Capturing Connection
Photo Contest

"Soft and surreal, this image feels like a beautiful dream. It’s strong color harmony and muted tones create a story all on their own! The maker has handled the technical aspects very well and captured beautiful rim lighting around both mom and her child without blowing out the whites. Improvement could come with a little stronger pose on momma. I want to see her face and I can’t. I also want to see her hands and see the connection there with her child which would raise the level of the emotion in the image. The sun flare in the background while beautiful and lovely, does lead the eye out of frame a bit. Toning it down would keep the viewers focus on the mother and child. This image moves me deeply and and I wish I had it with my own child! Excellent job and lovely vision. It feels like what heaven must be like." - Julia Kelleher

"What a touching and emotional image! The design of it is fantastic with all elements in the frame leading you to the boy and his grandpa. Even though it’s a silhouette, you can still see the details in grandpas’ shirt and their pose against all the horizontal lines in the image really force your eye to stay with them. The only critique would be to try and handle that window light with more technical prowess. The light here flares onto grandpa and is a bit distracting. By decreasing that contrast and cleaning up the transition from grandpa’s shirt/face to the window, the image would improve it’s technical excellence. Beautiful image and a sweet story." - Julia Kelleher

"Wow!  What a gorgeous capture! I want to be there myself and experience the color, light and love I see here. The maker has handled backlighting with extreme precision, and the color harmony between background and skin tones is delicious. I would have loved to have seen a more engaged expression in the child. He looks a little uncomfortable, but this is clearly an image shot “in the moment.” and the maker was there at the perfect time. The brighter camera right side of the background—in yellow—could be toned down slightly to keep my eye in frame and on the subject or perhaps just cropped out a bit to emphasize momma and child more. Overall an impressive image with so much love in it. Well done!" - Julia Kelleher

"Again, great composition! What a mystery the maker has created by showcasing this pair against such a dramatic and difficult to capture background scene. The lines in the image lead you directly to the the couple and colors intrigue. To make it stronger, a more dynamic pose of the two subjects would have “sold” the story more and the rock on the right side of the frame leases your eye out of the composition, but overall a greta image and lots of impact!" - Julia Kelleher

"What a charming and delightful capture between subjects. The maker has done a tremendous job bringing the viewer in with expression, contrast, color harmony, and composition. What could have been distracting elements in the clothing were handled expertly by creating a color muted color palette and design. Improvement could come by using a a more pleasing lighting direction instead of overhead to create more directional light. Overall a fun image with greta impact and a humorous message." - Julia Kelleher

"The maker really thought out about a pre-planned this image to tell a story. Love the juxtaposition of youth against age and the contrast in skin tones helps tell the story too. By increasing the contrast in your tonality, this image would have been even better. Right now it’s a bit muddy as the blacks are not truly black. Great work creating a storytelling image with a simple subject." - Julia Kelleher