haha cute picture. very well done with the blacked out background. very expressive picture

Nice shot - and congrats on the upcoming arrival :) - it should be an experience, to say the least.

thats just awesome. ive never seen shots like these of kids before.

The last couple of sets haven’t really been my cup of tea—either I don’t like portraiture [which I think I do], or, as you mentioned, they’re so powerful they take a bit of confidence to engage with. I reckon it must be the latter, so bravo!

I like the dark background (reminds me of ‘Don’t Look Up’). Do you mask it then darken it with curves??

Good luck with the son, by the way!!

Arthur: the background was in shadow so I didn't really alter it much. And thanks for the good wishes :-)

congrats on your new baby boy! i understand what you are saying about portraying children as they are, not as what you view them from the adult's perspective.

whoa! i could feel the wrath! intense portrait, great job!!

I agree that you don't portray your children as children. I can understand someone seeing them as voyeuristic. Personally, I am beginning to think you should rename the site to childasia... I am tired of the kid pics.

What an incredible shot! It seems perfect in every way: symmetry, crispness, balance, and even "cleaness." Mostly, I like the power of his expression and the tensed power of his coiled stance. (I hope for your sake that the emotion shown were not real and that bow was saved for play arrows!)

For many reasons, I wanted a girl. When I found that I was having a boy, there was the barest moment of disappointment that I wasn't getting my way. To say the thought was a flash, would be to give it a too long existence. Now I cannot imagine that a girl would have brought me more pleasure than a son. Boys are definitely different and are certainly a behavioural study.

And I've come to enjoy kids football though I've not the slightest interest in the advanced or professional versions. :-)

I usually have a WOW factor everytime I look at your pictures. I'm a bit disapointed in this one. Looks like your typical too much posed snapshot.

But I'll come back tomorrow anyway ! :-)

Fred

A boy! That's is going to be nice for a change!
By the way, I think your pictures of children are a very nice portrayal of kids as individuals, and of their actions as unique representations of people that of course are young, but of whom their youthfulness is not their main feature. Your pictures show so much more than just kids. In them we can perceive society, feelings, changes, questions, and that make your photographs so much richer and valuable.

Congratulations!

Well now you have me more scared then ever looking at this picture.

We have triplets on the way in three weeks, and guess what... two boys and a girl - yikes!

DJN, I am in the same boat (sort of). Rasing one girl, now 3 years old, was a breeze, compared to friends with boys. Our boy is due officially on Thursday, although he is feeling pretty comfortable inside mommy's belly now, so he'll most likely be out next week. And I am also apprehensive about raising a boy, now.

Good luck with the new addition to the Nightingale family.

Congratulations on the little youngen! Boys are trouble, you'll have your hands full ;) I have my 4yr old, and 8yr old nephew to back up that theory :D I do have a sense of uneasiness about this photo - as first glance it looks like a cute photo, but then you look at his eyes and they look incredibly sinister! Have you like duplicated the layers, blended them, then erased his eyes to get them looking very white and sharp? I have used this technique before and it looks similar which is why I ask :)

Great shot and great news. Many congratulations Dave.

Hmmmm. I think too worked on. The eyes do not look real, so it kind of ruins it for me.

Arbus...Grenade in the Park

I admire your talent.

Dave,

Great shot. The eyes again! Very well done and it gives the shot a lot of impact.

Anyway, first of all, congratulations. Secondly, I have a little boy and he can be as cute as a button one minute and a right little tiger the next. It's great fun. You'll love it and I'm sure as all the girls grow up you'll need some moral support from another bloke ;) Enjoy it!

I think after dealing with the emotions displayed in "those two" shots of your youngest daughter, both of which appear to show the involvement of a supernatural entity then a little anger as seemingly displayed here will be a doddle for you :-)

I like this shot, although it is not cute or cuddly it is not unflattering. But I'm not sure I would wish for this image to be associated to showing the spirit of a child of mine.

I suspect that rather than showing this boys spirit it shows him as either angry or spiteful. I would guess that this was taken whilst having fun, so who says the camera can't lie.

It's admirable to want to display kids within their natural environment and show them as more than cute and cuddly however the camera only displays an instant, in this case 1/160 of a second which freezes this kids snarl on his face, is it truly a reflection of the child or is it rather a fleeting expression.

I wanted to pass much more comment on "those two" shots of your youngest but was unsure whether my thoughts were due to a bias towards the child, however this image has enabled me to leave a more measured response.

