awesome! Im a huge anime fan, so you can imagine how much I love this shot! She looks like an anime character! Beautiful shot!!!! wow.

looks misterious...nice pic

Nice shot! What was your setup for this shot? what did you bounce the flash off of?

that's stunning! Love the framing and I also like it in the grey theme.

frisky: for some reason the anime link didn't occur to me, but I can see what you mean.

marc: I was bouncing the flash off the ceiling, which doesn't always work with our kids as they tend to look down a lot which blocks the light. In this instance though she was sat at the table so the light was bounced twice, once off the ceiling, then again off the table.

Brad: you're right. I didn't think to try it with the grey theme.

3 years old and she has the beginnings of a modelling portfolio...amazing lashes - great contrast. I would have liked to seen the original (not asking for you to show it though).

to echo frisky's comment, i would suggest this image is also very cinematic and the icy colours give it an eerie, faerie-like feel. its (beautiful) composition seems to pre-empt an upward glance somehow with the photographic equivalent of suspense (as the title seems to suggest).

Congratulations on (yet!) another superb image.

Wow! I liked so much!

Beautiful picture. I love the softness of the white.

Very nice! Agree with the comment about Anime.

A beautiful shot of a beautiful subject. It looks like there's a lot of thinking going on behind those amazing eyelashes. The framing creates a feeling of suspense.

One of your best. WOW!

reminds me of the Evanescence "Fallen" CD cover.

AWESOME!!!!!

F4 1/60... hummm The hair razor sharp.. the face is soft and warm .. nice

Any PS work?

Just Awesome!

OMGoodness~ Beautiful and cuteee. I think this is my favorite photograph you've done.

This feels to be such a strong reflection of life in these times, at least this is how it speaks to me: Innocence and Wisdom expressing sadness and dismay at the apparent predominating ignorance and dispassion throughout the world today. Hurting, not wanting to see it, but not disconnected, feeling so much. Knowing the futility and fatality of fearing and fighting ourselves...

If she were to look up, the truth that would shine from her eyes would
pierce the heart, this that is feared and also desired, reflecting what only the soul knows.

Thank you, and thank this angel for me. May she come to know this world that is filled with love...

Beautiful photo of a beautiful little girl, David. My own attempts to photograph my children in serious moments have been less than fruitful. Well done.

amazing shot! what a treat! yeah, look at those lashes!

Wow. I won't even try to articulate how much I like this photo.

But trust me. I like it. A lot.

Very nice. I really like all of your photos and keep up the good work. :) wish i had the gift. thanks

Fab - One of your best ever.
She looks much older.

That is just breathtaking. There's a whole world in that face.

very very nice photo. matured looking and yet, 3 years old. i am very very impressed. great photograph! just great!

You suggested that "this is one that must be viewed with the dark theme." I disagree. IMHO this image creates its own context; it's complete in its simplicity. Nothing can be or needs to be added to this. But that's just me.

I just can't figure out why parents keep taking pictures of their kids and putting them on the web :-)

Great! Great lighting on her face, great expression, great framing.

Oh my .... wonderful ... I'm actually speechless --- this photo evokes so many mixed emotions -- all good --- one of your best works, Dave --- outstanding work...

seriocomic: sorry, I don't have the time to put the original up ... maybe over the next couple of days.

Louis: yes, a bit ;-) This was desaturated using the Channel Mixer to extract the red channel, there was some cloning done around her mouth (she'd just been eating a ginger-bread man), I added a Gaussian blurred layer set to overlay blend mode, and then, finally, I colourised it with the Curves tool.

Everyone else: thank-you :-)

After staring at this picture for a few minutes I began to feel very emotional. Her face seems to reflect that of a perfect being (one which I can never become of course), innocent and pure. Beautiful work....
Thanks Dave.
ps-Did you increase the DF in post processing?
Very well said Sky Sugata...

wowser, I'm not sure what I feel about this one, it's a great photo but the emotion I get from it is one of sadness, a calm sadness sure, and maybe reflective, but I know she's so young and it's too mature of a feeling I get from the photo, there's this inherent contradiction, so it's unsettling.

