taking stills

There is something undeniably creepy about taking pictures of children I don't know. On the beach. In their swimsuits. (Just saying.)
But when I got past the creepy factor, it was actually enjoyable. Kids are probably among the easiest subjects to photograph. They move so naturally, without the restraint or exhaustion of adults, and are always doing interesting, photogenic things. I think my favorite picture is the one of the boy jumping. You can barely tell he's jumping unless you enlarge it, but it was so cool to see an entirely organic happy, innocent moment. And even cooler, to catch it on film. The same is true of the blonde girl running by, smiling at me. I didn't intend to take a picture of her, I meant to capture the boys behind her. But the moment I snapped the picture, this little girl runs out in front of me grinning. The next second she is gone, and I swear she had no idea I was taking her picture. 100% candid.
I found myself experimenting with depth of field and foreground/background elements. And then color and hue. And then lighting. And then shadow. I did a fair amount of editing afterwards, to experiment with what effects I could create just on the computer. I personally like what I came out with, but really have no idea what constitutes a "good" photo. Does such a thing exist objectively? Hopefully the talented Fred Field can shed some light (har-har) on this issue, and I look forward to working towards better and better pictures throughout the semester.