I really like your colorized black and whites. The contrast in the sky (black sky vs. white clouds) as well as the subjects (again black juxtaposed with white clothing), though probably unintentional, is nice.

I think its a well balanced shot with plenty of mood.

Just wandering what the original was like? Whether it was processed differently or whether it was just the crop that changed your mind with this one.

JD: I liked the original, as a document of the scene - my wife, daughters, and unborn son - but i) it didn't flatter my wife, and ii) her face was in shadow. The 2x1 crop tells much the same story, but removes the elements that didn't quite work. In this case, I feel as though it's a bit of a cheat; i.e. it's not something that I thought of anytime between last August and yesterday, but I think I actually prefer this one now, mostly because it centres your attention on the kids.

really cool photo...i like the processing as well

I always love your technique for black and white conversion Dave - you'll have to teach me sometime ;)

I love the angle here. That and the use of color (or lack thereof!) lend the entire picture a lovely, dreamy quality.

Cropping out your wife's head and leaving in her belly enhances the child-centric view of the scene. Nice work; it captures 3 stages of being a kid, seen from a kid's low point of view.

Excellent. Personally, I'm not a fan of the elongated aspect ratio, and would have cropped the sides to go to 3:2. But I'm not sure that would make for a stronger image. It is great as it is.

This is an absolutely beautiful, magical, and most special shot; and one that I would frame and hang in your home if I were you. The work you did is outstanding.

this is absolutely amazing. i'm surprised you let this photo sit for so long. i love your method for creating black and white., and actually went back in the chromasia archives trying to gather any notes you may have shared about how to best do it in photoshop. from what i gathered, desaturate and then a curves adjustment on red and green channels? i'm sure theres much more to it though. regardless, this is a great photo!

Superb .. the wind and wide angle put us straight into a world of children's illustration .. (Arthur Rackham?). The crop is perfect, to my eyes for (amongst others) reasons already given.

As for your remark about infinite good photos - yes but. A good image-maker does more than make 'good' images, surely? For me, the best shift my view of the world, enlighten me to the extraordinary in the things I see every day, by consistently driving at a vision in such a way that I can tune into what's behind the pictures, as well as what's in them. I would almost go so far as to say there's no such thing as a good picture. Only a good body of work.

Awesome! I find the light interesting for some reason. . .

I think it's a great shot! Frankly, I favor this one the most of your post from the past week or so! Can I ask you how you got the sky to be so dramatic? madenwala@hotmail.com

Well, when i took first look at this photo, i think: "What? Another kid in the way?" but then i noticed the date. Great family :)

I love it.

This is more like it.. quality image...excellent.. Procreation..Future.. possibilities.. This is a strong image.. criminal that you've left it around doing nothing

i always find it interesting, your notion of cheating. I have learned a lot from you in the last year or so, in terms of deliberate composition. I respect that most times you have a specific result in mind at the time the shutter clicks. I have come to realize that this amongst many things sets apart the truly gifted from a guy (like me) who takes an absurd amount of shots and comes out looking like a hero because he got lucky or got it right 1 in 10 times.
My question though, is this: Is there no room for discovery in the postprocessing? I recognize the difference, of course, but the master carver allows the wood to tell the story, not the other way around. Is it really cheating to discover an image in the RAW that you didn't quite know was there?

Jay: absolutely, and the master carver analogy is a good one. I guess my point though is that when I do have something very specific in mind, and it doesn't work out, I end up feeling as though I'm making it up as I go along - if that makes sense. It's about intention rather than cheating. Actually, a good example of discovering an image during post-processing is my train window reflection shots. These come out of the camera extremely flat and it was only by playing around with a couple of them that I discovered their potential.

PS - if I had a hit rate of 1 in 10 I'd be delighted. I've taken 17,941 shots with my 20D since September 2004. Admittedly, several thousand of those were for jobs of one sort or another, but even if I say that 10,000 of them were taken with chromasia in mind that's a hit rate of around one in 20.

To say I'm envious is an understatement. If you hadn't posted this it wouldn't have become one of my all-time favourites from you.

the processing is amazing... how do you go about getting these smooth black and white tones?

I think the Henry the 8th you did on you wife is quite clever actualy. It reinforces the children with "One To Come". Sort of saying to Finley
"See, I was thinking and including you before you were born"

Very nice shot! Fine angle and awesome contrast.

