I'm a portrait photographer who likes to take on my own special projects from time to time. If I have a week when I'm not too busy, I'll choose a fun project I've been itching to do, and spend the day enjoying myself very much! Today it was bribing my two daughters with ice cream to get them to dress up and pose for me. :-) I made recreations of the clothing and props from old paintings, and did my best to duplicate them using photography.

First up was my youngest daughter (we call her Muffin) sitting in soft sunlight with a basket of apples. Here's the original painting by Emile Munier, and the final image I created:

Of course, I happen to think my daughter is even cuter than the original painting! ;-) I added hours of work making brushstrokes and manipulating the light to resemble the original as much as possible. I realize the basket was supposed to have plums in it, but all I had were apples so that what we used! Next up was Belle, and she did her pose outside in front of a large rose bush. Here's the inspiration (A William Bougeureau) and my image:

Want to hear a few secrets? When recreating a painting like this, you can use all kinds of crazy hacks to get it done. That red bandana on my daughter's head is actually a pair of tights! I used Photoshop to add more red to her lips, like the vintage style in the painting. I wrapped a brown curtain panel around her waist for her skirt, and made the top out of some white fabric and elastic. It's like a costume, not real clothes, so you can improvise! I had so much fun, I want to do more of these soon!