We welcomed the beautiful ginger whirlwind that is one year old Betsy to the studio today for her toddler photoshoot.
Gorgeous little Betsy had just mastered the art of walking, so those feet she’s been curious about have now found their purpose as she went a-cruising happily round the studio. We were lucky she has a beautiful nature along with those striking features as she allowed us to capture her portraits without complaint. Sitting still is always a tall order amongst toddlers with this new found skill, so we tried to go with the flow and moved to whatever activity suited the moment to keep her engaged while the camera kept on firing. We love the fact her teething necklace gives her a hippy chick look!
What these images don’t show are the cute ‘rah’ sound effects when Betsy had finished her milk which had us all chuckling. (But we captured the ‘rah’ face!)
We’ve very lucky as we get to meet some very chilled out babies and toddlers, and relaxed parents are to thank for making these photoshoots flow so easily. Our usual unhurried approach also helps, and allowing time to play is essential. We’re mindful that the photo studio is essentially a strange, adult environment with raised lights and strange equipment, but the world of children is of exploration and play so lots of messing about and silliness really helps children to settle. That’s when the camera goes into overdrive and the natural expressions flow. Betsy delivered on this, a range of thoughtful, amused , curious and smiley expressions occurred naturally as we played together (although she was unimpressed when we blew raspberries to get her attention and we can’t really blame her!).
We’ve shown the results in a mix of black and white, a style for which which we’re renowned for, plus added a few in colour simply because ginger hair like Betsy’s is just so stunning and should be celebrated. There’s no rule to whether or not we convert to black and white or process in colour, it’s just a gut feeling we get when the edit is right.
Thanks to mum and Betsy for a great shoot, and to our other lovely client who recommended us and joined in the fun today!