Much better. I think this is a better image because it "talks" more than the ones of previous two days.
It happens to me, that I sometimes start feeling I am falling too much into one category, and then I feel the need to divert. In your case (and I am sure most will agree with me), I don't have a problem with seeing three or four days of the same style.
But I know you care. I have had to "save for later" many images just so I wouldn't look repetitive, only to never post those again.

I am curious now as to what your next pic will be of.

The background's great - a couple of shades of green. The child is cute, though :). Interesting portrait.

I have a friend that says my photoblog is all about sea, flowers and clouds :p. I don't think you're yet stuck in just one category.

This one is really nice cause it shows a very cute gesture. Children are always the reflection of innocence rigth?

wonderful shot, David. I love the greens.

The thing I love about your portraits is often they manage to convey a sense of emotion just through the eyes.

Very cute, excellent colors. I swear that looks like my cousin though, to which some may argue all Asians look alike -_-

I must confess.# and this is something that cannot be changed. I found our subject yesterday, irksome. It was the mouth, just, too much.

Anyway, I like this young girls smile. She has a cheeky imp look.

I have to say though that I just posted on yesterdays, don't know if it went onto your comments becuase I got your message "the servers knackered... again". That was priceless, especially the top left "sigh, yawn, not again". You have to laugh, especially with you cracking the jokes.

I never saw you as a Crusty the Clown character Dave. Do you smoke 60 a day as well?

This is great Dave. I can testify that on this occassion you have really caught the spirit of this girl. She really did have a genuine smile.

I would love to see some more reflection shots or abstract work from you. Okay I am on a bit of a voyage of discovery myself at the moment, but it would be nice to see if you can come up with something inspiring as well.

Cute indeed - what an expression, full of joy! :)

Cute !

Hello Kitty. David, I'm curious to know if you get "model releases" for all/any of your shots? Where is UK law fall on that? More fundamentally, do you ask your models for approval to put their image up on the web? Just curious. TIA.

tobias: your comment did get posted. The comment script seems to stall just after adding the comment to the database; hence the 500 error message and the fact that I'm not getting email notifications of comments. I amended it as I got bored of looking at the default error page - it lacked humour :-) And no, I don't smoke 60 a day. I do suck my way through quite a lot of nicotine lozenges though ;-)

John: thanks. As for 'voyages of discovery': I guess that chromasia is a permanent voyage, of sorts, it's just finding the time to up the anchor and move on that's a bit tricky at times ;-)

george: in this case I did get a model release as they were shot as part of an ongoing commission. Had that not been the case though I would have asked the parent for verbal permission to post it here. As for the UK: my understanding is that it's perfectly ok to photograph people in public, and it would be equally ok for me to print an image and display it as part of an exhibition (or similar), but I wouldn't be able to licence it for anyone else to use. I guess the bottom line for me is that a) I wouldn't take a portrait such as this without permission, and b) wouldn't use it for a purpose that I thought the parent might not approve.

I can add to that - as yet there is no law to stop you taking pictures of people in public places and if there was our press photographers would be in serious trouble.

That said, whenever I take a close up shot of someone as djn has done here it is wise to ask permission (even if you don't need it) so that you can feel happy in yourself.

The only time you can be in trouble is when you set out to ridicule someone but even then that is not very easy to prove because the photographer may not actually be intending to ridicule anyone.

The bottom line with photographing people is that it is simply a question of being confident enough to do it inn the first place - if you are then you are also likely to find obtaining permission easy as well.

The secret is to engage with people and make them feel as though they have known you for ages. The way in which you do this is an entirely unteachable thing.

On this occassion we were walking around with large DSLRs and people assumed we were on a job (we was) Sometimes though I find that street photos really do require a compact camera, but as yet there is not one model (apart from possibly epson RD1) that is up to the job of street photography.

Having said all that - isn't it a bit worrying that we are being watched on CCTV virtually everywhere we go. I agree that as a counter crime tactic it is invaluable, but just sometimes it puts me off.

you always seem to bring out the best in the people you photograph.

David: thanks for the reply.

John [shots]: Thanks for your input, which is all the more interesting given your shot of today :) Did you ask permission from the lady on the phone (or anyone else)?

Cute little Asian girl! I love her little hello kitty hair clips. The tone of the picture is very soothing, for lack of a better word. I appreciate how she's not directly looking into the camera. I think it makes the picture a lot easier to stare at. ('cause she's not staring back at you!) :-D

i love the expression on her face!

It's just precious. I vaguely remember feeling like that as a youngling.

Did you get my email Dave? I like this shot best out of the last few you've posted. She's adorable - and the green background frames her face so well! Lovely :)

I love the colors on this photo. The company I work for has a backdrop that has a similar effect. I work for Signature Backgrounds

Thanks everyone.