First Holy Communion Revisit

I was editing some First Holy Communion pictures that I made recently of a young boy in my studio.  Something happened while photographing him that I just had to share.  I need to categorize this moment under the heading of "Situational Awareness."  While you might hear me talk your ear off about SA in other settings, I find that it works for me in most of my life.  It's simple moving through life with an awareness of what your senses are taking in.  For me, it's hyper-drive on the visual side but smells, sounds, sensations, etc., they all play a role.  Here's how SA worked in this photograph.

After finishing a series of images, I turned off my main light and moved it out of the way to get ready for the next series.  As I did, I saw the light pouring in over Hunter's head, like a beam of light that angels descend down to us in.  (Not that I've actually seen that actually happen, but you know what I'm talking about.)  I stopped dead in my tracks and said to my photographer friend Jason, who was visiting for a few days, 'do you see what I see??"  "YES!" was his excited reply.

I made a few images of him when Jason spoke up and said, "Hunter, look up at the ceiling."  Wow!  It made the picture happen.  Pious, reverent, humble, innocent - all the words that would fit for a First Holy Communion portrait of a young boy.

So they we were, Jason, Hunter, his grandma and I, a few days before Easter, and it was that situational awareness and that infamous angel of mine, "intuition", that spoke to us and helped me create this moving image of Hunter.  I invite you to help me think up a title for it.

The light from above, you ask?  It was biblical - the roof opened up and poured down a shaft of light that I needed for heavenly illumination of his portrait!  OK, you got me.  I cannot lie around Easter.  I owe it all to the Solatubes (http://www.solatube.com/) I had installed in my studio.  (Brighter Concepts on Capital Dr in Shorewood.)   I think I'll be using them for a light source more often!  It pays to have SA!

Certified Professional Photographer Submissions

Today was the day to submit my 20 images to the Professional Photographers of America for review to hopefully earn my Certified Professional Photographer (CPP) accreditation.  It was a fun exercise to go back through 2 years of images and pick ones that met the criteria laid out by the judging panel.

As I perused my files, I found this one, and since it will soon be First Holy Communion time,  parents will be calling me to record this occasion. I thought you'd like to hear about the story behind this photograph.

This boy is my 'backyard neighbor."  I usually hear him and the other kids in the neighborhood during the summer months, when they tear around having a great time in imaginative play.  It always reminds me of the fun I had as a child, playing with the kids in my neighborhood.  So when he showed up in my studio, all dressed up in a suit and tie, with those big, wide eyes to match, I felt the contrast of an innocent, young communicate and the fun, active second grader I knew.  It's funny how clothes can change behavior.

His uncle is a priest so I knew he would be well versed in what was about to occur in his life.  So after making some other images, I decided to go for the drama in my lighting, to show the innocence and piety that goes along with one's First Holy Communion.  Standing above him while he sat on  stool, I helped get the rosary just right in his hands.  Then we got his hands and the cross just right.  I asked him to look up at me so I could see how everything looked, and at that moment, I knew I had the image I was after.  It was true; simple, straightforward, aligned and who could miss those eyes and that innocence!

His mother LOVED it!  Of course she would.  I often hear mothers say that they wished they'd had photographs made when their sons were this age.  When they were still innocent, soft in their features and open to the world.  What's stopping you moms?  Call me about mini-sessions so you can have the images of a quickly passing time in your child's life!