The Tea-leaf picker

[Manfred M]

Picking tea leaves is a very labour intensive operation that occurs throughout the tea growing areas. The women wander amongst the tea bushes, picking the tender new-growth leaves that will be processed into tea. They are paid based on the amount that they pick. The tea leaves are placed into a large bag carried in a basket on the pickers back.

The tall trees provide shade for the tea bushes.



This shot was one of many I took as we went through some of the tea estates in Assam and Arunachel Pradesh States in India.

[NorthernFocus]

Nice shot, Manfred. Nicely composed with the picker located at intersecting thirds lines and moving into the frame. And the angle of view gives the impression of an endless field. Well done.

[Rebel]

Nice shot, Manfred. Nicely composed with the picker located at intersecting thirds lines and moving into the frame. And the angle of view gives the impression of an endless field. Well done.

Agree with this, I like the shadows from the trees on the leaves to.

[Mutley]

Super shot Manfred I love the colours she's wearing its a almost as if she knew you were going to be there and dressed specially to stand out.

[Mike Buckley]

Well done, as always! Is the woman walking on dry land or in water? (As you can tell, I've never seen a photo of tea plants or tea leaves being harvested.)

[terrib]

It's a beautiful shot for all the reasons stated. Interesting how uniform the plants seem to be. I'm sure the pickers also appreciate the shade from the trees.

[Donald]

Well done, as always! Is the woman walking on dry land or in water? (As you can tell, I've never seen a photo of tea plants or tea leaves being harvested.)

She's on dry land, Mike. In Sri Lanka, where I've seen them, the tea estates tend to be on hillsides in the highlands.

I think that is a beautiful image. Subtle and harmonious colours and tones and a great composition.

[Shadowman]

Very nice.

[bnnrcn]

Very nice

[John 2]

That's nice. Nicely selected comp I guess because she was surely not alone.

[Manfred M]

Thanks for the comments everyone. This looks like a fairly simple shot, but was actually quite difficult to get. Yes Dan and Matt. The positioning of the picker on the intersection of the thirds line was done on purpose, as was the negative space to her left.

While the scene looks peaceful and tranquil, there are actually hundreds of other women in the field picking the leaves, so trying to isolate this one picker was a challange to begin with. There are a good half-dozen other pickers just out of this frame. There was a large and deep ditch between me and the the places to actually pull off the shot were a bit limited by the topography of the place.

The plantation really is HUGE. Several kilometers / miles long and quite deep, so that effect is not an illusion, but quite real. The tea plants are broad-leafed evergreen shrubs that are some 80cm / 30in tall. While the fields are irrigated, there is very good drainage (picking starts in the monsoon season), so the pickers are working in dry areas.

India is a very large country, but instead of the three or perhaps four time zones that it should have, only has a single time zone. The tea pickers begin their workday around 08:00 in the morning, but the solar day is really more like 0930 or 10:00 in the morning, here in the far eastern part of the country. This means I was dealing with very harsh shadows and a very high contrast situation.

[Inkanyezi]

I really love that image Manfred. It conveys a sense of tranquility, which I can connect to my cup of tea.

I have a cup every morning, but also now and then, and I like tea that is not flavoured, a tea that has an aroma by itself. My taste for tea is different from my wife's, who prefers a tea mixed with bitter orange peel, flowers and stuff, while mine is pure.

I never pour milk into my tea, but I sweeten it lightly with honey. My favourite is a pure Ceylon tea, orange pekoe quality, with leaves that are large, when I unfold one, it is mostly more than an inch wide. I can imagine, that a picker's payment is based not only on quantity, but also quality. Your image puts my tea into perspective. I would like to one day go there myself and learn more about tea.

[Brownbear]

Absolutely beautiful! I love the composition, unique framing and the story. The colours are especially gorgeous.

[deetheturk]

Very nice capture Manfred!

David