Who is the subject? Yes, I titled this portrait Mother and Son. However, when viewing this image, you might see that this is really a portrait of a single subject – the mother. My intention was to focus this pose on the mother (I wanted her to be the subject) and employ her son as a supporting actor. Thus, a better title might be Mother.
Before starting a portrait session, I find it helpful to know what I want as the end product. Know what you want before you start, and it becomes much more likely that you will arrive at your goals. I had three goals: give mother portraits of her son, capture mother and son bonding, and capture a portrait of the mother.
NOTE: During our consultation, this lovely mother implied, “I don’t take good pictures. My smile always looks false, and I don’t like how I look.” Her goal was to create a portrait of her son. Yet, she did reluctantly agree to participate in some poses.
So, the mother wanted portraits of her son. I wanted to capture mother and son together, and if possible, I wanted to capture a portrait of this mother herself. During this session, most poses were actually focused on the son himself. We captured him playing and looking at his mother – just off camera. However, we also worked on poses of mother and son.
A carry over from my counseling background is to capture my subjects in a moment of bonding and enhanced self-esteem. To achieve this, I find the technique of having a mother and son hug does work to visually create a sense of that feeling of bonding. Their hugging is natural, and it conveys the genuine affection in their relationship. This mother’s enjoyment of her son’s hug is reflected in her face – making for a wonderful memory.
I feel all three goals were achieved. Mother got portraits of her son; we did capture images of mother and son bonding, and I was able capture a portrait of mother. The practical outcome was a happy client who made a purchase.
Tips:
• Know what you want to achieve before you start – then plan to make it happen.
• Capturing people doing what comes naturally is key to creating an heirloom portrait.
• While a client’s goal may be one thing, you can give them more than they asked for.
