Emotive?

[S_Sanyal]

Camera Canon EOS 500D w 18-200 IS Canon lense
Exposure 0.013 sec (1/80)
Aperture f/5.6
Focal Length 70 mm
ISO Speed 400


As the title suggests, and notwithstanding the technical shortcomings in the picture, i need to know most of all what one FEELS through this...(valid enough for a critique right?)

Things I already know...
1. Man;s head in background too close to mother's nose.it is a tad distracting (PP tricks to diminish this if possible are very very welcome)
2. Complete head of baby not in frame.

In my defense, when I see a moment like this, it have less than 1/2 a second to focus, compose and shoot...

On the technical front, I also want to know from the PP experts here if this kind of treatment suits a subject such as this one?
Processed in LR3...I warmed the tones and increased blacks... 400 ISO gave me some natural grittiness...

Everyone's suggestions are welcome on improvements, PP and of course, I sincerely invite your responses on the emotive aspect..Thanks in advance

P.S. This is best viewed on black. And I will share the "story" after I read the responses..

[scootermcq]

Love the expression on the childs face.... Composition is good.... I really don't care about the back of the head missing. Yes the man is distracting in the middle of the frame and I would just get rid of him in PP. I am not sure, because I am on a crappy work monitor and I am not 100% up on my middle eastern skin tones, but it does appear a little over saturated to me.

I "feel" that the child wants something and is pleading with his eyes for what he wants.

[kjell]

Wow! This is the type of photo that makes you linger, and sets off your imagination trying to imagine the story behind it. The child's face is so expressive, I can see sadness, hope, admiration but also maybe a little scepticism. Very nicely captured.

[S_Sanyal]

scootermcq, maybe you're right about the saturation.... you're also quite close to the feeling I attempt to portray read below...

kjell, thanks for your feedback and appreciation.

STORY: I was playing with this Santhal child who decided he was scared of me and I backed away, camera in hand...in the few moments after, he was looking to his mother for security, seen in the expression as well as the tug at her necklace...the mother's face in frame is kept to portray the feeling of reassurance she is trying to convey to her child. So there you go!

[S_Sanyal]

Oops! Sorry, I just noticed that my original image had become Unavailable. Must be due to shuffling around stuff on flickr. Apologies, and yes, I've edited the OP>

[tyasa81]

looks great!.. man's head didn't bother me if that helps... very emotional pict!

[S_Sanyal]

Thanks tyasa

[commongrackle]

I think the feelings that could be evoked by this photo are overshadowed by the overall darkness of the image. I wouldn't have gone so far with the blacks, perhaps?

[S_Sanyal]

Hm, dark eh? Dunno ...I process on a calibrated LED 22.5 " BenQ and it looks fine there. I must admit that i have "richened" the colour a bit to bring out a low-key warm-ness, if you may call it that.

Will revisit again and see what you exactly mean..."dark" can imply "mystic" as a positive attribute, as a negative it can mean loss of detail. If you're talking about the latter, IMHO the main elements are well detailed. As far as the "darkness" goes, its the aesthetic I chose, maybe we differ on that? I saw the treatment you apply in your photography, it looks great but as an "aesthetic", it is very distinct and different from this...if that's what you would look to be achieved here, it may not work with the natural skin tones of the people in this photograph...

In any case, I could be reading you wrong..if I am, please feel free to correct me