faces Teah

On second look, there is something very natural in this photo, if only a detail. Whether we are seeing the little girl's hand or instead a glove and hand, I'm not sure, but what is interesting is that the forward part of her fingers are darker and suggest that prior to the photo she was probably playing in the soil below (or eating soft chocolate?). That is pleasing, and totally compatible with the happy domaine of a little person.

The tips of the gloves seem to me like they are part of the shadowing/burning effect the photographer did in post processing. Very little about this photo appears natural, to me, and I think that was by design.

Gloves? What gloves, i don't see gloves i see finger nails, I may be wrong but i think the sharpening may be giving the allusion of gloves. This goes to what i said before, The photo, pose and capture are lovely, th processing for me kills it a bit. I also don't understand why a "cool" tone would be used for what should be a "warm" scene. Unless of course the intent is to create that cold feel of darkness and mystery. If that is the case some comments are out of context with what is being seen.
Colour creates mood, and the comments are in contradiction to the mood created by the darkness and the toning affect. There is no point in toning an image if you don't ave an intent, Toning for the sake of toning is a mistake, It need to have intent and needs to be done to enhance mood.

<<<Unless of course the intent is to create that cold feel of darkness and mystery.>>>

Richard, this is what I took to be the case.

<<<If that is the case some comments are out of context with what is being seen.>>>

I agree.

Fred, your initial comment, is perfectly in keeping with what is presented, And for me it is the cool tone that would have provided you with the mood you have described. The question is? was that the intent to portray this child in that way, I would love to see the same image presented at the end of this discussion with a warm tone added, just to see how the mood would change.

Richard, thanks for continuing the thought. It was mostly the darkness and the almost enshrouding shadows that gave me such a feeling of (what I assume is intentional) unnaturalness. The emphasis on the detail of her clothing even seems a part of it. The toning advances, or at least seems to be consistent with, all of that. The gesture and the way she's lit and dressed, has a bewitching quality, not an endearing or natural one, to me. It seems to me the photographer was very much in creation mode here.

Otherworldly . . . (?)

I must admit that I was playing around with this photo, lightening the dark areas a little and removing the cool tone and then warming it up a bit. Intellectually, you would this make a difference in affect, but I think what it shows is that it is the little girl's expression that drives everything in this picture. You can change everything around it, yet not much really changes. Perhaps others would disagree.

Anyway, I won't post it, and I will discard it soon, unless Art X says it is OK to post.

I must admit that I was playing around with this photo, lightening the dark areas a little and removing the cool tone and then warming it up a bit. Intellectually, you would this make a difference in affect, but I think what it shows is that it is the little girl's expression that drives everything in this picture. You can change everything around it, yet not much really changes. Perhaps others would disagree.

Anyway, I won't post it, and I will discard it soon, unless Art X says it is OK to post.

Fred, if you look at the area surrounding her hands (or glove, or whatever causes that appearance), you will note that it has not been locally toned down, something that seems to occur only some distance away from her fingers. The dirty fingers add a bit of naturalness that is seen also in her expression.

The rest reminds me of a selectively lit or toned studio shot, although it is apparently shot outside. The treatment appears unnatural overall, something I sense after the initial impact of the little girl's expression is brought into context with the rest of the image. If we had more light in the soft out of focus background and on the tree, I feel the rest of the image would say more, be more in synch with the subject. As it is, I have trouble with the extremely dark background that appears more and more incongruous with the nature of the subject the more I look at the photograph. If the intention is to suggest the unknown world, or future living challenges that face the little girl, it might have been done through the out of focus but less dark background, something rendered between the discernible - and the indiscernible. A different appearing child and pose might justify more for me the nature of the black background chosen. The parents of the child will likely look past those aspects and simply see the innocent beauty of the little girl, unhampered by the rest of the image.

That's certainly the way it was for me. The expression is still a strong driver (IMO), but considering the observations of others has affected the way that I now see this photograph. I knew considerable processing had been applied, but I'm no longer as sure as I was before that the changes were successful or inconsequential because the expression carried the photograph. I certainly noticed the darkened areas, but I hadn't considered the cool tone. I do believe Art had specific ideas and goals in mind, but that's as far as I can go -- I can't (or don't want to) try to guess what those ideas and goals happened to be. That, IMO, needs to come from Art.

<<<Fred, if you look at the area surrounding her hands (or glove, or whatever causes that appearance), you will note that it has not been locally toned down>>>

Arthur, it appears to me that the entire background has been darkened. The fingers seem to have been treated with the same darkening brought to the background, as have portions of the sweater. It's not clear to me whether bringing the fingers along was intentional. It could be, as you say, that the fingers are dark because of soil or chocolate, but that doesn't provide me with anything approaching a natural feel. I agree with you on the somewhat discordant nature of the expression with the rest of the treatment, which is a source of the kind of doubt I talked about initially.

