My pics of beauty.

Well said! Beauty doesn't just happen on a girl's 18th birthday... Model agencies and scouts often look for models under the age of 18. I don't believe that looking implies illicit intent. If they're not nude, there's nothing immoral about it...

I'm surprised to see 86 visits and only one comment. It makes sense to view a picture and not comment, but rarely would I read something like what you have taken the time to write, and not "reply". I like and agree with everything you said. I used to wonder (when I was a teen) why my dad seemed to take such an interest to the girls that came over to our house. *Note: My parents had a kick ass place with a big in ground pool. So, I had a lot of people coming over to swim, play pool, skateboard, etc. Now, I realize that when a guy gets old, young girls don't become un-attractive. My old man was, and still is, as good of a human as I know. He's also a 100% faithful husband, and has been ever since he asked my mom to marry him (3 days after they met). Four days later, they were married. He'd never touch another female, but my lord, he will look and he will enjoy looking. I think it's cool that he got a kick out of all the little bikini's that passed through my house to the pool. He was a great freaking host too! And, when my boy starts bringing home girls, rest assured, I'll be enjoying it. My old man is a full time police officer. He works his entire shift at a college campus. I just loved it when I went to visit him the other day. We cruise around in a kick ass patrol car and he has girls hollering at him to just stop and visit with them. I think it's great how he knows the cheerleaders practice schedule. I also thought it was kick ass when he took it upon himself to investigate a young man on campus. This guy had tons of awesome audio and video in his dorm. Girls where coming and going. He finally digs deep enough to find out this was an unregistered sex offender and had him taken care of. I realize I'm ranting now.. hell, I realized it long ago but know you don't mind, Sniper. Take all the shots you can of these girls. If people are critical, they are either jealous they did not take the picture, or they just don't get "it". These people won't try and understand someone else and how they see beauty. They would not dare open their mind long enough to say "oh, yeah... now I understand". So fuck them, and don't feel hesitate to give them your smart replies. They're not worth anything else.

For the most part, I agree. That said, shooting public photos of under 18 girls does generate way more flack than I'd prefer deal with. I say that because I have a 6 year old daughter that does cheerleading and I usually shoot photos of that (no, they don't go on my IP account!). Whenever I do that, I always get a few shots some other kids, usually just because they are there and I need a test subject to tweak my flash and such so that I can actually get a good shot of my daughter when her turn finally comes. All of these photos of my daughter or any other random kids either get deleted or end up in a private gallery that's only seen by my own family and friends. LIke you, I shoot with a big DSLR, and a big obvious flash, but still occasionally get some flak from some concerned parent who's afraid I might be some sort of pedophile.

I like your posts, and look forward to viewing more of them. This is a really well thought post with some new perspectives I will definitely consider. Thanks for sharing, and check out my gallery if you get a chance.

People in the US are way too hung up about young kids at the risk of being accused of being an actual, criminal minded pedophile. Are we any less of a pervert for ogling a 20 year old than a 17 year old? I don't think so. Not if photography is your interest and it stops there. I avoid shooting really young girls but I don't ask for ID either. I avoid shooting them out of respect for their parents, as I would want the same respect for my daughter.

there are kids and kids, if a cute girl has started to develop curves and a nice figer I think its almost biologically impossible not to fancy her, with puberty occuring in people much sooner now days its very difficult to know what age they are.