Call me old fashion but I love books, over an e reader, even today I love a great paper book to read and especially for children. I love the illustrations, the smell and feel of the paper, the excitement of the child trying to peak to see what’s next while you hold the suspense and let the child’s imagination run free. One of my greatest treasures is an old Alice in Wonderland book that is around 5o years old that was my moms. Every once in a while I love just looking at the book and reading it to my youngest boy who still has a huge imagination, it also brings back childhood memories and is a great source of inspiration. To this day, its still my favorite story and I’m still waiting for a client to ask for an Alice in Wonderland session as I have the most amazing ideas suspended in my head.
Each fairy tale is so special , these are story’s that we grow up learning and memorizing and re reading over and over again. I love seeing a child let their imagination roam and wonder and I love as a photographer taking them into worlds, that they think can only be found in books and stories they create in there heads. I love stories full of tales of adventure, good vs evil, mystical creatures and whimsical feelings. and full of emotion and story. I truly love creating images that will last just as long as the story’s we are told. I love creating story’s that you can put the child in and create emotion and feelings that truly are magical .
Little Red riding hood is one of those truly classical stories. and MacKenna was truly amazing during her session. plus she fit the little red riding hood personality perfectly, she is truly such an incredibly sweet girl, she was true pleasure to work with she showed determination, strength and was up for an adventure. A big part of these sessions is trusting the imagination process, I give the child the scene and let there own personality shine through, I never tell then to give me a cheese smile or ask for a specific expression, I want to capture there personality there story!! I might say MacKenna look over there and what do you think you would do if a wolf is coming close to you ? and I have to say I love the expressions children give me that are unique and there very own. Children have an amazing way to convey sincere emotions and reactions when dealing with Imagination.
Mackeena was so quick at picking up the mood of the story , This section of our session took around 30mins to get her little red images which gave us room for one more fairy tale story !! my goal was to create a story, that was full of wonder, and add that sense of magic that we can only image in books and bring them into heirlooms that are treasured for lifetimes..
I usually have a sense of the story before hand and plan the costumes well in advance , costumes are so important and are key to a story , I’ve been asked why so much emphasis on outfits. In my opinion they can make or break a story. My goal is to have the images that tell a story, especially in fairy tale stories they need to feel and look as realistic as possible, or else it just feels like a a photo op and that’s not my goal.. So key planning is made to achieve the look we want this includes high quality outfits, McKenna’s outfit is from one of my favourite shops in Austraila, They made such vibrant and child appropriate stunning clothing I wanted a sweet and unique look with a slight modern twist. Props and costumes are truly key in creating amazing fairy tale stories. That add elements that are memorable in the story. How do I come up with the story, well it starts with a theme and once the planning takes place. I do have some Key images that pop into my head that I want to create, but most of the time I get those main key images and as we move around new ideas keep coming and we add to the story , I love the energy that children bring with them. I would say 50% of the time, the child starts to create there own version of the story, depends on the age as they truly get absorbed in the character they are playing. We truly have an amazing time and Its truly fun and amazing creating story’s.
I love when they don’t want it to end or leave . Right there I achieved a huge goal and that’s one of the best parts of my job because we created real memories they will cherish not just photos at the end of the day.
Once the session is done, the work is not done but just started , now comes the editing. Which I truly enjoy Its just as much fun as the actual photo session. My camera is my amazing tool and so are my lens but I always say they are the key ingredients to an amazing photo. What happens next is where the rest of the magic happens. I hand edit each and every photo, not actions or presets are used which means each one is very custom. I believe a fairy tale session is full of detail, some photos are serene and subtle, while others are more bold and stand out, but each one has a large amount of detail in it, from colour tone to the emotions shown to entire mood to the story. I love hearing about all the little details that are found in each photo that they didn’t notice the first time, which in its self is magic. Each photo in this Little Red session took anywhere from an 1 hour to 6 hours to create which was the wolf encounter. They are images that need to feel real and tell a story and keep you wondering , and asking questions like what happens next. What does she do next , what is the wolf thinking, and so on.
That’s all part of the magic
I hope you enjoy Mckennas Little Red Story. below are more images in the order of her story!!
These are absolutely amazing photos so
Much creativity and love the wolf amazing job !! I will definitely be booking with you in the fall for a session I have in mine for my two kids !!