Not every portrait should happen just after a trip to the barber or just after you’ve put on fresh clothes.
These two portraits are from a series I did of family and kids in the neighborhood. After watching the kids play on a warm summer day I gathered them in front of a white background erected in my north-facing garage.
The light was soft and just starting to lose its warmth late in the afternoon. I didn’t add any other lights or reflectors.
Each kid, too tired to complain, stopped on the mark for no more than a minute. The most difficult part of the shoot was getting them to not smile. They are so used to having people tell them to “smile for the camera” that they almost don’t any other way to sit for a photo.
Fortunately, smiling requires more energy than not and these kids were tired, thirsty and hungry. Getting them to stand still and to wear the exhausted expression was easy.
I kept the cold color in processing and dialed down the saturation to help emphasize their weary status.
This is the way we most often see kids. With scratches on their faces, hair flying in disarray and tired after a long day playing with friends.
It’s a natural way to shoot a lasting portrait.
