entirely by me. I buy clothes I do not have, but even more often I simply make them myself. That makes all the images unique.
And sometimes the child arrives with a present in the form of a dress or blouse that fits the atmosphere perfectly, so I can use it too.
I usually do the hairstyles myself, sometimes in collaboration with the mother. But usually I am allowed to do it myself, because it is time-consuming to explain exactly what you want, especially when you can do it yourself in no time.
Youtube is very useful for this, but because my daughter was young once too and had long hair, I had already been able to practise before.
I do not use make-up for the children's portraits. I simply let them remain children. Sometimes I think about putting a little Vaseline on their lips, but I still regularly forget.
The large collar is well known among many photographers. A few years ago, this one was available from IKEA. I looked for one for someone from America, but I believe it is no longer available now.
During holidays I often photograph subjects that I can use in my edits. From landscapes to columns, beautiful cloud-filled skies and so on.
The animals I use in my photo edits were photographed at a taxidermist's. All of these animals died of natural causes.
Backgrounds
For my backgrounds I sometimes use parts of existing paintings, combined with elements I photographed myself, to create unique backgrounds in this way.
Sometimes I combine different parts of my own photographs. All of this is added to the portrait in post-production. I also have several backgrounds that I made myself.
Although the portraits from the Golden Age are certainly my source of inspiration, I can spend hours walking around museums and looking at the light a painter used, I still always try to create my own unique images.
But because we have been influenced by images all our lives, there will certainly be similarities with paintings or photographers.
About the author
Bernadette Boon heeft interesse in techniek en een sterke hang naar creativiteit. Dit komt binnen de fotografie heel mooi samen. Ze werkt veel samen met (jonge) kinderen die open staan voor creativiteit en bedenkt veel nieuwe concepten. Dit leidt tot zeer bijzondere en unieke foto's waarin haar handtekening duidelijk te zien is!
You might also like
-
Photographing children: Shoot at eye levelby Elja Trum
-
Review: Chris Knight - Finding Rembrandtby Michelle Peeters
-
A critical note on the new landscape masks in Lightroomby Nando Harmsen
-
Photographing the Strong Viking Obstacle Runby Elja Trum
-
Photographing the Strong Viking Mud Runby Elja Trum
20 comments
-
-
guest wrote on Tuesday 5 June 2018 at 10:59 | replyThank you Martijn.
Translated from Dutch. -
-
Linda wrote on Tuesday 5 June 2018 at 11:48 | reply
Very beautiful Bernadette
Translated from Dutch. -
Marc Vanraes
wrote on Tuesday 5 June 2018 at 12:20
| reply
My compliments Bernadette, you do that more than perfectly and you have great ideas, nice website too.
Translated from Dutch.
Good job.
Marc -
Theotje wrote on Tuesday 5 June 2018 at 13:13
| reply
Very beautiful Bernadette. I have a question; was that soft tone on the skin made softer with Photoshop or is it really due to that softbox?
Translated from Dutch.
greetings Theo -
Beka wrote on Tuesday 5 June 2018 at 13:50 | replyA photographic word for breathtaking? Amazing shots. Beautiful
Translated from Dutch. -
Bernadette Boon
wrote on Tuesday 5 June 2018 at 14:55
| reply
Thank you Martijn, Rob and Linda.
Translated from Dutch. -
Ingrid van Leeuwen wrote on Tuesday 5 June 2018 at 16:25 | replyStunning photos Bernadette, photos to be very proud of.
Translated from Dutch.
Best, Ingrid -
Annir wrote on Tuesday 5 June 2018 at 16:34 | replyAwesome! Love this
Translated from Dutch.
Do you also give workshops😁 -
Bernard wrote on Tuesday 5 June 2018 at 16:49
| reply
Beautiful shots and fantastic colors! Your article is also smooth and informative. I only have one question. How does it work with your publications and the new GDPR? Do you get permission? Are you allowed to publish? What all do you have to keep records of?
Translated from Dutch. -
Mariet Wielders wrote on Tuesday 5 June 2018 at 17:07 | replyGreat piece and a clear story with especially beautiful photos. Impressive that you do many aspects yourself, right down to sewing the clothes.
Translated from Dutch. -
Bernadette Boon
wrote on Tuesday 5 June 2018 at 17:12
| reply
@Theo, The soft skin is a combination of the softbox and a bit of Photoshop. But fortunately, children often have soft skin naturally too.
Translated from Dutch.
@Marc Vanraes. Thank you for your compliment.
@Beka, thank you for your compliment.
@Ingrid van Leeuwen, thank you. I'm definitely proud of it too.
@Annir, Thank you. Eh, haven't given any workshops so far.
@Bernard, thank you for your compliment. I think I'm in my element when talking about this subject, because normally I'm definitely not a writer. Think in pictures.
Publications and the new GDPR. Actually the same as before. Getting permission to publish is smart to arrange. And besides, they are artistic expressions and those actually fall outside the GDPR again. -
Bernadette Boon
wrote on Tuesday 5 June 2018 at 17:30
| reply
@Mariet. Thank you. In the end, it’s all for the result, right
Translated from Dutch.
-
Huub Sanders wrote on Tuesday 5 June 2018 at 18:39 | replyBeautiful Bernadette! I'm impressed.
Translated from Dutch. -
-
Joey wrote on Tuesday 5 June 2018 at 21:46 | replyBeautiful photos, soft skin, but I wouldn't want to call it Rebrandtesque. Take a better look at those Rembrandts... those are not soft skin at all... Razor-sharp, every imperfection can be seen.
Translated from Dutch.
Moreover, Rembrandt almost always had hard shadows. In my opinion, you achieve that better with natural light (Put your model by a window), that was what Rembrandt had to work with too. Here I only see that (to some extent) in the first photo.
I would no longer call it Rembrandtesque (Rembrandt style), but 'Baroque', or 'The style of the old Dutch masters'. Then it is more accurate. -
Bernadette Boon
wrote on Wednesday 6 June 2018 at 08:45
| reply
@ Huub Sanders. Thank you.
Translated from Dutch.
@ Rob, thank you. Well, we will only know that in a number of years. And I think that, incidentally, it applies to all photos in whatever form. How will children look back on that later.
@Joey. The title of the piece was not my choice. Rembrandt light is usually mentioned because of the "Rembrandt triangle". But thank you for your substantive response. That is always nice -
-
Doreen wrote on Wednesday 6 June 2018 at 23:47 | replyThey are beautiful and very professional.
Translated from Dutch.
Have your say
Please note: Articles older than a week can only be commented on by signed-in visitors.Would you still like to comment? sign in or create a free account.
Become a better photographer every week
A practical photography tip in your inbox every week.
38,886 photography enthusiasts already receive the tips! More about the weekly mail. Or keep up to date via 
Facebook.
Elja Trum
Photofacts; everything to do with photography!
Would you like to take better photos and keep up with what is happening in photography? Photofacts publishes articles that teach you something about photography — from a product announcement to a practical shooting tip or a look at a website. Photofacts covers photography every day and is a hobby project of Elja Trum's that got out of hand. The articles are written by a team of volunteer authors. If you would enjoy writing one or more articles for Photofacts, do get in touch.More about PhotofactsPhotofacts is made possible in part by
