nattfodd, that is an absurd statement. This is a candid "decisive moment" photo. Should people who wear sunglasses such as this never be photographed?

@Tom: I didn't say that you could have done any better given the circumstances, I said what I thought was wrong with the shot. If you don't want criticism, why do you even post here?

I was thinking the same thing...lol When you do a type of photojournalism, you get what you get! Are you going to walk up to them and say,"can you take the glasses off and do the hug again so I can shoot it?"

I think this is a great captured moment!

I was thinking the same thing...lol When you do a type of photojournalism, you get what you get! Are you going to walk up to them and say,"can you take the glasses off and do the hug again so I can shoot it?"

I think this is a great captured moment!

sorry, I have no idea why this was posted twice.

Well, that's what makes the difference between a good photojournalist and a bad one.

I realize that you probably couldn't have gotten a better shot, but that doesn't mean that "the best shot of this moment" makes a good photo (I'm not saying that your photo is bad, btw, just that it has important flaws).

I have no problem with criticism when warranted.....but.....stating "we need faces!" when the young lady is wearing glasses is asking for the impossible. You didn't evaluate the photo. You evaluated what you thought the photo should be.....but couldn't possibly be. You really should read the article at this link. It's a classic: http://theonlinephotographer.blogspot.com/2006/06/great-photographers-on-internet.html

@Tom: I've read your article, and besides it being very funny, I didn't see the connection. The comments there are from people who aren't getting what makes the shots work. Here I'm pointing at something that makes the photo *not* work (for me). You can think that I'm wrong and that the glasses actually make the photo look nicer, and I'm ready to change my mind on it if you can convince me to, but, again, knowing that you couldn't have done any better won't magically make the photo any better.
And again, if you're going to answer to any criticism with "I couldn't have done any better", why do you post here?

I don't agree with your "I couldn't have done any better" thesis. Decisive moment, street, candid photography is capturing images of real life in the fraction of a second. Saying the photo would have been better without the glasses is like saying Andy Warhol's tomato soup can image would have been better had it been cream of mushroom.

All right, I won't stay here trying to defend my point of view all day long. I gave you my honest opinion about your shot, which you seemed to have requested by posting here, I've tried to explain it the best I could, and that's the end of the story as far as I'm concerned. Just let me say again that I don't think it's a bad photography, but that it could have been much better, and that the spontaneity of the moment doesn't make up for its flaws.