kid by the sea

Wow. I haven't commented on a POtW in a long time. Mostly because it usually comes down to a critiquing debate between John A, Gordon, Stephen, Rasheed, and Fred. This week we've added Rick to the mix. Welcome Rick. Entertaining to read but I'll stick with the photograph and leave you all to your debates.

The first thing that popped into my head when I saw this image was The Grudge. You know, that Japanese horror film with freaky, demonic cat people? Here, maybe this will help jog your memory.

After I got over that first impression I spent some time looking at Ian .'s photograph and started to really feel involved. I don't remember who said it above (maybe Stephen), but I can feel her sense of discovery and fascination. Alex doesn't speak for me, I never wanted to grow up and I can still vividly recall how great life was when the only thing I concerned myself with was finding shells in the sand. The muted tones are pleasant, the soft curve of the foamy water and the very shallow depth of field all lead us to the balanced kid looking for something in the sand. If there is a color cast, I don't find it distracting and I don't find the outriggers or towels or whatever that is in the upper left to be a distraction, either. Alex complained about her hair being "rendered as solid black" so for him, I'm going to suggest a monitor calibration as I see vivid highlights and texture in her dark brown hair with a little white bow on her left side... this may be the reason for his opinion that the color and contrast are dreadful as well. You just never know, someone could be looking at photonet on an NEC CRT from 1989 and blame your photograph for their crappy monitor.

Areas for improvement? I would like to see more of her face but moving around towards the water for a different angle would have just introduced more of that background everyone (except Fred) is complaining about and obviously, you can't ask a little girl to look at you while she's searching for things in the sand, that might ruin the spontaneity. I see some bluish highlights on the very top of her head that bother me a little and a few possible sensor spots on the left side but I'm just nit picking now. I'll be honest, I didn't read all of every critique so if I'm repeating something someone else already complained about then bravo for you thinking like me ;)

And since Alex asked the question, my answer is a resounding 'yes', I would most definitely give this photograph a second (and third, and fourth) look, POtW or not.

...I apologize to Rashed for spelling his name wrong in my post above.

It is no problem at all my friend Jeff, your write great English, mine is too poor and I also appreciate your straight going into the POW, not anything else, a gentleman way of doing things.

All of the best for you and yours my friend.

The defense rests.

Nice! I like what you've done with the DOF

A great photograph - nicely seen :-)

In response to Fred's remark about my statement that "everything else is just nit-picky" I certainly wasn't referring to all photos, just this one. I suspected Ian had very little time to do any kind of set up for this type of shot, and had to use whatever lens and settings he already had, which is precisely what Ian said later in this thread. So to me the main thing is to get the special moment before it passes, which is usually a few seconds. Yeah, I think there is some rough bokeh in the out of focus areas which could easily be smoothed out; I do it all the time. I played with the image and made some adjustments to it that I might have done if it was my own photo. I even created some increased vignetting. This is the so called "nit-picky" stuff that one plays with to give the image more impact. You need a strong image to start with and I think this one is strong.

very nice, I like it!

It is a beautiful composition of a child. I wouldn't crop it at all. The shallow DOF works great here as well as a subtle vignetting, thus focusing the girl playing with foam, and showing in the background a curvy element of the wave and the towels as the stripes, that aesthetically looks more designy and minimalistic. That makes for the continuity and harmony of the composition, in my opinion.
Kristina

Congrats for this shot, it makes me go back at my childhood feelings

Great dof, almost perfect

Wow! A classic. Will live on in my mind. Totally haunting, transfixing, and in a way otherworldly. Would love to have this framed in my gallery.

If instead of looking as if it is directly out of a 4:3 camera if it was cropped to a 3:2 camera format it would look much better without the stuff top left and the wave line would curve around the child instead to tailing away out of frame right top. It could also benefit from a left crop to get the child away from centre frame. But really those are analitical quibbles about a wonderful and extremely natural portrait of a young child exploring and having fun with nature at the seaside. I can sense her excitement as she prepares to smack down on the approaching froth.

This is the kind of photo that puts a smile in everyone's face. :-)

Congratulations

It's hard to imagine a "critique" more self-servingly cynical than this one. Your childhood must have been awfully sad and pathetic, Alex, for you not to see something of value in this outstanding portrait of a curious, wonder-filled child.

I'm sorry that your life is so bereft of wonder and innocence, as it must be if you fail to see them in this image.

This is such a wonderful photo! Great subject, great composition. The only minor issue is that the framing could be a bit tighter.

I caught a glimpse of this at the end of a Forum thread today – the thumbnail grabbed me.

Great shot.

Timing is excellent.

Typical of a child to try to catch or smack the little waves: it is really well done to capture that action and motion and intent, in a still.   

WW

I haven’t ever commented on the POTW. Seems that there was a lot of heat generated here . . .

Would I give this image a second look?
Yep - I did.
I caught a glimpse of this at the end of a Forum thread I read today – the thumbnail grabbed me.
Timing is excellent. Typical of a child to try to catch or smack the little waves.
This is really well done to capture that action and motion and intent, in a still image. That’s the main reason why the thumbnail got my attention.
Is it a journalistic photographic prize winner; or a wall hanging for the parents and is it technically perfect in every fashion – no.
Is it a slice of life neatly and precisely captured and presented – bloody oath it is.
Good shot.

WW