Wednesday, June 15, 2011

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.  

Enchantment

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



8 comments:

  1. I love numbers six and seven from the top! Great shoot!

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  2. Beautiful work, Chanda! She's a lovely subject! :)

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  3. WOW- okay they are all so pretty but starting at the 6th one I was transported into a fairy tale- so beautiful!

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  4. She is absolutely beautiful!

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  5. Oh I love your pics! My daughter just started ballet and now anything ballet has so much more meaning. She's beautiful!!! Simply precious!!

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  6. Beautiful pictures of a beautiful subject!

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