See No Evil, Speak No Evil, Hear No Evil
From my experience, 78% of the population do NOT like having their picture taken by other people. I find people LOVE taking pictures of themselves. Look at any given profile on Facebook and you'll see countless self-portraits (selfies) via iPhone, Android or any electronic device that could possibly showcase the very best angle of any given person. I am a perfect example of this. I like taking pictures of myself, but cringe while viewing pictures that people take when I'm out and about, desperately hoping they don't post it on Facebook or Instagram because I fear I have "fat face." (Don't laugh, you feel the same way. lol)
With that being said, I give you Bentley. A 3 year old boy who had never taken professional pictures. The moment he came to the studio I could tell he did NOT want to be there. Side note: I LOVE taking pictures of kids. They are SO brutally honest, ("Mom, why are Brian's eye's so big?") they don't have that feeling of physical insecurity that most of us adolescents, teenagers and adults have acquired from a bully at school or person who just happened to say that one thing to us that our mind will never let go of and there's just something pure about their eyes that none of us have as adults. (Especially YOU reading this. Hahaha)
I knew we were going to do black and white photos, so I had a black muslin backdrop set up with some toys for him to play with to get him to relax. He was playing with the toys eyeballing me out of his left side wondering if I was going to sneak a quick shot when he wasn't looking. Originally, I had a 3 light setup (2 at 45 degree opposites from behind and a beauty dish directly in front of him.) He seemed to be a bit intimidated by all of the cords and lights so I removed both back lights and created a game with him--make the funniest face you can at the camera. He was doing great and then he did this one face, I clicked the camera, looked at the image I just took and screamed "Uuuuugghhhh!" (Anyone that knows me knows how that sounds, it's a blend of extreme excitement, mixed with a tone that makes you realize I am completely nuts.) As I screamed, he got scared and covered his hears. SNAP, I clicked the shutter. I looked at the screen and was reminded of that famous picture of monkeys "See no evil, Speak no evil, Hear no evil." (If you don't have any idea what I'm talking about, Google it.) I then asked him to cover his mouth. SNAP. And then to cover his eyes. SNAP.
And that, my friends is how I achieved a "See no evil, Speak no evil, Hear no evil" photo shoot.
Oh, I almost forgot. Canon 1DX, Canon 70-200mm @ 2.8, 1 light positioned 45 degrees down directly above the camera.