Your work enjoys wide latitude of expression and fine simplicity, the exact qualities I love in photography. Each visit is startling and refreshing, consistently excellent. I always feel I can pick up my camera and make as elegant a portrait or shot -- but oh so seldom even come close.

I like the even light, the contrast, the sheer abscence of highlights (except fine points on her lips), and, as Jeff said, the softness of the white. I like the reversed geometry when compared to most and how her hair lightly but sturdily frames her face. I like the balance.

She does exude maturity, while being obviously very young, more contrast.

I do enjoy when you share your processing changes. I've already learned that we can do so much more in our digital darkrooms than was ever possible in the chemical ones, but it very nice to have examples of what can be accomplished, without being too radical.

DNegel,
Yes, if we actually allow ourselves to truly stop and appreciate, feel, what art/life is speaking to us, so much can be conveyed, received and given, communicated, but we must be willing to feel it. I am thankful for Dave's efforts that help to express life in all it's diversity and complexity, to help show perspective that offers the potential of unity, compassion and understanding.

And thank you for being willing to feel what comes. There is no need to become what you already are in your heart, how else could you feel this, know what innocense and purity feels like? No you are not an idea of perfection, but the perfection that unconditionally loves and includes the imperfect self/world as well. Isn't this what children mirror for us, what potential they convey: unconditional love?

What we come into this world as...

Namaste, Sky

Dave, In my opinion, you shouldn't post the original... Not for this one.

Such a beautiful and powerful portrait. So very lovely.

WoooooooooooooW this is the kind of work from you that I enjoy the most. I love children and In this pictures she reflects innocense in a face that because of the angle seems to be from someone older. Amazing picture David. CONGRATULATIONS to you and your beautiful angel.

By the way I agree with miklos comment

Breathtaking. What a nice capture of little girl who it sounds like doesn't usually settle down for you to take a shot like this. Glad she did for this one.

=)!

Stunning Dave! I'm breathless staring at this photo. The expression that comes to mind is well quoted by Sky Sugata. An image of innocence in a world that has none.

Dave, i think this is a lovely shot and heartily i congratulate you for it. I particulalry appreciate the PS work, which i feels lifts this to a higher level than it otherwise might have been. One thing that i think might have improved it though, would be if little cutie were making eye contact with us. Yes, the lashes are great but direct eye contact through them would be even better IMHO. Cheers

*sigh* this is why I miss having time to look at photoblogs every night. See what I miss? This is gorgeous, Dave, but you know that. I want to write songs and start a band and land a recording contract just so I can use this image as the cover of my first album.

This is a shot where words are not necessary -> it says a lot. Wonderful picture!

Incredible! Your images and abilities are always of the highest order and great shots are commonplace on your site, but this one is over the top. Perfection.

wow. David, you make me want to burn every negative i've ever taken. this picture is absolutely amazing.

Wowww!!! Questa foto porta a far pensare. Ha qualcosa di magico.
Fantastica.

wow. very pretty.

Great shot, djn1 style!!
Matteo,djlight
See my photoblog at djlight.net

One word, Beutiful!

Well done! Amazing combination of softening and fine focus.

Wow! Awesome style! I have the RSS of your blog and always love your pictures, and I thought this was spectacular!

Couldn't be arsed to read all your comments...

50, wow!

...did just want to say that though, I think, this is your best shot to date. People shots always seem to have that something extra and I love your soft focus and blue tinted monochrome.

Great shot.

Andy

Hi Dave,

Its been sometime since I have been moved to comment. Your photos have been of high quality of late, reflecting both your maturing as a photographer, and the upgrade in equipment and lenses. I've been liking the long exposures specifically.

