Crystal Ball, a photo from Manila, NCR

Photographer's Note

Have you seen crystal balls these big? Look into her eyes.

It seems to me that my airport standby always gives me fruitful hunting for an interesting children portrait. In Hanoi, I took a picture of an adorable child. This one was taken in manila arirport while waiting for my domestic flight to Iloilo.

She is so pretty. She seemed to have started to learn how to walk and she practically navigated the whole waiting area. I didn't stand or follow her around. She came to me with those wide-eyes and I clicked my camera. She came back again... and again... and again. I rejoiced secretly. Her parents just smiled at me.

Kenny10pin, dawekato, Curioso, nwoehnl, carper, Galeota, Proxilva, elroyie, Rinie_Hoff, Michael_Gan, jrzufferey, ChrisJ, ma-tibou, elihesamian, kikvel, RAP, Xalkida, ale, rajhema, andante, Cuba-Junky, pebbles, Amphitrite, leiju has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

softflower (0) 2004-08-08 10:44

Superbe portrait cette fille qui possède un regard profond.
Felicitations Manuel.

light (865) 2004-08-08 10:45

Incredible black and big eyes, and great portrait. Very good quality, like in all your photos, and very good desing and great composition.

Kenny10pin (19301) 2004-08-08 10:46

well done Manny, I like the sweet subject here, her eyes are just angelic, very good and the dof is outstanding, well done

dawekato (2269) 2004-08-08 10:50

Lovely story, Manny, and another great portrait. Those eyes really are very deep. You've caught the wonder of childhood in her face.

nwoehnl (122) 2004-08-08 11:14

Amazing photo Manny, in which the girl's big black eyes and the innocent expression result in an almost "angelic" look. Lovely colors and good cropping, and a great story to go with it.

carper (96) 2004-08-08 11:17

This is also beautiful Manuel,
Your really the master of the faces. verygood composed, good colouers, very good job.

Galeota (10352) 2004-08-08 11:26

YOu never sleep, you never take a rest. And now you don't even have to ask peopole to pose for you. They look in your direction and just come, naturally attracted to your camera.

Beautiful eyes Manny. I'm glad to see your photos again..

Proxilva (2157) 2004-08-08 11:34

incredible again... you keep telling how you do it, but somehow you're the only one (at least here) who atchieves suchs brilliant portraits...

by this young lady it's not just the eyes that makes you melt it's even more the two little teeth...
someday i hope the have the same guts to portrait people this way... thanks

avis2avis (4264) 2004-08-08 11:46

She is such a doll. Cant get over the look of amazement in her big black eyes. Thanks for clicking and sharing this.

elroyie (2750) 2004-08-08 12:43

Wonderful picture, great frame with wonderful face and great eyes, it looks so innosence, well done!

Catli (550) 2004-08-08 14:27

Beautiful! How do you do to get such sharp closeup portraits? What was the focal length here? I'm always trying to get closeup portraits of my 8 months old baby and it's only one out of ten that I will get it sharp. I even tried using macro mode! Thanks!

Rinie_Hoff (9340) 2004-08-08 14:40

Wow, Manny, thanks for coming back and guiding me to this little, beautiful dark-eyed, exploring beauty with her new two teeth, for which you found a perfect title.
I can imaginbe the you rejoiced, manny.
Great portrait.......

pridel (233) 2004-08-08 15:26

Manuel, je ne sais pas comment il faut faire pour obtenir ce résultat, mais une fois encore ce portrait est magnifique. le regard de la petite est fantastique plein d'inettrogations et de candeur et ses petites dents sont ravissantes. bravo encore.

Michael_Gan (2776) 2004-08-08 16:12

Well, if a lovely kid like this simply comes to you (again and again) you have no other choice than to take pictures of her! A great portrait again Manny. And the eyes are really big and those little teeths are very sweet.

Jeppe (18654) 2004-08-08 17:06

Wow - amazing eye-balls you got here Manuel - hard to believe this real - (I know it is ;-) Also a lovely face and pootrait of that little girl - fine work indeed.

ishai (4097) 2004-08-08 18:01

Manny
Amazing portrait
I think see is capturing you like you are capturing her
Good lighting and very good composition as always

ninadev (5377) 2004-08-08 18:07

What an incredible look with those big dark eyes, shining like marbles framed by her black curly hari. Nice tight cropping and good DOF which makes the picture just a little soft which works very well with such a lovely subject.

kaychambers (1198) 2004-08-08 22:12

Phenominal!

Regards,

Vic

taivo (1843) 2004-08-09 3:36

Such captivating eyes. The sharpness of her face and the contours are excellent. Very sweet portrait.

ChrisJ (171146) 2004-08-09 4:34

Great portrait with excellent sharpness.

jrzufferey (7305) 2004-08-09 5:02

Portrait magnifique de cette jeune enfant, son regard est d'une tel intensité. Bravo /jr
points suivront

ma-tibou (4568) 2004-08-09 5:26

Quel ragard d'une intensité rarement égalée, très belle prise de vue, pour cette petite frimousse. Bravo Manuel.

elihesamian (26149) 2004-08-09 9:50

Hi Dear Manuel!
glad to see you again(Iwas not for 10 day here & I missed many great shot)

Very nice portarit,as always,it has your sign:eyes,colors,hairs,and composition.and with this we have a nice & great note & story by you,really thanks,I like it alot.
very well done!Manuel!

kikvel (4784) 2004-08-09 20:30

Hi Manuel:

Soberbio retrato de una hermosa niña!!!
Amazing eyes she has!!!

