Photofocus

Photo Copyright Rafael (RC) Concepcion

Here at Photofocus we’ve honored a Photographer of the Year, a Photo Educator of the Year and now it’s time for Picture of the Year.

Obviously, it’s supremely difficult to pick just one photo and declare it the picture of the year. There are many contenders. But for me and for my staff, it came down to one pretty quickly. Rafael (RC) Concepcion, Education and Curriculum Developer for the National Association of Photoshop Professionals, writes for Layers Magazine and oh yeah, happens to be one kick-butt photographer.

His lovely, sweet, little photo – “Mommy and Me Ballet” took my breath away the first time I saw it. I’ve never stopped thinking about it. I use it often as an illustration of storytelling in photography.

RC’s daughter Sabine Annabel was captured looking up at RC’s wife Jenn. You can see the wonder in the little girl’s eyes. You can imaging the strong bond between the two and the lifelong connection that will exist between them. This photo will help to assure that fact.

RC made several key choices here. He used a high-key situation which often favors pretty girls or young children (in this case both.) He drew attention to the subject (his daughter) by deliberately cropping the photo so you only see his wife’s beautiful legs. This keeps the focus on the darling child.

Of course the lighting and exposure are perfect. The image is sharp and the color is great. But those are just technical details. It’s the story that wins here.

This moment in time is made more precious once we know the back story; i.e. a little girl gazing up at her mother as she dances. But even without that story, we’re free to imaging several of our own.

And it’s THAT component, more than the right exposure, or camera or lens which has led to the image winning our Picture of the Year award.

Congrats to RC. We’ll make a donation to Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep in honor of his achievement.

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This post sponsored by the Digital SLR Store