Another EXCELLENT shot by you David..Im really not sure how you continue to deliver such excellent shots...wow

It's great! How did you manage to miss this the first time around?

I look at this site evry day, love the b/w stuff, actually love everything....today just another amazing lovely picture...very inspiring

I like this one a lot. The one thing that bothers me a little is the eyes. If the main subject is supposed to be Rhowan, I think it would be better if there was more detail in the eyes. Other then that it's a great shot. Glad you looked back :).

Parker: I didn't miss it. At the time, it didn't work, at least not as I saw it. Something's changed between now and then that's made me look at it in a different way.

Christopher: yep, you're right. I'll put up an amended version in about ten minutes.

I LOVE the contrast of the adorable little girl with her fancy glove and flowing hair against the industrial-looking background.

Great pose - somehow with the glove and the way she is holding her hand, it looks like a shot from the 40's.

Caryn: I should have mentioned that this was taken at the end of Blackpool's North Pier, facing towards shore.

mattp: yep, that was my wife's thought too – that this could have been taken at any point during the last 50 or 60 years.

interesting point made, and something to consider for certain! i think this is wonderful, the wind blowing her hair and the expression is priceless. great toning too - gives it a nostalgic feel that is timeless.

:) That is much better.

My thirst thoughts when I saw this shot echoed that of "mattp".
In fact, if the coat was red with the rest still black and white It'd be a double take for that scene in schindlers list. (Whats with red coats at the moment, loads of people wearing them? I'm guessing some sort of underground cult as apposed to fashion statement.). obviosly the film wasn't shot in blackpool!!

Anyway I love this, and I'm glad you've popped it into your "portfolio".

Its so funny how you have to be in the right mind set to be able to process images, or just to be able to view them in the right light.

I find myself changing my portfolio around lots, probably too much, in similar circumstances to what you have done with this.

A simply delightful image!

This is such a lovely shot of your daughter, behaving like a proper little lady! The look in her eyes is brilliant too.

Glad you posted this one. It is a beautiful portrait!

No worries mate!

Oh, and this is a great shot too.

Nice shot; I agree with your wife about the "timeless" feel.

My question is a bit off to one side: how do you decide on aspect ratios when you crop? You say the crop here is irrelevant, but surely the image is rather different uncropped. Digital is 4:3, 35mm film 3:2, cinematic film 16:9, lots of medium/large format film is 1:1 -- how does one choose? How do you choose? Do you crop freely, or choose the closest "standard" ratio and crop to that?

Love it man... one of my favorites in a while.

I agree with CJ. I think it's a case of viewing with expectations. Sometimes a shot looks better when those initial expectations have faded with time - when you view it more dispassionately, if you will.

And this one does have a kind of '40s look to it. Definitely the glove. Just missing the little pearl ear-rings.

Bill: I tend to use 3x2 (most DSLR's are of this format), 2x1 or square. I also tend not to crop into an image; i.e. finding a picture within a picture. This one, for example, is full width with respect to the original – I've just cropped from the bottom and top. As for why I just use these formats: I don't know, other than that I suppose that I'm striving for some sort of uniformity of presentation.

I think this photo is stunning, djn. I particularly like how your daughter's face is bright/light in comparison to the heavy/dark background. Was this done strictly with fill-in flash or did you dodge it too? I'm particularly curious so I can apply your technique to shots of my own kids! Thanks for sharing your family with us...you have beautiful subject matter. :)

So very nice! For whatever reason you chose to reconsider this one, we are all fortunate that you did.

I'm really enjoying your 2:1 crops.

I agree with the others that this picture is timeless. I love the image of a young girl with flowing hair and the glove. Excellent shot! I'm so jealous! I just spent the afternoon trying to get a good picture and nothing realy compares to this. Way to go

What else are you hiding in that folder! This is great. Glad you posted it.

andrew: mostly rubbish ;-)

really cute

Nice.
I guess in the same way you could grow to hate a shot that you loved the day before (as happens with me, almost every day!)

These latest two shots of your children are amazing. The aspect ratio is evocative of a movie and the scenes you've captured have a quality that causes me amazement and wonder. Bravo.

This is so good! Was her pose an accident or was she fooling with you because you'd pointed the camera at her? Love those gloves! :)

Great pose and light. Love the way her hand covering her mouth. Also, I'm glad that you are willing to go for an unusual crop.

Oh, the glamour! Wonderful indeed. With the sharp focus on her and the slight blur in the back, it looks like she's standing in front of a screen or a photo.

scary... you are absolutely amazing dude, row is so beautiful

great job

Fabulous! Wow. Very Dramatic Photo!

Its a lovely potrait.. I don't understand why you didn't want to put it up :-)

Sometimes we are disappointed when what we tried to capture isn't what comes out of the effort. We toss the photo in a drawer and forget it. Then time does its thing and we suddenly notice something that wasn't there before. Well, it was, but we couldn't see it back then. Why this photo didn't make it to the blog before now is beyond me, but if it isn't what you saw at the time there's nothing you could have done differently. I would personally be really happy if I could take something like this good of my own kids.

Wow, this has to be one of the best images I have seen for a while! Straight away my eyes were drawn to the young child and her expression - the movement in the hair, B&W colour and the slightly blurred background make a top shot! cheers

i think this shot is great in all regards. however i would have brightened it up a little bit. it seems a bit dark with no real highlights. otherwise an excellent image.

