The Large Family Gathering

A Little Girl, top, shows love for her father (with camera) and faces of

relatives abound, in this large family gathering at a dinner recently.

Your ratings and critiques are invited and most welcome. If you rate

harshly or very critically, please submit a helpful and constructive

comment; please share your superior photographic knowledge to help

improve my photography. Thanks! Enjoy! John

I had to crop the right -- dead space.

I am struck by how wonderful this turned out to be.

Poppa, right with camera, seemed to want to be hostile, but I was standing next to his momma who absolutely loved that she had such a wonderful family and that I had seen it was so.

This was one big wonderful, happy family out for a dinner in a public place -- very visible and taking photos of one another . . . goofing it up as i walked by (very conveniently as I always am. . . . with my sixth and seventh senses working.)

When I saw the young miss loving her father so much by goofing behind him while he was photographing I couldn't stop documenting her love and chose this for its slightly surreal aspect because of closed eyes and its slight mystery -- everybody is together and at the same time they're all individuals.

It's one of my best of the best.

I think you recognized that,

And I thank you for taking the time to tell me (and to rate).

John (Crosley)

that I judge them by their children and how well behaved their children are, making allowance that one in five children will be a genetic throwback.

I told this to the grand momma whom I was standing next to, and she just glowed; she was so happy with her whole brood.

This group was sooo fulllll of love, it just burst at the seams, and although I caught a slightly surreal moment when they are loving yet individuals, do not let this single moment detract from the reality that this was as happy a family as I have observed in some time - full of genuine love and warmth -- every one of them seems well reared and happy, if my eyes don't deceive me, and my eyes are very well trained (and ears too).

I take photographs of 'moments' and this is just one moment - the true test would have been to take a video, and a video would have shown the wonderfulness that this entire extended family showed to the world with their wonderful, extended family behavior.

It was almost other worldly in its wholesomeness, but to be emulated by any good-hearted person.

Thanks folks, for sharing your good spirits and warmth and letting one small moment be portrayed in a photograph. Thanks grandma for inviting me.

(I offered photos to momma of daughter, top,but she refused, disbelieving my offer . . . . )

I never offer photos, but was moved by this the group love shown here, which the public could observe in a public place, as I think were all onlookers the place was chosen partly to display the family to the world.

If my family had had so much warmth, we would also have shown it off too, I think.

John (Crosley)

Thanks for the nice words.

If I could take all photos so well I would feel accomplished.

Regrettably I can't but mostly because there are few such circumstances.

But part of the key to such a photo is 'seeing' the circumstance and placing one's self as a photographer in just theright place to capture it.

That's the part I'm getting really good at lately.

I hope others agree.

Thanks again.

John (Crosley)

(after I wrote this, I took a look at your rate and see you thought it OK and 'good enough' but not nearly as good as I think this particular one is. That's why they make chocolate and vanilla, I guess, and sometimes strawberry.)

jc

Poppa, upper, with daughter behind him (or so I presume), is NOT photographing daughter with his I-Phone.

He is photographing friends/and/or relatives across the table in front of him.

Daughter is sneakily from behind trying to distract the subjects of his photography into making expressions and otherwise provoking them by her outrageous antics.

This, to me, was a true act of love and trust - family behavior that showed she loved her father and she trusted him implicitly not to have an outsized or outrageous response . . . .and to take what she was doing in stride and in good humor as did the rest of the family.

Her good humors reflect the entire spirit at that table that evening.

See her eyes bulge (did you notice they're bulging?)

Love can take many forms, even teasing behavior behind poppa's back.

It's 'all in good fun'.

John (Crosley)