Intense Emotion

J Kacey

First off.... No, I did not make my son cry just for the image like JG.... Set up lighting and waited until he was having a moment. Poor little guy is teething now, so this adds to his mood now and then.
(Inspired by Jill Greenberg's controversial image series End Of Times)

sweet caroline

Small children are just so uninhibited in their expression of emotion. I swear my second born blamed me for her teething pain, the way she'd look at me like "Aren't you going to fix it? What's wrong with you?"

Caroline

ivar

I say: and I it


I love the lighting and expression of the little guy. The slightly surreal, yet still realistic feel I get is awesome.
Did you apply smoothing to the skin? It looks like you did; if so, do you have a version without it?
The skin looks very soft (soft, not oof) which makes the hair stand out a lot, really, because of the fact it looks wet/gelled/something and with the lines/strands of hair really 'sharp' as opposed to the soft skin. I'm not sure if it detracts for the picture, tbh. It may add to it, as well.

In short, I love it

heatherfeather

I like it too, and think you are very brave for posting it!
(Also I am glad you didn't make him cry!)
Very precious photo!

joshhuntnm

I too am curious about the post -- how did you make the skin look like that?

Travis

You nailed it! Setup, lighting, processing, the works. I've been wanting to try this but haven't had the time or a willing baby to use. One thing I would do is crop it a tad tighter to remove the baby's nipple from the right corner of the image. I think it distracts my focus because it is the only other thing of detail in the frame besides main target of focus - the face.

Elaine

What a striking image! I like your treatment of this.
There is a single, white line going straight up from the top of his head, on the left. Not sure what it is, but my eyes keep being drawn to it.

J Kacey

Thanks for the comments everyone
I would say 90% of the look is lighting..... No way around it! If you look at others giving this a try without going all out on the lighting , you will see what I mean.

Lighting consisted of :
AB 1600 camera right in large Foldable Octa Box... Front Diffuser left off
AB 1600 with silver umbrella camera left
AB ringflash on camera
AB 800 on Avenger A700 boomstand for Mola Demi w/my grid for hairlight
AB 800's in PCB Beauty Dishes w/ my grids camera right and left and behind for kicker lights
Two 580 EX speedlights on white background (gradient added in post)

Basically, tailored my set up best I could with lighting and modifiers on hand.... Borrowed a few strobes to have enough.........

The skin is mostly done with making a layer, filling with 50% gray, set to softlight and lightly brushing over the existing highlights and shadows at a low opacity. A little goes a long ways IMO..... Mine is a little less processed than her originals. Playing with blending modes and opacity..... color adjustment, saturation.....sharpening and other standard adjustments to taste.

I really can't describe the process.... Just kinda have to do it.... it's a lot of work to set up the lights and play with ratio's.... I think this is why people try to cut corners and resort to trying to do it all with the lucis plug-in with PS or some kind of homemade action.

Thanks for the tips.... I did see the white line after I uploaded it and agree about the crop...
It's real nice to post in a friendly board for a change.

roentarre

Superb!

I have been quite tired of smiling or semi-annoyed look of toddlers...

This is a very memorable moment to capture! :ivar

christulk

Love it! Fantastic shot!

J Kacey

Thanks everyone
Cropped a little as suggested