I agree that in the digital age a photo is a material that can easily evolve over time, as the photographer uses it to express different things. This is a good shot, really. Well done

What captivating expressions the young lady has here! And i love the way the background is softly out of focus, though the f/16 aperture doesn't correlate. Post processing?

I can only say that this photo is great, and makes me want to take photos right now! :)

It's the pose for me, a child acting like an adult. Also very much a sort of, is it, a fifties look?

This picture is captivating for me. The pose is great, and the background and the cropping. But I think, what makes me look again and again is the contrast between your little girl and the background. That blur on the background is because of focusing? It's strange, because it looks more like motion blur to me, maybe that is what dazzles me. Is it possible to see the original on this one? saludos!

Beautiful shot. She looks like a move start from 1950's

Bit windy in blackpool that day by the looks ;)
It's a gorgeous shot - and i'm definately glad you went back to it and processed it, then posted it. I love the motion in her hair, and her expression. The gloves almost look way too old for her - as though she's dressing up or something. Nice work Dave :)

lovely shot.. the wind blowing at her hair and her gesture makes this timeless.. i am enlightened by wat CJ said too, thanx for pointin it out for us.. ;p

i realy dont know how you do it, you create so much mood and atmosphere in your pictures. this is amazing. i love the DOF and the way that it looks like you have pressed 'pause' in a movie... the sense of movement. you have beautifully captured the fun and carefree-ness of childhood. this really is a brilliant picture. go you!

I speak a litlle english!!!

I love this Blog, i find your Photos a piece of art.
I want to know what tools you use to edit your photos.
I am amateur as phothographer... if you want you can visit my blog www.luzsombraycolor.blogspot.com I know that im just starting as photographer but i want to learn about...

If you understand spanish i can write you in spanish and you answer in english.

great shot. I love the mood in this picture.....the clouds in the horizon and her hair blowing in the wind. It seems to add an element of innocence. spectacular!!!

beautiful girl and nice shot and wonderful digital darkroom.

your works give me so many inspiration and knowledge, thank you so much

absolutely lovely picture; one anyone would be so proud of.

This is a great shot! I love her pose. She has an innocent look but is making a somewhat mature gesture with her hand. I can picture the same shot in 20yrs of her doing the same pose in that same place.

I love this portrait however I do feel the cropping/aspect ratio detracts from the image. Because the crop is a bit unconventional, it seems to draw attention to itself, dectracting from the subject. Just my 2 cents.

I love when things work out unexpectedly- It's amazing that you almost never even used this beautiful shot.

I think you need to post more of the portrait shots -- these are some of my favorites of anything you have put out. Such a great "vibe" to it.

Thanks everyone, and I know there's a couple of questions in your comments, but I don't have time to answer them at the moment. I'll try to get back to them later this evening.

You know what they say..."One man's trash is another man's treasure!" I really like this shot and even more the discussion concerning the artistic side of photography. Keep it coming.

a beautiful portrait indeed.. the happiness just drips outta the picture as well.

The strength of the final image is in this perfect crop.

The strong, dark, vertical perspective lines from the planking seem to thrust her out towards the viewer, while the light horizontal elements push inward and strongly focus the portrait. And the light on the face is just the right amount to make it glow surrealistically, like a B&W infrared, without feeling lit by mechanical means.

My first impulse was to note the pincushion distortion, making the buildings and tower to the right of her lean away but, amazingly, the tilt of her head seems to add just the right amount of balance that, on second thought, makes me think "Bob's your uncle" on that point. Actually, the faint illusion of her gloved hand holding the slightly tilting "tray" of buildings brought to mind the "Breakfast in America" album cover artwork of Supertramp.

I'm also taken with the unintentional, but 40's feel that's portrayed in the combination of her blowing brunette hair, the stitching on her coat sleeve, and gloved hand to the mouth. There's nothing glaring in the shot to otherwise belie the nostalgia of that period impression.

This is a truly memorable portrait that the both of you will love when you look on it years from now, all the more so for having resurrected and rescued it from obscurity.

Like the fact that there's beauty worth capturing almost everywhere your eye lands, there's a perfect finished image in the entirety of the bits you capture. The combination of your great imagination and shot framing and equipment will put you in the game on nearly every shot. I'd say, other than a bit more detail in her eyes, this is a perfect composition. Just learn from this important lesson that finding the finished image here was no happy accident; there's ALWAYS a perfect image hiding in all your files, and your "ultimate" job is to use all your various skills to coax them out of the bits.

nice feeling, it's like a photo from the 70's

Hello from the U.S.-
This is genius! And she is absolutely adorable! Its a very dramatic picture, it really demands your attention! Actually the same could be said for all of your work...BRAVO!!! I'm a new fan!

I've been a fan for a very long time and I'd have to say this is one of my favorite pictures you've taken of your kids. Theres so much I can say but it looks like the comments before me took care of what needs to be said. Beautiful Picture David.

ça c'est pas mal comme portrait, j'aime bien la petite avec son regard complice et sest cheveux dans le vent...

simply outstanding, never get tired to browse ur blog, only art, thank u for

sharing ur ideas and perspective of life...

Nice shot of this beatiful girl. I like the portraits you post on your blog. Really awesome work!