[Marina Dieul]

Hi Cindy,
Oh! lot of questions, I'll try to answer...
It was her second photo session. For the first session, my second daughter, who is the same age, was posing too, so there was a lot of emulation, they both wanted to be THE star. I couldn't obtain a satisfying reference, but I had a better idea of her personnality and how she was reacting in front of a camera.
For this second photo session, I had more precise ideas, but I knew it was just propositions she would answer or not. I wanted her to be naked, to be seated on something like a step, and I wanted a white sheet ( all this to give an allegorical level)
Then I had different accessories, like this book ( my note book...) that she could read.
At the begining of the session, I regreted my daughter wasn't there, because this little girl didn't want to pose at all. So, we just waited, and after 1/2 hour, she decided to take off herself her clothes. ( The 2 years old children love to be naked, but they also love to decide themselves)
I had put a wood beam over a chest ( a normal 2 years old is absolutely unable to resist climbing on this)
When she sat where I wanted,she was in the position I had decided. I gave her the sheet and the book but she wasn't very interrested by the book. During all the process, I was speaking to her, and her mother too. If you need that a child of that age raise an arm, for exemple, don't ask him to do it, he will say "NO!", but if you ask " Where is the ceiling?" he will be happy to show you.
The reference photo was #70 (among 100). She was playing with the sheet, and I just came to arrange the folds in a nice way, telling her something like " Oh! Look! You're going to be beautiful like this !" I came back to my camera and she looked at me this way. ( Maybe thinking " Did she really say beautiful?")
Her eyebrow wasn't raised as much, I changed that to add intensity to her gaze.
I needed several weeks to "digest" my references, and to compose a picture. I kept the idea of the book because I needed something to cut the horizontal line of the chest.
Well, it's just a glimpse of my process... I also look a lot art books, analyzing babies compositions, postures, accessories then refine all what I learned to keep only what interrests me. I always have my note book, noting every beginning of idea. I sometimes use my camera as if it was a sketch book, giving form to intuitions...