P#16: A Head Shot of a Girl with Beautiful Eyes

All Natural

Bobbi Lane: The little girl here, the girl with beautiful eyes, was six years old. This is one of my all-time favorite pictures. I just think that she is so stunningly beautiful.

I shoot a lot of kids and this one is definitely one of my all-time favorite children photographs, but it's also one of my favorite all-time pictures.

I think it is her self confidence and joy in life that is so attractive. She's just that sweet person. I totally fell in love with her before I took her picture, and then even more so after I did her picture. (click the image for a larger version)

With the lighting here, you can see that there's water behind her. We're basically on a dock. There is a huge lake that's in front of it and behind it are some trees. The sun had just gone below the tree.

That's why, again on camera right, you see there's more shading on that side of her face -- that's the side that's towards the trees. The camera left (the right side of her face) is towards the open sky and the open water.

The light source here is basically a giant sky and the light off the water. It is beautiful soft, smooth wraparound lighting. The shadows never get very dark.

I didn't use any reflector in this picture. I didn't use reflectors in any of the pictures I gave you. It's just all natural lighting in each shot.

To Sum Up

You don't always need actual reflectors to get lighting to move the way you want it. In this picture of the girl with beautiful eyes, Bobbi used natural lighting and a lake to get dramatic results.