Documentary Portrait – Mother and Children


Here is a fun picture from our recent family vacation. The image has a lot of layers to pull you in. The obvious focal point is Molly’s face, but what is making her smile like that? Pull back just a bit, and you notice the puppet on Julie’s hand. If you look past Molly, you can see the boredom that usually accompanies air travel all over Emma’s face.

Finally, there is the light. You don’t usually associate airplanes with flattering light, but in this case the cabin lights were off and the strong back lighting from the windows gave me great rim light on the girls, and bounced around the cabin enough to fill in the shadows. Of course, the wide dynamic range of medium format black and white film was a major help.

Tech Info:
Fuji GS645S Medium Format Camera with a fixed 60mm f4 Fujinon Lens – Wide Open
Ilford HP5 Film