Fantastic David, this is the reason why everyone in the photoblog world comes here! It's always different! Brilliant.

Nice photo - like fast all your photos. I realy love like you work with B&W. You can do magical things with black and white...

David, I think your post processing on this one looks really good, I also like the panoramic crop you have used.

I really really like this and agree with what Robert said about how it makes the children the main focus. Brilliant!

There is nothing "cheating" here. The phrase which springs to mind here is the one about it not being over until the fat lady sings......by which I mean that the intent doesn't need to happen at the time the shutter was tripped. In the same way that other visual arts can mature their final results over a period of time, I think photographers need to realise that the shutter moment is not the be all and end all. This is something I'm particularly bad at with a distinct reluctance to post process or change crop etc.

Even if it has taken the better part of a year for this picture to mature it is still great.

A wonderful shot - technically well done but emphasis on the children makes it outstanding. The low angle that gives it a world-as-it-might-be-seen-by-Harmony angle adds extra emphasis on the children.

I'm glad you are willing to think of crops like this more often. There are times that scream for a 2:1 crop and the camera never sees those, only the photographer.

An odd effect in this shot is how it feels like more of a wide angle shot than it really is, because Camilla and Amirah are leaning as they turn.

Wonderful. So... unreal.

And, oh, holy cow.

She is standing strong. I love the lighting and the entire feeling of this shot.

I really like this composition and the monotone feel. Nice crop!

honestly, i have been bored with your work recently. but this one i really, really, really love. photographs like this are the reason i still hold chromasia as one of my favorite photoblogs on the net. nice work.

There are many things i like about this picture. Firstly, the heartfelt happiness exuded by the people inside is indeed very infectious. Secondly, the low perspective. And thirdly, the elongated cropping. These, coupled with the use of wide angle, really throws the beach and sky open. For someone living in a cramped up city, i feel like i could breathe again.

amazing shot!

I am glad you finally decided to show us this one. It's beautiful :)

Harmony looks so angelic.
She's very photogenic.

Very 'full' photo. It seems like a movie with a number of different story lines. Nice work.

Extraordinarily beautiful!

simply beautiful..
lovely tones :)

Wonderful, magical photo with great depth, a capture of a point in time that you must be delighted with. I love the static nature of the two in the foreground, and the movement in the background, especially the girl on the far left, who looks as though she might take off!

fab ! fab ! fab !

nice post-processing and a great picture!

say what you want, i like it :).
the two girls in the background running around
contrast the little girl's careful walk
contrasts the baby in the belly

What a great shot!

Incredible photo!
Very inspirational....

love this shot a lot.. the expression on ur daughter's face is so cute, and the calmess in the foreground is broken by the running the 2 behind.. the hand of your wife completes this shot, calming the whole atmosphere.. great work!

This image seems to have everything. A great choice of colour. The quick shutter speed that has caught the vibrancy of the children running and the beautiful juxtaposition of one child against one "under construction". This is a pretty perfect shot.

brett: I often use noise ninja on shots like this as it's especially useful in smoothing out any noise in the sky.

cj: thanks, and see my description on tomorrow's shot.

Sharla: at the moment I'm quite drawn to the 2x1 crop.

This is a very interesting picture, love the way how it's constructed, I find it hard to find moment like this. Very nice.

lovely shot Dave, it feels perfectly balanced and the tones are amazing

The crop is perfect. Aaarrgghh! I want to be able to do this!

:-)

Stunning tones and composition, a lovely shot

It can not be any better than this.

"Damn, that's a nice picture" I exclaimed as I stumbled upon this. The background subjects provide a nice action contrast to the static foreground ones. This is a great capture. Keep it up!

All of your photographs are brilliant but this one is my favorite.

That's the most beautiful photograph I've seen in a very long time, online or off.

truly perfect. i love it. what a sky and what great legs you wife has in the late stages of pregnancy. you are so talented, you must be celebrated!

Great picture with lots ot tell. One of the children (holding a bag) in the far back seemed blown off by the wind wihle the other was running toward her. But then the child in the front stood perfectly upright. Is that a lens unfixed distortion or deliberate PS move.

This is gorgeous and inspirational. You have well and truly changed the meaning of portraiture.

Wonderfull image!