Here's a photographic challenge, one that I don't think I'm up to on my own.

I want to see the face of a character I'm writing about.  That is, I'd
like a photo that could be the face of my fictitious character. 
Trouble is, it's pretty hard to look for faces of young women online
without getting a lot of, uh, pictures I don't want.  Actually, I
don't care whether the subject has any clothes on or not (I can just
crop it), but my character is 14 and innocent.

I don't know where to find a gallery of photos that could be narrowed
down enough so I could just see the faces of adolescent girls in order
to pick out one that resembles my mental image of the character.  I'd
rather not page through endless search results that include babies,
pets, drawings, cartoons, and g-strings.

The answer to the question could be links to actual photography pages
or could just tell me *how* to search successfully for what I'm
looking for--namely, a gallery of faces in which I might find one that
suits me.  (Finding the right face is not the researcher's job--that's
mine.)

This is for real, not just curiosity or fun, so I'm pricing it higher.
 The more the answer enables me to narrow the search to my criteria,
the better the tip.

Thank you,
Archae0pteryx

---

Request for Question Clarification by tlspiegel-ga on 30 Jan 2005 15:52 PST

Hi archae0pteryx,

Am I on the right track?  If so, let me know!

http://www.fotosearch.com/creatas/girls-faces/CRT339/
4 pages (look for Teenage Girl on headshots)\

http://www.fotosearch.com/image-source/teen-days/IGS229/
4 pages (look for TGeenage Girl)


Best regards,
tlspiegel

---

Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 30 Jan 2005 16:31 PST

Actually, a Google Images search on [ teenage girls ] with the
SafeSearch set on maximum doesn't do too shabby a job:

http://images.google.com/images?q=teenage+girl&svnum=100&hl=en&lr=&c2coff=1&safe=active&rls=GGLD,GGLD:2003-43,GGLD:en&start=20&sa=N

You can fine-tune the search with other words such as:

[ teenage girl (face OR head OR portrait ]

for even more targeted results:


http://images.google.com/images?svnum=100&hl=en&lr=&safe=active&c2coff=1&rls=GGLD%2CGGLD%3A2003-43%2CGGLD%3Aen&q=teenage+girl+%28face+OR+head+OR+portrait%29&btnG=Search


although why someone's chest x-ray is showing up is a bit of a mystery.


Is this getting closer to what you need?


paf

---

Request for Question Clarification by czh-ga on 30 Jan 2005 17:39 PST

Hello archae0pteryx-ga,

I found that using the Google Image Search yields pretty good results
if you play with combinations of words that describe 14 year old
teenage girls. Here are some word combinations that brought up a
selection of girls engaged in a variety of settings and activities. I
tried to think of places where girls are likely to congrate and
activities and events where they're likely to be talked about.

Here are some of the word combinations I tried. Note that using
singular vs. plural will give different results, i.e. girl vs. girls
or award vs. awards. I'm including a couple of sample links just to
get you started. Are these on the right track?
 

teen girls 
http://images.google.com/images?svnum=100&hl=en&lr=&c2coff=1&q=teen+girls
teen girls school
http://images.google.com/images?svnum=100&hl=en&lr=&c2coff=1&q=teen+girls+school
teen girls high school
http://images.google.com/images?svnum=100&hl=en&lr=&c2coff=1&q=teen+girls+high+school
teen girls fun
http://images.google.com/images?svnum=100&hl=en&lr=&c2coff=1&q=teen+girls+fun&btnG=Search
teen girls camp
http://images.google.com/images?svnum=100&hl=en&lr=&c2coff=1&q=teen+girls+camp&btnG=Search
teen girls home
http://images.google.com/images?svnum=100&hl=en&lr=&c2coff=1&q=teen+girls+home&btnG=Search
teen girls family
http://images.google.com/images?q=teen+girls+family&svnum=100&hl=en&lr=&c2coff=1&start=40&sa=N

high school girls
high school dances
high school prom
high school girls academics
high school girls awards
high school girls winners
high school girls competition

14 year old girls
girl(s) scouts
girls choir
girls international
girls athletes

---

Clarification of Question by archae0pteryx-ga on 30 Jan 2005 17:49 PST

Thanks, all three.  Your kind interest is appreciated!  And I picked
up some good strategies from your suggestions.  This one goes to paf. 
Please see comment below.

Tryx

archae0pteryx-ga,


Thanks.


It's great to hear you found "the one".  Now, get out there and do
some more writing!

All the best,

paf

Bull's eye, paf.  Thank you!

Tryx

Howdy, Tryx.

Here's a search of a modeling site's portfolios that will give you
quite a few images of 14-year-old girls:

http://www.newfaces.com/model-search.php?action=Search&Model=on&Act=on&AgeLower=14&AgeUpper=14&F=on&ImageType=

Online modeling agencies often permit you to search by age.

Why don't you put that as the answer?
It seems to me this is what he needs.

Hi there, Pink!

Thanks, I checked it out.  The selection is pretty small, but the main
thing is that these are models or wannabe models.  My character
doesn't look like a model.  I need to see some real faces.

Tryx

More here:

http://www.acclaimimages.com/_gallery/_pages/0001-0310-0922-0520.html

aaaaaack... meant to post all of these links:

http://www.acclaimimages.com/_gallery/_pages/0001-0405-0714-4342.html

http://www.acclaimimages.com/_gallery/_pages/0001-0402-1223-2229.html

http://www.acclaimimages.com/_gallery/_pages/0001-0211-0311-4910.html

http://www.acclaimimages.com/_gallery/_pages/0001-0310-0922-0520.html

How about getting hold of a school yearbook and looking at the photos
of eighth and ninth graders?

Tryx --

Here's a link to individual head shots of the entire 9th grade class
of 1959-60 at Pasco Junior High:

Pasco High School Class of 1963 (scroll down to the bottom of the page)
http://home.hawaii.rr.com/gcarr/

What do you think?

markj-ga

Wow!  You are all great and so much better at this than I am.  Hmmm--I
guess that makes you folks the researchers and me just the customer! 
Thank you, one and all.

I took a look at everything everybody posted...and gee, markj, I guess
you forced me to say, "Not *that* real!"  I don't know if you've ever
got a case of the giggles looking at old yearbooks, but they remind me
of nothing so much as the funny lumpy vegetables that you grow in your
own garden.  You never see their like in the supermarket because only
the pretty ones make it whole to the produce bin.  Nobody cares if the
chopped green pepper in a can of tomatoes had a weird twist in it and
a bug bite on one side.

I'm going to have to award this one to pafalafa-ga, not only because
that was the type of search I was really after but because within a
minute with the second link, I *found* her.  Fantastic!  I knew her
right away, even from the thumbnail.  And there's a big bonus for me
because even though I chose her strictly for her looks, she turns out
to be a Swiss actress and therefore someone whose picture I ought to
be able to find in other poses.  Success!

So, paf, please post your answer.

Again, thanks to all, and now maybe I can do better for myself next time.

Tryx

Tryx --

I beg your pardon.  I still have my 9th grade yearbook from Lincoln
Junior High School in 1956, and I think I look pretty good!

markj-ga

Well, of course, markj, I meant somebody *else's* yearbooks, not our
own!--like those none-too-flattering pictures they show in ads for
classmates.com, which can make us smile even if our own classmates'
aren't any better.  There are always a few exceptions, to be sure, but
even when I've seen high school photos of people who grew up to become
glamorous stars, I usually think, "Nope, I wouldn't have picked that
one for a standout."  Maybe it's just a comforting thought and doesn't
have to be true.

Tryx