I've noticed that many of the other photographers who comment here take particular delight in technical brilliance, and composition. That's great, but don't forget that what you see in the image is not always what everyone sees, especially when as I do, you ignore the technical brilliance.

Yet another fab photo and if it were of me I would be happy to see this one in 20 yrs, I don't don't think that will be case on some of the previous ones.

To illustrate the point as to how photographers are not always aware of the content of their images, most likely because they know the the context of the image, I've quoted chromasia himself

"but what I found interesting is that I’d taken the shot and processed it with hardly any thought as to its content" - from "Don't look up 2"

Ah .. little boys .. I've got one of my own and this is definitely an expression i've seen before ;) looks even a bit like a "clingon" from star trek between the eyes! oh and definitely flawless lighting in my opinion.

fantastic.........

ur right..... boys are monsters!

I'm sure you will be great with the boy as you have been with the girls. I like this photo because I was so taken with the sweet scrunchy face from yesterday. It is so much fun to see the range of personality in this little guy. I imagine though that little boys will be good for a wide range of crazy expressions that you might not have gotten out of the girls!

I admit that some of the pictures of kids make me uneasy, but I still like them because they convey emotions that are unexpected coming from children. If all you shot were cutesy bubblegum type photos of them, it wouldn't be nearly as interesting.

Anyway, that's my two cents.

haha, cool portrait, the expression is priceless

Thats a great expression on his face, brilliant shot. Haha, looks like your going to have to start learning a bit about footy, or maybe rugby, who knows :-) Good luck anyway im sure you'll manage.

Just finished looking at your recent pictures and switched to the BBC's news site only to see more of your pictures:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/picture_gallery/05/entertainment_the_photobloggers/html/1.stm

Great stuff

It's one of those posts that deserve a comment.

I will start with a comment someone (let them be anonymous) shared with me. She said that a criticism of photobloggers in general is that they focus on technique and have no real subject in their shots.

Your pictures are a proof of the opposite, I think. Whereas your kids pictures might make some people uninterested, or even sick if they find the subject sensitive, they are very good for their kind and they have an underlying theme and thought behind them. Which is what makes your photography more special than most of the photoblogs out there.

Now, understandably, some people find the subject of kids either boring or sensitive and might even think you are a weirdo. But the same goes for someone shooting city shots or nude women. Not all shots of these types have a theme, and some are just made to entertain - which categorises the respective photographers as sick. But some photographers can capture emotion, and I think if this is the case then they deserve to be praised (even if shooting their naked girlfriend).

At the end of the day, photography should be about what you feel and like, and if someone dislikes your shots they have the freedom to not visit you. I do agree that perhaps the way photoblogs ratings work is unfair, but you would be in the top list anyway. At least so in my photoblogs list.

Keep up the good work.

Congrats on the piece in the BBC - nice work!

Regarding the photos of children, etc. I personally believe there's a great deal of paranoia about the subject at the moment ( and AP's piece last week on upcoming potential legislation meaning a photographer can be done just for taking photos of children in a public place, on fear of being "a paedophile", which is utter bollocks in my humble opinion ) and that it depends on the photos taken.

None of your images are suggestive in any way - and I suspect that sometimes you self-censor some images because they could perhaps be seen in that light - and so I fail to see why someone would be uncomfortable with those images.

So far as I'm concerned, as long as the child/child's parents know that these photos are publicly accessible and don't object, I can't see a problem.

In the meantime, keep up the fantastic work - while I may not like everything you do, it continues to provide examples of ideas I can try, or alternative ways to work. For that (and for many, many stunning images) keep it up!

There are some really superb photos on you site, but I find the re-working of the whites of the eyes leaves them looking unnatural and disturbing - it gives somehow a "zombiefied" look. I'd prefer to see the images without this effect.

Wow.. Awesome expression.. caught at the right moment... Its so nice!

This is a good picture - I like it!

Amazing shot, really... I love this, I think it's among your best portraits. Also, I just wanted to note that I really enjoy the pictures of your family and that it do not think they're inappropriate in any way. Quite on the contrary, they give your work a more personal touch which makes it even easier to identify with your photography. So keep up the good work!

Plus, I just want to say that even though I don't post comments very often (I'm lazy...) I consider myself a huge fan and absolutely admire your work.

your website has just become one of my favourites! =D

Firstly, congrats on breaking the 'mainstream media' and getting your pics up on the BBC site. Of the numerous picture blogs around the world, you manage to get 25% of the pictures shown - that is some recognition.

