[Mike McCarty]

Terri,

#2 is a crop of #1.

I like it when a story can be told, or implied. It's a little difficult, however, in the confines of a head and shoulders portrait. I thought that if I depicted the boy in this way it would suggest a parent's unseen influence. Parents are mostly in the background yet children conduct themselves always through their profound influence. Protecting, yet unseen. Seperated, yet ever present.

The problem with all this nonsense is that it has to work as a viable composition. The shapes of shadow and light must first work in order for anyone to ever get to the allegorical bs. In this regard I've cropped the image a bit more. I think I like this version better.

Your response to the image is perfectly valid. I lean heavy on the advice: "be insulted, be delighted, be puzzled, just don't pass me by."

Carlos,

I don't like any of the other images from a technical point of view. The light on the shadow side came from an open front door about fifteen feet away. The boy was doing the eight year old fidget most of the time and I was lucky to get one crisp image.

In this kind of limited light I don't know how you could get this image without a spot meter. I recommend picking your spot on the lit side of the face, lock your exposure, then recompose.

I've spoken to Wal-Mart on your behalf and have good news! Wal-Mart has agreed to take over Spain! Now you too can take advantage of all that they have and don't have (I place this negative here for Linda B's sake) to offer.

Garth,

Thanks for the nice assessment. I'm a big fan and value your opinion a great deal.