My first shooting gig in Boston was a cool venture called
Backyartists, a company started by two experienced early childhood educators. Backyartists mostly caters to local families with pre-school aged children, but they also ship out seasonal and holiday boxes of open-ended process art and sensory activities for kids ages 3-9. Today I was taking marketing shots of their Friendship & Love box, for Valentine’s Day.
My goal was to create images they couldn't easily make with their smartphones. I used an f/2.8 lens shooting wide open so the background would be beautifully de-focused, and had their backs to the sun so that their hair (or hats in this case) were illuminated, giving them a certain glow. Wireless flash (with my usual paper diffuser) was used to illuminate the faces, completing the look. If I do a good job, you won't even notice that I used a flash, although you might subconsciously pick up that there was something special about the pictures. (Click on any image to view larger and sharper.)