This image is startling. Less peaceful or wise, it has a very dark tone. I got the immediate impression that she was about to burst forth in judgement upon whomever had incurred her wrath. It is the eyes and the mouth that draw the attention. The set of her lips is very zen like, calm but not peaceful, as though she were confidently holding back an emmence power. Her eyes are unnaturally dark, because of the angle and her long lashes, which cover her eyes. The way she isn't looking at you seems to speak of that same confidence, as though she doesn't need to watch in order to know your movement. The blueish tint adds to the feeling of dark power (but not morbid).

It is a gorgeous photo, and definitely has the anime style. Kuddos.

Wow

I don't know if it's me, but it has a very spooky feel about it. It reminds me of the kid from The Grudge movie: http://www.sfbok.se/filer/images/grudge.jpg

Magical! Just love to see the way you can portrait your baby girl! Said once and going to repeat...you two must have a wonderful connection to each other! Congratulation Dave!

This photograph. Thats me being speechless.

This is another reason you inspired me to start photography.

Looks deep. Nice shot.

I like this photograph a lot, but I agree with RainKing; it's kind of spooky. Of course, it is the blue tone and her downward, world-weary expression that makes it so. Nevertheless, I almost think I would prefer the original as I love the expression and the framing, just not so much the blue tone. I also agree with Jason Wall, who said that your photos have been of high quality lately, showing your maturation as a photographer. I think if this child were just a random model, I would be less bothered, but knowing that she is your child makes me not like the coldness so much. It's like she's lost out in the snow, frozen maybe. Gives me the shivers, though I can't stop looking at it.

Thank-you :-)

As for the fact that some of you found this a bit spooky: oddly, though we didn't talk about it last night, my wife and I both tried to come up with a title for this shot that referenced Lord of the Rings, particularly the elves. There's something about our daughter, when she's at her quietest and most still, that seems to evoke another world.

She's beautiful and will be able to look back at this photo when she's 30 and say WOW! Wonderful, just wonderful!

Hello, David.

Thanks as always for sharing your images.

Your work is always so beautiful, that I'm reluctant to
make this comment. This photo is perhaps aesthetically
and technically perfect, yet the treatment of the subject
matter does bother me a bit. It seems to show a three
year old in ways that are too complex -- the subtlety of
it; the paralyzed instrospection; the strands of hair falling
unperturbed upon her forehead; the deep, thick shut
eyelashes (almost as if she had mascara) -- all of this
evoke an adult-like anguish, which is rather sad to see
upon the face of a beautiful little girl. Perhaps this is the
"spookiness" that others have seen.

Of course, I've seen photos of your delightful three year
daughter before on chromasia, but this is the first time
I feel this way. And it is not the depictions of introspection
and/or sadness in children that perturb me -- for a
magnificent example in a different art form, listen to
Gustav Mahler's "Urlicht", from his orchestral song cycle
"Des Knaben Wunderhorn," where the narrator is a
deceased child in heaven -- supposedly iconic of the
composer's own lost daughter. It is precisely the simplicity
of thought, the innocence of her comments that makes
it heartwrenching.

All the best, kalinka

Wow, that's a beautiful shot

"... yet the treatment of the subject matter does bother me a bit. It seems to show a three year old in ways that are too complex — the subtlety of it; the paralyzed instrospection; the strands of hair falling unperturbed upon her forehead; the deep, thick shut eyelashes (almost as if she had mascara) — all of this evoke an adult-like anguish, which is rather sad to see upon the face of a beautiful little girl. Perhaps this is the “spookiness” that others have seen.

In which case I consider this shot a success in that I do think even young children are probably more complex than we often give them credit for. Or, put it another way, I think it's too easy to view their thought processes as less advanced versions of our own when, maybe literally, they do inhabit world's of their own.

can you tell again how you do your b&w conversion? the tones are so great.
thanks
jude

Absolutely wonderful. -- wow --

That's a three-year-old? Those are real eye lashes? Amazing. How in earth did you click this picture without having her pose for you. Kids are never still, yet you get the best out of them. And those are beautiful kids you have. I am just worried why - if this is a real situation and not a pose - such a sweet child should look so troubled. I love this picture; I just hope there's nothing ugly behind this beautiful photograph.

