Cowgirl

This little sweetheart is the big sister to a newborn that I got to photograph recently.  She is so much fun to be around and while still a challenge to get focused before she took off again, the ice cream cone worked well here.  She wasn't even upset when the two Golden Retrievers ran over and managed to lick the whole scoop of ice cream off her cone in a flash. At only 3 years old she has the most beautiful hair I think I have ever seen on such a young child --- thick, long, and a wonderful red/gold/brunette, and her eyelashes are to die for!  But her personality is even better --- I had to laugh at her crossed eyes, whistling, choking, etc etc when she was tired of posing.

Squeaky Clean

I have to give Larry the credit for helping me receive a Gold award for this image last night.  I loved so many shots I got of this happy little girl but thought this was one that had a sharpness and noise issue and would not print well.  He told me the baby's expression and the moment would override any lack of sharpness in her eyes and  any noise (which often is less noticeable in prints than the computer screen) and he also advised me to make the image black and white and to crop in a little to make the baby the main subject. Those changes improved the image a lot and I think improved my score over what I may have gotten without changes.  I still like it in color too but the black and white has a more timeless quality.  After a couple of years now of shooting digital and printing my own images, I still have so much to learn.  I find it especially difficult to judge my own shots, either I think they aren't good enough or they really appeal to me and not so much to others.  So thanks Larry!