Thanks!

Kikvel

janwalt (263) 2004-08-10 0:51

oh manny, you totally lucked out!! Well, it wasn't all luck but you made good use of a great opportunity! She is gorgeous, and those eyes speak volumes. One of my faves.

naxius (16685) 2004-08-10 2:46

She is so nice! Very good portrait with perfect details, especially about here eyes> You did a great job Manuel. Alexandre

ephemere33 (9743) 2004-08-10 20:58

deux diamants sur une jolie fleur...tres beau portrait manny, belle composition de cette petite princesse....excellent travail...amicalement BI

waskahegan (0) 2004-08-12 20:31

magnada ang mata dito! guapa ang bata.

RAP (1053) 2004-08-19 15:15

Expresivo retrato Manuel... realmente.
Gran encuadre, bellos tonos y nitidez.
La nota es muy interesante.
10 puntos!

Expressive portrait Manuel... really.
Great frame, beautiful tones and clearness.
The note is very interesting.
10 points!

ritinha (139) 2004-09-02 9:28

It's incredible, watt big and shiny are the eyes girl. The composition are great.
Very good, Manny, Well done:)

Xalkida (11744) 2004-09-07 12:28

What a portrait! Very cute child with -really- big "crystal" eyes and and an expression so innocent! You have catch her feelings and mood very well! Great job!

ale (1819) 2004-09-10 11:56

Hi Manuel,
nice to see your beautiful portraits again!!
This is great, she is so sweet and nice...it goes in my favourites!

emreozkurt (344) 2004-11-25 19:28

Fantastic photo. I am becoming more and more a fan of yours,

WALTERito (351) 2004-11-25 19:33 [Comment]

Show Comment

cak (4931) 2005-11-03 9:22

ı did love this daughter.because she look like my nephew. Manuel did not you ask her name?

rajhema (1873) 2005-12-01 13:03

adorable picture Manuel. Kids expression is very curious. Reflection in the eye ball is beautiful. Beautiful.

yuri31 (28) 2005-12-11 19:03

There's no words to comment this shot...

imrek (4) 2005-12-26 17:18

well done, very nice portarit, deep eyes, colors, hairs, very good dof and composition!

Phoebe (133) 2005-12-26 17:22

It's a really pretty photo! She is beautiful!

TBasco (143) 2006-01-30 5:30 [Comment]

Show Comment

andante (7092) 2006-02-05 9:31

She is saying so much in that secret language that only the kids can understand. I looks like she wants you to understand something, or maybe her curiosity about the camera was almost haunting her. Well done, Manuel.

clarita (654) 2006-05-04 16:35

this is the cutest picture i've ever seen.
it didn't strike me as much in the thumbnail...but did opposite of that when i clicked on it.
i love, love the colour/tone of the pic.
job well done in framing the cute little girl's face too.
thx for posting.

tonikrou (463) 2006-05-12 14:48

I THINK THAT YOUS PHOTOS ARE SO GREAT AND U R THE MOST GREAT PHOTOGRAPHER IN TREK ....!!!! I LOVE THEM ALL

Albrecht (11283) 2006-05-16 6:41

Hi Manny
Lovely portrait,very close and innocent.
Good POV and DOF.
greetings Albrecht

iGirl (1223) 2006-05-16 7:33

What beautiful eyes! A very nice close-up; I like the DOF. Thanks for sharing!
Erin

jpwashere (148) 2006-05-16 7:53

utterly adorable eyes. they almost fill the whole frame. great composition, texture, and color.

USErin (189) 2006-06-07 14:47

Adorable is an understatement. I can't stop looking at this photo. Thank you for the magnificent cropping job.

osh (402) 2006-06-07 16:00

beautiful eyes, humongously sweet cheeks and generally just a beautiful little girl with those 2 little teeth popping out. this is a beautiful portrait weel done.

osh

Amphitrite (1720) 2007-04-05 6:33

Lovely portrait!
So cute girl with so luminous eyes ;))
Well done,
Pinar

ajujot (91) 2008-02-28 9:39

Hey Manuel: Awesome shot..Love the colors and ur correct, crystal balls...

wilmahabo (262) 2008-05-03 4:19

She is so cute, her eyes are brilliant. Really charming girl. Wonderful portrait Manuel. Thanks for sharing.
Regards, Agata.

veronika (6058) 2008-05-03 5:05

Hi Manuel,
i just found this one on the first TE page, it's soooo beautiful :) I dont have very good mood today but this one made me smile, it is one of the most lovely children portrait i have ever seen and goes directly to my favs.
Wonderful!
Veronika

mansour (62) 2008-12-20 20:49

Amazing portrait.I can't stop smiling when looking at those sweet eyes

muhanna (0) 2012-04-25 23:08