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Ella’s Birthday party, Irvine, CA copyright 2014 Douglas Stockdale
When we had a birthday party for Ella on Friday evening, the light was pretty low, but I thought I could do without using the flash with the Samsung 4 phone-camera. Regretfully that did not work out as anticipated. So I switched over to the flash setting and that was not very pretty either. I was a bit vexed and was really starting to wish that I had either of my Canon cameras with me.
But since I did not have the big Canon guns with me, I realized that I preferred the non-flash mode and I would just take my chances. I was rewarded with this intriguing tabeaux composition that had just the right amount of light from the candles. I think I captured the drama and personal interaction at the moment. Fortunate for me, with the auto exposure of the Samsung 4, it made the right exposure choice for me. Since I am reading Henri Cartier-Besson’s recently published monograph, I think that this photograph seems to capture the spirit of his Surrealist thinking, which most folks now call his decision moments.
For me, this is a beautiful singular image.
Cheers!
Singular Images 
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