Can I Help? Photo | TrekEarth

Photographer’s Note

This is the final image of this small series taken at the beach in Sausalito. We've seen two little boys at work at the water's edge in the first two images, now we get to see the young homemaker as she fashions the perfect cake from the moist sand she harvested close to the water with that small polka dot cup. Of course, the little boy, always curious, wants to see what is happening.

I know from how this sequence unfolded, that the little girls weren't too happy with his presence, since it was a short while after this sweet scene that the girl in the middle was screaming at her mother that the boy was messing with her bottle of soapy water that she was happily using to blow bubbles.

Perhaps you've heard the old adage that says "You can't live with them and you can't live without them..." It appears the fascination and the impatience so often encountered in adult relationships also happens with kids.

All he wanted to do was help... ;-) Sure!

Rinie_Hoff, timotey, carper, Galeota, Isabelle, Liora, cmartos, avis2avis has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

Rinie_Hoff (9332) 2004-08-18 2:18

You captured a nice look of that girl, Curtis, especially with your note, you can see she is bored by his presence. He IS quite young, I think, he's still a bit baby-like chubby. Nice to see. He is very interested in wath the girls are doing. Delightful scene, Curtis, great composition, nice light

crabmistress (268) 2004-08-18 2:22

Hi Curtis, children are such delightful subjects. I really like your last 3 fotos of tykes at the beach. This one is really sweet - bright colors, great candid capture, & it makes me a little nostalgic of my wonder years with my cousins and siblings... :)

timotey (1926) 2004-08-18 2:46

A very well caught scene Curtis ! I particularly like the way you've composed this picture by having these three children on a diagonal with their posture showing us that they were concentrated on their sand castle building. The squared frame also suits very well to this composition and the main subjects are well rendered by a very good depth of field and ambient light. Very well done !

carper (64706) 2004-08-18 2:53

Nice serie you made Curtis,
Good composition, good colours good depth in the photo, really nice job

madska (0) 2004-08-18 3:16

nice daily life shot, simple and effective. thanks

olli (2091) 2004-08-18 3:22

Very well composed and titled shot with very intensive atmosphere. Interesting subject. I like the combination of red details and the overall neutral tones. Great shot – and series, Curtis.

Galeota (10334) 2004-08-18 4:18

Very nice photograph to close this "tryptic". Boys can play alone and build a whole world in a few minutes...but well, sooner or later they go back to their primary instincts...girls.

Liora (1857) 2004-08-18 7:44

So many places, so many views, so many moods... I just managed to disconnect from Rinie's night shot and in a sharp contrast turned to this light and bright shot. Both photos are heart-warming, but in very different ways...
I'm always fascinated when watching kids' social behavior and thankful that I'm no longer in this stage of life... Nice capture with the little boy looking so keen to join and the girls doing their best to ignore him... Excellent job with textures and exposure.

Isabelle (9014) 2004-08-18 10:06

your picture is a tremendous lesson/illustration of body language, Curtis.
Again, the boy´s body shows his full interest in the girls´ stuff. on the other hand, their position - both seem to ignore him - show their total rejection to that intrusion.
just by comparing images (and not notes) this one is a counterpart of your "Come play with me!"...
when i say you know how to photograph kids...

elroyie (2750) 2004-08-18 18:06

Nice picture with very good worm colours, the composition is little bit tyde, but the moment that you caught is great each one is doing something different, this is a catch of the moment.

cmartos (6086) 2004-08-19 4:35

Fine thought, fine message, and really well and nicely conveyed. Could also be the very soon appearing natural instinct of boys...being with girls :-). I like the diagonal of these three childrens and the very good tight crop spoting on the scene, eliminating any distracting elements as well as the attitude of the boy. Very fine catch Curtis, well seen!

avis2avis (4236) 2004-08-19 5:51

I missed this one earlier. "Can I help?" That is exactly what seems to be the question being asked by this toddler. A very timely capture Curtis. I only wish I could see a little bit more ofthe kids' faces. But still this is a fine shot!

sn00zie (2384) 2004-10-19 11:32

this is such a cute subject. i particularly like the little one on the extreme left with feet caked with sand..

faubry (32281) 2005-02-27 5:47

sweety picture, lovely, i like expression childs faces
also i like your note" you can't live with them and you can(t live without them, its really
great thanks
francine