Ethiopia - In and around the Holy Trinity Cathedral, Addis Ababa

[Manfred M]

The Holy Trinity Cathedral is an Orthodox Cathedral and is the most important church in Addis Ababa. It is also an interesting place to get pictures of people.

These two men were sitting on the pavement, near the rear of the cathedral.




This well dressed man walked by. Based on the clothing and hat, I assume that he might be connected with the church.




This man was sitting on the front steps of the cathedral.




This image captures two worshippers and was taken from the front of the church. The two ornate thrones are those of Emperor Haile Selassie I on the right and that of his wife, the Empress Menen Asfaw on the left.






This is the tomb of Emperor Haile Selassie I. He was killed and buried under the floor in the palace after the Derg Revolution. When the Derg were overthrown, he was buried in the church, beside his wife, as per his wishes. The corner of the tomb of the Empress Menen Asfaw can be partically seen on the right.

[Scott Stephen]

Nice shots Grumpy. The priest is very colorful, and the lighting in the crypt looks to have been challenging.

[Mike Buckley]

Another nice series, Manfred. The first two are my favorites and I hope I can convince you to convert the first one to monochrome.

[Donald]

You really were on top photographic form on this trip.

I don't know if you and/or others feel the same as I do, but when I get the time and space (usually on holiday/vacation) to think (and feel) exclusively 'photography', you do get 'into the zone' (I hate jargon) and can find yourself capturing a lot of very good stuff in relatively short spaces of time.

Or is that just wishful thinking on my part!?

[Shadowman]

Very nice.

[AB26]

Very nice Manfred.

Perhaps:


Sorry Manfred, just could not resist. Too good an image to waste.

[kdoc856]

Nice series, Manfred. Ethiopia is a fascinating place, and you have captured that sentiment.

[Manfred M]

Nice shots Grumpy. The priest is very colorful, and the lighting in the crypt looks to have been challenging.

Thanks Scott - the light in the crypt was downright awful. That means high ISO, slow shutter speed, wide aperture and a handful of noise reduction. Got to love the modern technology; not that long ago, this would have been impossible to shoot without a tripod or additional lighting.

[Manfred M]

You really were on top photographic form on this trip.

I don't know if you and/or others feel the same as I do, but when I get the time and space (usually on holiday/vacation) to think (and feel) exclusively 'photography', you do get 'into the zone' (I hate jargon) and can find yourself capturing a lot of very good stuff in relatively short spaces of time.

Or is that just wishful thinking on my part!?

I think you are right Donald; getting in the zone is quite important if one does not want to waste a lot of time with blown shots.

In the past, I felt that my images got better further into the trip and the first few days resulted in some rather mediocre work. There was a time that I used to start "warming" up a few weeks by getting out and shooting before heading off somewhere just to get in form so that I could "hit the ground running", so to speak.

This really was not the case this time; the Addis Ababa images we taken on the first day there. I found that I've stayed reasonably sharp, and in spite of the jet lag (eight time zone difference and almost 24 hours of travel time), I was making some really good shots right away. I guess I will test that theory in a couple of months, when we are off to Guatamala to a photography workshop...

I hadn't been too happy with my street photography as of late, so I decided to tackle the subjects a bit differently this time. A lot of the literature tends to suggest shooting a wider lens on a smaller, unobtrusive camera body. This time I decided to do the street photography the way I would normally do environmental portraits (large full-frame camera with external battery grip and with the f/2.8 70-200mm lens) and this just seemed to work out better for me.

[Manfred M]

Very nice Manfred.

Perhaps:


Sorry Manfred, just could not resist. Too good an image to waste.

Thanks Andre - that is very close to what I first came up with, but with the close crop I found I lost the context of the image - the two men squatting on the ground in a fairly busy area, so I backed off and came up with the compromise. I found that by "cutting off the heads" of the out of focus people in the background and by just showing the two men, I got something I liked better.

[Mike Buckley]

I agree that the context provided by the other people in the photo is helpful information.

[Manfred M]

Another nice series, Manfred. The first two are my favorites and I hope I can convince you to convert the first one to monochrome.

Done...





When I started shooting people in Ethiopia, I felt that the images would be good candidates for B&W conversions, but when I started doing them, I found I preferred the colour versions.

[Mike Buckley]

Though the color has been an important characteristic of so many of your photos from the trip, this one works better for me in black-and-white because it brings attention to the two subjects.

[deetheturk]

More great images from your trip Manfred,well done,the black and white conversion works for me also!

Cheers David

[John 2]

Another nice set Manfred. Hauling around a FF camera plus accessories on a long trip is called dedication in my book but the results certainly justify it.

[rpcrowe]

I love this image and couldn't resist playing with it a bit... Not better but different...



I hope that you will take a collection of the wonderful images from your trip and compile them into a photo book. They certainly deserve to be shown off...

[Manfred M]

I love this image and couldn't resist playing with it a bit... Not better but different...



I hope that you will take a collection of the wonderful images from your trip and compile them into a photo book. They certainly deserve to be shown off...

Like Andre's suggestion, this works nicely too.

[AB26]

but with the close crop I found I lost the context of the image

Hi Manfred,
The viewer should be able to see the greater picture in your image. A blind man with a wooden walking stick, not a white carbon fibre ultra light model, hands reaching out looking at nothing. His “partner” however, has a little sly look at where the next “victim” might be.
That is what I see in the image and I think it is a great story telling image without showing the bigger picture.

The "bigger" picture has to many distractions in the background. But that is just me.

[Manfred M]

Hi Manfred,
The viewer should be able to see the greater picture in your image. A blind man with a wooden walking stick, not a white carbon fibre ultra light model, hands reaching out looking at nothing. His “partner” however, has a little sly look at where the next “victim” might be.
That is what I see in the image and I think it is a great story telling image without showing the bigger picture.

The "bigger" picture has to many distractions in the background. But that is just me.

Andre - I find PP work very similar to "working a shot" with the camera; there are different stories to tell, and personal preference, taste, continuity with the rest of the series of images all come into play regarding how to tell the story. In some ways, I think doing what you and Richard did can be much more objective. I spent time on site and was influenced by everything that I saw, while you are only influenced by the specific image you are looking at. I often find that when I go back to my work some weeks or months after having taken them, I do a completely different job in post.

I don't feel that there is a right or wrong answer here, but I do find the different interpretations of the image quite interesting.

[Kaye Leggett]

What a great series. I prefer the colour, Africa says colour to me. Put the two men in your first photo in France and you'd think they're setting up the next boules shot.