Ram Naumi Festival

[Stagecoach]

Our Indo-Fijian community celebrated Ram Naumi which is the birth of Lord Rama this past weekend and having arrived at the local foreshore to shoot herons I got some people instead.

Not often that I post images of people, so enjoy a bit of what life is like here, its colour but minus the loud drum beating and chanting

No 1


No 2


No 3


No 4


No 5


No 6


Grahame

[deetheturk]

Great series Grahame, the colors are really vibrant and you are nailing your focus spot on, well done bud

Couldn't resist, but is that the Mynah's missing foot at the bottom of image #2? sorry mate

Cheers David

[Stagecoach]

Great series Grahame, the colors are really vibrant and you are nailing your focus spot on, well done bud

Couldn't resist, but is that the Mynah's missing foot at the bottom of image #2? sorry mate

Cheers David

Good one David, you may be right about the foot The colours were spectacular especially the womens saris in the large group shots.

Cheers, Grahame

[Shadowman]

Very colorful, you should start increasing your people shots.

[IzzieK]

VEry colourful,Grahame....yummm...that watermelon will be good on a hot day like you have there...I like #2 a lot...

[Mike Buckley]

The series is so nice that I wonder why we don't see more photos like this coming from your camera.

The first one is especially nice. Great use of the background to show the environment without including any faces.

In the second one, consider cropping to eliminate the person's head blurred in the foreground. If you feel the resulting aspect ratio is to wide and short in height (I don't), simply crop to also exclude one or both of the people on the extreme sides.

In the third one, consider darkening and/or somewhat desaturating the orange flower that distracts the view of the woman's face.

[Stagecoach]

Very colorful, you should start increasing your people shots.

Thanks John, I may just do that

[Stagecoach]

VEry colourful,Grahame....yummm...that watermelon will be good on a hot day like you have there...I like #2 a lot...

Hi Izzie, thanks for commenting and glad you like the colour. Yep the watermelon very abundant and popular here but the first time I have seen a vendor carrying it around like this.

[Stagecoach]

The series is so nice that I wonder why we don't see more photos like this coming from your camera.

Mike it's an area that I enjoy photographing but feel that others will not have the same interest in the results as I do. It's difficult to explain but I do not have the confidence that the compositions and subjects photographed generally produce anything other than a 'technically' good image.

As an example, here's a couple from that same event that have a purpose to me but on their own are possibly just snapshots.

I shot this guy, I think a tourist/visitor because he appeared to be sat there spending an inordinate amount of time viewing his camera which was pointed at nothing.

No 7


If he had been watching what was going on around him recognising potential shots he could have got this one to his left

No 8


So whilst interesting to me are they interesting to others?

The first one is especially nice. Great use of the background to show the environment without including any faces.

In the second one, consider cropping to eliminate the person's head blurred in the foreground. If you feel the resulting aspect ratio is to wide and short in height (I don't), simply crop to also exclude one or both of the people on the extreme sides.

In the third one, consider darkening and/or somewhat desaturating the orange flower that distracts the view of the woman's face.

I'll have a go at those mods Mike, the distracting object in No 3 is a dead leaf and my be totally cloneable.

[KimC]

Love all the color Grahame! #3 in the set is my favorite for the emotion it displays. I also like the tones in the last image of the two women...I just wish there was a bit more separation between them so I could see the one in the background a bit more. :-)

[dedro]

Good stuff Grahame...colorful!

[Mike Buckley]

So whilst interesting to me are they interesting to others?

Your seventh image (please number all of your images when posting so many in a thread) is especially interesting to me. It's well exposed, uses an ideal depth of field and displays background information indicating that at this precise moment he is oblivious to those surroundings. He is either using Live View to capture another photo or he is chimping photos he has already taken. In either case, it's a sign of the times. Not an award winner but definitely interesting if not also amusing.

[Stagecoach]

Love all the color Grahame! #3 in the set is my favorite for the emotion it displays. I also like the tones in the last image of the two women...I just wish there was a bit more separation between them so I could see the one in the background a bit more. :-)

Thanks Kim, I have another version of No 3 but I wish I had spent more time capturing the buses as they arrived.

Just for you Kim here's another version of the pair, the only capture I managed to get any separation.

No 9

[Stagecoach]

Good stuff Grahame...colorful!

Thank you Dedric,

[Stagecoach]

Your seventh image (please number all of your images when posting so many in a thread) is especially interesting to me. It's well exposed, uses an ideal depth of field and displays background information indicating that at this precise moment he is oblivious to those surroundings.

With regard the exposure Mike in what can be very variable light due to sudden cloud cover or major change in shooting angle to the light it's one area I find the D300 in Aperture, Auto ISO and Matrix metering handles things extremely well.

When you are shooting off the bat it's great when you can let the camera do the thinking.

[rpcrowe]

Very nice images. That looks like a fun event to photograph!

[IzzieK]

I love my D300s too Grahame...it is a good camera and I am still using it often ... not often enough lately but enough to satisfy my instant craving for taking shots quickly. Your people/event photography is really good and you shouldn't skimp on uploading them in the post. I like the last three shots here, especially the middle one...

[thegman]

Grahame, really love your series, no favourites, too hard to choose as all have there own merits. Event looks amazing.

[Stagecoach]

Very nice images. That looks like a fun event to photograph!

Thank you Richard, yes fun due to the colours and the atmosphere but also for the friendliness of the people. I do not have the same concerns with some rowdy kids or youths barging into you that I do at some events here.

[Stagecoach]

I love my D300s too Grahame...it is a good camera and I am still using it often ... not often enough lately but enough to satisfy my instant craving for taking shots quickly. Your people/event photography is really good and you shouldn't skimp on uploading them in the post. I like the last three shots here, especially the middle one...

Izzie, my D300 is starting to look quite sad with the left side of the back missing it's paint with some corrosion and mould growing behind the rear LCD. But for almost eight years use its done well but an upgrade is not too far off.

I'll do more people shots