Black & White Wednesdays - Enchanted

As I noted in an earlier post, Ava's ballet was last week and I set out to take some pictures in our woods that I've been wanting to take for some time. 


Ava has a beautiful costume this year.  They are always pretty, but this one this year is just spectacular!  So I knew I wanted to take a different set of photos than I usually do.  So, we got her dressed, put on her stage makeup (I NEVER allow Ava to wear makeup - only for her ballet performances - just so y'all know!) and set out into the woods.  In addition to the one in my previous post, I was really happy with how all the shots came out...

Here is the glamour shot.  Hello 8 going on 18!!  

But then we got a little more creative...This was her regal shot - I told her to pretend she was a royal queen...boy, that girl is a drama diva!!

I liked these close-ups; especially when I started playing with textures, colors and some photoshop actions.  It really helps to create an emotion, a feeling, an impression.

But this simple black & white is stunning too.  (Or maybe it's the subject - am I biased?)

So I just had Ava start walking around, pretending she was a fairy or a princess lost in the woods.  She loved it. 


I should note that the treatment and editing of the following pictures was really inspired by the Cottingley Fairies, a series of pictures published in the 1917's by two girls. Their story inspired the movie "FairyTale: A True Story" which is much loved by my daughter and really a cute, charming little movie.  If I had been thinking, I would have slapped a pair of wings on my daughter to complete the fairy "look" but even without wings, I think they turned out well.

Originally I had pictured all these shots in black and white so I started playing around in shades of sepia as well a black and white, applying textures and adding some 'grunge' to make it more interesting.

I would like this one below printed on a big, 16x20 canvas, propped up on the mantel above the fireplace.

But my favorite, and Ava's favorite, is the one I entered in the contest.  Ava loves it because it reminds her of the fairy pictures I mentioned above.  

For more fun with black & white photography, head on over to The Long Road to China for more Black & White Wednesday!