John, thanks.


Since I knew the mother was going to wear a black dress, I switched to a black background. I used a soft box on the right, to highlight the baby's face, and a reflector to the left to lighten the mother's face just a bit, but to also keep it in the shadows, as you pointed out. I wanted her hand in the picture and I told her to look at a fixed object, to help give her a contemplative look. The baby cooperated, fortunately, since she was looking all over the place up to this point.