<<<I can't (or don't want to) try to guess what those ideas and goals happened to be.>>>

Speaking for myself as a photographer who's been critiqued extensively, I really appreciate when someone suggests to me what they think it looks like my goals were. I then appreciate their asking me what my goals were and, often, a good discussion ensues about whether I achieved my goals and, if I didn't, what I might do differently in order to do so. A viewer projecting my intent is basically the viewer telling me how they read the photo, what it says to them, what meaning it has. When one "sees" intent in a work, one is not necessarily going so far as to say "this was for sure the photographer's intent." One is simply saying "this photo looks like it is saying or trying to say such and such." That is helpful, IMO, for any photographer to hear, as it will tell him whether or not he was successful. If we wait to hear exactly what the photographer intended, we will already have been influenced and may not give him our candid reading of the photo. All IMO of course.

I realize that we are discussing one particular photograph of Art here and should probably restrict our comments to that alone, but we should also be aware of what can be done in photography that represents a high point and a measure for our work. It is a pity that we cannot present some images of other photographers to provide a comparison. If the primary intention of Art was/is to provide a thoughtful communication of the dream world or innocence of the child, it might be instructive to see how other successful examples achieve that. There are few photographs of childhood innocence or dreams that work better in my mind than Boubat's photograph roughly mid twentieth century photograph of the little girl with her back to the photographer, standing alone with a string of gathered and joined leaves strung over her shoulders and body. A very different view of the child's world, with out of focus areas, no sharpening or toning whatsoever, completely natural surroundings, not at all a technically superb image, just the subject in a magic moment. Two very different works, ostensibly seeking a similar result. Informative to compare them visually, if we were free to do it.

Arthur, I don't see dreamworld or innocence here. I see, as I said, otherworldly . . . bewitching or beguiling . . . unnatural . . . mythological. Any dream this might invoke for me would be much to the darker side of innocence. I can see some level of innocence in the girl's expression alone, but the girl's expression is not alone and the photo seems heavily influenced by a lot of things besides the expression on the girl's face.

If you want to compare this photo to the specific work of another photographer and want to link to that other work, I don't see why that would be a problem in this particular forum. It's been done and is as valid a way of commenting on a photo as any other.

@ martin h
"Anyway, I won't post it, and I will discard it soon, unless Art X says it is OK to post."

I would be happy to see what you have come up with martin

In reading the comments posted and in helping to clarify one point, Teah is not wearing cloves and her right hand was slightly dirty; a result of the bark on the tree she was holding/hiding behind (well spotted Arthur). In hindsight, one could also be forgiven for thinking this is simply a result of an over processed image (which I've also come to recognize as potentially having taken away some of the image's appeal). Although the dark/cool tones are intentional there DOES seem to be an over emphasis of these post processes when viewing this image on my Ipad and Mac as opposed to my PC (which is where the image was edited) so to that end I think it may be time to re-calibrate my PC monitor !

I'm of the same chain of thought as Fred and welcome viewer's interpretations and analysis of my intent but I also acknowledge the viewer's choice not to have the photographer's input (regarding that intent) of fear it jeapordising how that image is viewed, interpreted and discussed in this forum.
@Arthur:
I'm very much a fan of Édouard Boubat's work although I cannot be entirely sure of the image you refer to. I too think such comparisons have merit in this discussion (once the photographer's intent has been established)

Push and pull, push and pull.
I get most of the comments made so far in how they value this photo. I like it for reasons many have offered (and frankly, I can see both the dreamworld/innocence and the otherworldly - it seems to be both there), and as other said, the sharpness robs something for me.
I don;t think it's the cause of the problem I experience with this photo, though. For some reason, I cannot concentrate on this image. It has something pulling me in, and then I look and I feel OK to let go (and do something else). It's a bit weird, I admit, but it leaves me with split ideas.
Yes, it is cute, charming, toned well, I like the composition. It all seems to come together really well. And yet, there is something unnatural in this photo to me, and unnatural in an inorganic way to the image. Maybe it's the contrast between the dark tones and the expression on her face, the sweetness in her eyes that radiates light. Something seems misaligned in a very subtle way.
As said, I cannot pinpoint it down, but ultimately, it leaves me dissatisfied. Not because it's a bad photo (quite the opposite). Not for any technical reason. Not, then, for anything that the photographer did. But because I feel invited in and find a closed door. It's weird, and possibly reflecting more on me than on the image. Too bad I cannot indicate better what exactly seems to push my opinion in another direction than most in this thread.

This image does what the photographer intended, which I think is to show this darling child with an expression that a small child would make playing hide and seek. The black and white is that a B&W. The lighting around the child is to focus one's attention on the child's cute expression and face. I find it to be a great image in B&W with good lighting on the child face first as the main focal point. This photographer likes the use of darker backgrounds it is his style and I think it works great for this image. Excellent capture and presentation of an adorable little girl.

Very strong series recently ! Also this one goes to my favorites. Your daughter is an excellent model.

Ben

Art, a beautiful presentation with a darling model. The tonalities of the BW are great to bring out the details of the entire composition. It is a fantastic image. Warm regards.

thank you all very much

Peek a Boo

she is to cute and you've done an exceptional job at capturing this precious moment

Some great photographs must be analyzed and criticized from the technical point of view in order to learn, to describe, to improve, and to understand.

But only few great photos exceed the academical and scholastic fields of thinking, where the composition, framing, lens, tech camera data, and lightning are the main issues to take in account.

This exceptional capture of an exceptional creature is one of those rara avis where the emotional impact is so overwhelming that erase the well known photographic world, surprising to the observer because the true source of light is herself.

To my favorite folder.