Jude: in this instance I used the channel mixer to extract the red channel and the Curves tool to add the toning.

Feroze: no, there's nothing ugly behind this shot. Moments previously she'd been pulling faces at the camera, and then she looked down towards the table – she can't have held the pose for more than about two seconds, at the very most :-)

"In which case I consider this shot a success in that I do think even young children are probably more complex than we often give them credit for. Or, put it another way, I think it’s too easy to view their thought processes as less advanced versions of our own when, maybe literally, they do inhabit world’s of their own."

YES, exactly. Perfectly, beautifully said Dave - they absolutely do. I can clearly remember being three and I am the same person now as I was then. Now raising my own child, I have this sense that any pieces of his world that he chooses to share with us are little gifts. It is amazing.

She looks like Galadriel. Funny that you and your wife mentioned Lord of the Ring... I'm reading that now. As many have said, this picture is beautiful but daunting, just as Galadriel of Lothlorien has been described. She is beautiful and graceful, yet so beautiful that she is terrifying to some.

Your daughter doesn't look three at all. I wouldn't have guessed it. This shot is beautiful... a bit redundant now, isn't it?

wow. I absolutely love this shot. it's amazingly beautiful and gives off this lovely sense of serenity and then determination at the same time.

Parabéns pela fotografia. A imagem e o modelo são perfeitos.
Comentário de um admirador Português.

Congratulations for the picture. The image and the model are perfect. Comment from a Portuguese admiror.

So glad I've found time to catch up on my photoblog visits, otherwise I fear I'd have missed this superb shot. Just spectacular work!

lack of words :o

It is a very very ve...... nice shot.
I can not declare my feeling.
I prefer to stop more talking..........

74 comments? How could I ever add to that? I've never even had more then 10 comments on a single photo... 74 comments must even mean something to you I guess :-) It is a wonderfull photo... I specialy love the eyebrows and eyes..

An absolute WINNER photo

You captured her beauty perfectly... and she's going to be an amazing woman... it shows...

I'm new in here, photograhy is always been one of the things I like the most although I'm not an expert. For what I've seen so far in this photography site... I just found my favorite one!! This picture calls anyone's attention because of the contrast, interesting expression in her face and for her beauty!!

Wow. This is so, so beautiful. You have a great eye and a beautiful daughter.

I've bookmarked your page because your shots are so amazing.

well-deserved noteworthy. congrats.

OH DEAR GOD
how did i miss it?
apologies, my apologies dave
your work leaves no room for words

I keep coming back to this photograph... it's so hauntingly beautiful.

God knows how it's fantastic to take pic of our childs.
it's one of the most beautiful picture i've ever seen.
Wow!!! (excuse my poor english)

Wow, normally I don't like children pictures (I am not a parent so I wouldn't understand) but this picture is wonderful, caught my eye immediately. You should be paid a bunch for this. :)

incredible pict.. and in a very nice day :)

Wow, amazing, outstanding, five thumbs up. David, I am speechless, I don't know what to say. It's the most amazing piece in your portfolio then any other piece. Believe me, this shot catch my attention so fast, it's unexplainable. It's so soft to my eyes and light on my heart for this piece, it's amazing. I think you should be more proud of this shot then any other shot you took in your life.

amazing picture, beautiful daughter.
this is quite the life.

Just for your information: http://www.fotocommunity.de/pc/pc/mypics/665793/display/4555873
:((

Why does "signs" rate more comments than this stunning portrait?

I love it!

Thanks for the advise on DoF, I significantly lowered mine and subsequently increased my shutter speed and produced some fab reportage stuff from my trip to India. None as good as this portrait yet!

I would love to learn more about the lighting of this photograph. I love the soft focus and angle the picture is taken from. I tried with my own photograph's but I'm only young and don't know much about techniques yet.

http://ro-boat.blogspot.com/

She's definately changed since this shot

Still one of your most stunning images