I took this picture of Gideon a couple of weeks ago because he needed a black and white one for the concert he is playing in. It took me forever and like three or four different tries on different pianos in different outfits before I finally got this one. I was unhappy with everything I had done before. Finally I had an inspiration in the middle of his math lesson and quickly brushed his hair and let him wear the shirt he had on, and sat him at the piano just to see if it would work. I had one foot on the window sill and another (stockinged) foot on the piano, and precariously balanced while he looked up at me. For some reason the lighting and the pose worked really well, I thought. You could tell that the piano was a piano, an issue I'd had with other closeups- the piano just looked like a big black object of some kind in the background. Also, his black suit kept blending in, so there wasn't nearly enough contrast for a black and white. Here, his blue checked shirt actually looks interesting in the black and white conversion and adds contrast.
Finally pleased with a photo, I sent it in and showed it to the kids. And, while they really liked it as well, they said it kind of looked like he was looking up in the sky at aliens. Wow. Nothing like kids to keep you humble. Now I can't un-see that when I look at the photo. Oh well. I still like it anyway.
