P#14: The Photo of the Boy with the Bubble

Enthralled

Vik Orenstein: I love this picture of the boy with the bubble for a couple of reasons. One, it seems like a decisive moment. He's totally enthralled by the bubble and you know when you're looking at it that there's tension because you know the bubble is going to pop in a split second. (click the image for a larger version)

The other thing that I like about it is that it's my specialty treatment, which is hand colored. This picture of the boy with the bubble was actually an image that was shot digitally, printed, and then hand colored directly on the print.

You can see the tonal range and the character of the original sepia tone picture comes through. With the transparent colors on top, you get to have a little bit of a decorative treatment without having it overpower the subject.

Audri Lanford: Wow, that's really interesting. The color on the bubble is really wonderful.

Vik Orenstein: Thank you. Yeah, we overdo the bubbles a little bit. They're probably not quite that rainbow-y in real life.

Audri Lanford: The expression is clearly enthralled, as you said.

Vik Orenstein: I used to use bubbles as a prop for little children quite often, but instead of getting smiles and laughter, sometimes they get very, very serious and contemplative when playing with bubbles. That can be a really good look too, but they looked almost scared sometimes so I don't use bubbles so much anymore unless the kids are at least toddler age.

In Summary

Vik Orenstein's picture of the boy with the bubble is proof that sometimes props don't have the effect we'd expect on a child, but the effect they do have is priceless nonetheless.