Secondly, I see that the discussion above has turned to taking pictures of children. In my opinion, as long as you don't give too much detail away about the child, then there should not be a problem. For example, you wouldn't want a comment that said "This is Joe Bloggs, 8, who lives at 23 Acacia Avenue, Anytown". I guess the point i am trying to make is that the picture on it's own is not a problem, it is the information that you provide that completes it.

I recently found this discussion that may help when considering taking pictures of people in public or private places. May be of some interest to the people who read this site.
(1) Full Article (PDF Document)
(2) Specific comment on children
(3) All the comments

angry face ...

Congrats on getting featured on the BBC News photoblog article. I was the picture of your daughter on the news front page and I recognised it instantly. This one is very funny!

~David, as I commented in teh past your images of children are fantastic, you exercise a grace and compassion for them, and you display them as they are, full of life, vigor, zeal, compassion, excitement and always displaying an inquisitve nature that makes your subjects, and children in general, so eye-catching and enjoyable to view. Capturing the spirit of children is not as easy as one believes, but your ability to do it amazes me...keep up the great work when it comes to portraiture, especially of your pown children, what an archive of their lives you have built~

*BY THE WAY, kudos on the recognition and mention on the BBC's site, well deserved!

As a keen but not very commited (digital) shutterbug, and as new father of our first duaghter (2mths), your pictures have shown how much more can be achieved. My wife can hardly complain at the amount of time on the computer if I'm trying to create "masterpieces" of our little angel! If I can produce anything half as good I'll be thrilled.

Good luck for the new arrival and thanks for the inspiration!

I understand what you mean by showing kids from a different perspective. My son has just got two upper teeth and they are not the center one but the ones next to them. I took a picture of him and the angle of the picture ad his teeth make him look like the childhood version of Count Dracula. I'd like to put it up on my site but my wife would never let me do it.

Congrats on the upcoming bundle of energy..eh hem...joy.

I know how you feel about having a boy....I have a girl and when we think about having another, we worry that it might be a boy and have no idea how to deal with that and we worry we wont know how to raise him well...silly..i know......

Also, congrats on the BBC news thing...thats awesome!...

Love your shots of kids. Even though most kids shots can be somewhat boring, you always seem to bring out the "wow" factor in every shot making them stand out in the crowd.....it has inspired me to do the same...

congratulations on your BBC story! what lucky kids you have... so young and famous already. =)

Hello. I've just discovered your site via the bbc and have been blown away by the beauty and emotions your photos communicate. I didn't even know photo blogs existed! Thanks for sharing.

Congratulations about the BBC news.

I just hope when I'm bigger, I can be like you ;-)

...so little guy... so angry and sulky! I like this pic! ;-)

This photo brings out the boy's warrior spirit, and wonderfully composed as well. Congrats on your newborn in 3 weeks. I'm sure rasing a boy will teach you in greater ways what it is to be a man. You'll definitely have an adventure on your hands for the next couple of decades hehe. ;)

Hi. Found my way here via the BBC and I'm absolutely blown away! I was wondering whether you've addressed your workflow in earlier postings? I see that you're using the 20D and some L series lenses, and you're shooting RAW, but not much info on the static site on what work you're doing after the event. I'd be fascinated to know!

I don't like this picture very much. The little boy appears intent on hurting someone and I for one wouldn't want to be standing in front of him.

While I like this photograph for the lighting, the technique, the layout, I have to admit that I couldn't keep it up as my wallpaper because every time I looked at it (and I work in front of my computer all day), it made me stressed and angry! So I had to change it to one of your beach scenes. Ahhhhhhhh..... much better!

David,

I really like your photo's, they are a great eye opener to points of view I mighn't have considered. I was also happy to see your feature on the BBC site, interestingly, another photoblog that I visit daily is [Daily Dose of Imagery], also mentioned in the article and in my home town of Toronto!

What was really weird is that the photo of the day at DDI today (July 20) is a shot of the back of my office building! This world is waaay too small!

Keep up the great work, I very much appreciate your view. I am looking forward to picking up a Digital SLR myself shortly and hope to take quality photos of my children (when I have them) as you have.

-Pete

Fabulous, Dave. And with the black background it totally rocks ;)

Thanks everyone, new visitors included. Anyway, I've totally run out of time to respond to comments today but will try and catch up before the end of the weekend.

Great shot! I have one boy and one girl and my daughter is harder in raising than my son! I don't like football either! (not sure if you mean soccer or american football) Good luck on the birth!

that sure is some action!

ah,that you kid.. scary! the b&w has an brilliant effect, its so sharp and his eyes look really amazing!

Your B&W tonality is always AMAZING.