This is my friends daughter, I've been taking family photos for them since 2018. after a year or two the little girl got very comfortable with the camera.
For this photo I just held a hand held light diffuser over her head, using my other hand to hold my Canon R5 with the RF 24-70 at f/4 for a bit more detail, I snapped a few images relaying on the eye autofocus (since both my hands were occupied). I snapped a few images and in this one she has a genuine smile and I feel captured her essence.
Processing this was simple becase theres not much to do, just a bit of contrast, lowered highlights and brighten up the eyes a bit to bring out the color, I left the start hairs and left the skin as it was.
A little s-curve added a bit more pop and a light vignette brought the attention to the eyes and smile.
1/180 sec f/4 ISO 100
Canon R5 - RF 24-70mm 2.8