Creating a Mood for your Photo.

     Now, I'd like to get into "mood" photography....How to create a viewer reaction. (first of a couple of emails).

    The first thing you must do is become proficient with your camera. Keep experimenting and making several images of each subject, changing poses and light angles to see what works best as a way of life for you.

    Photoshop has opened a door I only dreamed of 50 years ago.

    I, once, (50 years ago) photographed a group of three children, who were the great, great, grandchildren of Greenwood Leflore, the Choctaw Indian Chief for whom the city of Greenwood and Leflore County, MS, are named.

    Their Grandmother wanted them sitting on the porch of Malmaison, Greenwood Leflore's beautiful, big, home. It had burned years before, but she had a nice photo of it.

    I copied the photo, then photographed the children on a standard porch steps.

    I'll keep this short....I exposed a 20X16 of the house, dodging a space where the children would be sitting. Then, in the darkroom, double exposed them into it.

    I oil painted the whole photo, filling in around the children with paint.

    It turned out very nicely, but oh, how much easier that is now with Photoshop.

    That has little to do with "mood" photos, but it just came to mind and I wanted to tell you about it for a reason.

    Sometimes the environment creates a built-in mood.

    A brightly lit scene usually denotes some version of happiness or activity. Darker scenes bring out feelings of anxiety or even fear. Dracula and Frankenstien usually were involved in darker scenes.

    Portraits with dark backgrounds usually bring about "Character" moods. Children are rarely photographed with dark backgrounds, as they are thought of as light-hearted and gay. Gay is a beautiful little English word, meaning happy and light-hearted....not what others would use it to mean. 

    Here, again, Photoshop to the rescue, making it fairly simple to have a suitable background when none is available at the time you took the photo.

    If you are just learning and not proficient in Photoshop, then your choice of a background becomes all important in mood creation.

    Use flowers or greenery for "happy" looks. Mountains, a lake, or trees for tranquil effects. Use landmarks such as a football stadium for excitement.

    Indoors, use a type room which matches the message. Kitchens for cooking, etc. Maybe a den in which to make an athlete's portrait.

    There is a good-sized tree right out side my apartment which has big white blossoms on it. By putting it out-of-focus, it looks somewhat like an Old Masters out of focus floral background and colors can be added if need be, Usually, backgrounds are more high quality looking in a mood photo if they are neutral, and dull, colored. 

    Below is my close friend, Marianne, with that tree as an out-of-focus background.