TanyaRDS

Día de Muertos

Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead) is a celebration of loved ones who have passed on, a time when family comes together to remember our loved ones and honour the...
Read more

Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead) is a celebration of loved ones who have passed on, a time when family comes together to remember our loved ones and honour them. With his many ancestors watching over this little guy and protecting him, we celebrate them.

The sugar skull was painted on in Photoshop :)
Read less

Canon EOS 6D Mark II

settings

Aperture f/2.8 ISO 500 Shutter 1/160 Focal Length 35/1

upload_date

Feb, 2018

Views

556

Likes

+48

Awards

Zenith Award

Winner in SKULLS Photo Challenge

Top Shot Award 22

Judge Favorite

9Teen Award

Celebrity Award

Winner in CosPlay Photo Challenge

Superb Composition

+15

Top Choice

+15

Peer Award

+12

Outstanding Creativity

+11

Absolute Masterpiece

Virtuoso

Superior Skill

Emotions

Happy

Top Ranks

Top 10 rank

Top 10 rank week 1

Top 10 rank

Top 10 rank week 2

Top 20 rank

Top 10 rank week 1

Top 10 rank

Top 10 rank week 2

Top 10 rank

Top 30 rank week 1

Same photographer See all Behind The Lens

My Husbands Avó, we went to visit her in Madeira Portugal in 2016 when I took this portrait. She just recently passed away. Our hearts yearn to be ab

My take on the Classic Tim Burton's Corpse Bride. Photoshop was used extensively

My youngest Furbaby, Mouse. With her stunning blue eyes

A styled shoot with this Mamma. She welcomed her baby the very next day

Along the wild coast near Cape Town, South Africa

Mercado dos Lavradores, the old market in Funchal, Madeira, Portugal

Sweet baby girl in her newborn photoshoot

My little niece at her Ballet lesson. She absolutely loves her ballet class ♥

Taken in the pools of a waterfall in George South Africa

My gorgeous niece, my muse, I love to photograph her. This is a dramatic take on a princess shoot

In Peniche, Portugal. As the sun sets these fishermen cast off from the rocky shore

While walking the streets of Funchal, Madeira

while walking in my garden this morning, I saw this sweet little butterfly fluttering around this flower bush. I went inside to get my camera and hope

While walking the streets of Quarteira, Portugal this moment caught my eye

Discover more photos See all

With Mireia, I did my first jumping session.

Even though, she was a sweetie, my lack of experience didn’t help.

So, if you see imperfections, by timestopping

Model and styling Carolyn Lacasse
Photography and editing Marc-André Riopel
Concept ArtMood Visualz by ArtMoodVisualz

Model - Mathilda Barret by CVH-PHOTOGRAPHY

Follow the amazing model on Instagram @cornlette by EricaAlmquist

Lead singer of Australian metalcore band Vola Inertia swing the mic cord. by MarkKriedemann

Ballerina in a dancing pose on an urban setting by mauriciothomsen

Follow me on instagram at elenaparaskevaphotography by ElenaParaskeva

Exercise on London Underground during COVID-19 by J-anis_Photography

Behind The Lens

Location

I took this photo in the family's home during their son's newborn photoshoot. I do all my newborn shoots at the family's home so that they are more comfortable during the shoot. I bring along a bunch of props and can get quite creative with the new trend of digital backgrounds newborn photographers are using now a days.

Time

It was around about noon (12pm), using a window as my primary light source. Although through the editing it looks like much darker light. I had the baby on a black fabric background on a newborn posing beanbag. The light was plentiful and quite even.

Lighting

Purely natural light through a window (not direct light) Through the darkening of the background and added editing it gives it a much moodier look than the actual light that was coming through the window. I prefer to not use artificial light on children, just a person preference, because I love how soft natural light is.

Equipment

I used a Canon 6D mk2 and 35mm f2 lens. Mom was holding baby (baby's safety is always more important than the photo) so I edited out her had as well. No tripod or flash used. I used Lightroom and Photoshop for my editing.

Inspiration

Baby's parents are very alternative. He's nursery has got sugar skull and all sorts of skulls as decor, even a skulls mural on the wall. Mom was looking for a photographer to capture a more alternative style newborn shoot and a few people recommended me. We spoke and she asked if I could send her through some ideas which I did, but I didn't include the idea of making a sugar skull look on the baby through editing, because I didn't know if it would be possible for me to do it. We did the shoot with the other plans and the one shot of the baby resting on the ornamental skull (which belongs to his Mom, she has a collection) was the perfect one to try out for my idea. So I did it and they absolutely loved it. Because of the meaning behind the Dia de Muertos celebration and the fact that the family had lost parents and a brother, this image paid homage to the family who have passed on, while celebrating the new life entering the family.

Editing

There was so much post processing on this image, I think in total I spent 10 hours on it. I first edited the base of the image, taking mom's hand out the pic and making the background pitch black. I took a days break and then began the sugar skull edit which is time consuming, but totally worth it as it looks very realistic and I've had many people thinking we painted the baby's face (btw don't paint a baby's face hahaha it's not good for them). I took the hat from on of the photos with baby and dad and edited the hat and flowers onto baby as well to finish off the Dia de Muertos feel of the photo.

In my camera bag

I work almost exclusively with my 35mm and have a 6D mk2 and 7D in my bag :) I also have a 10-22mm and a 50mm f1.8

Feedback

Patience, art isn't created in 10 minutes. Take brakes, sleep on it and come back refreshed to create magic. Create images you are excited about, if you are excited then your clients will be excited too. This shoot was quite challenging and different from my usual, but it is so much more me with the creativity. I sport a sugar skull tattoo on my left arm. It was something I am passionate about, and that's why it worked so well.

See more amazing photos, follow TanyaRDS

TanyaRDS

TanyaRDS

Día de Muertos