The flag, the lamp and the monk

[Manfred M]

This is another image taken in the Eastern Bhutanese town of Trashigang. We visited the Tibetan monastery there and all the while we were down below, this monk standing high up on the wall stood there and watched the two of us.



I'm not sure about this one, but the monk holding onto the flag pole right beside the lamp pole somehow seems a bit symbolic. I don't recognize the flag, but suspect it is specific to this monastery.

Update: I've changed my approach on this shot a touch to deal with the distortion people had noted. In the B&W version, I added a bit of a skew at the bottom right of the image to drop the wall down a touch. In this version I've left the wall as is but rotated things slightly to straighten out the lamp post. I've also cut out the distortion correction (reverse keystoning) to correct for shooting up at the subject.

I've also gone with a coloured version. The main reason for B&W in the first place was to deal with the sky, which was uninteresting in colour. In this version, I've boosted the blue to darken up the sky and added a gradient as wll.




Any noted distortion would be from the camera angle only, but this shot is taken with a 140mm focal length (280mm FF equivalent), so it is his face...

[Shadowman]

There seems to be some distortion of the monk's face, perhaps caused by the angle you shot the image, other than that a nice capture. The poles so close to the edge also creates a static composition, however the shapes and light help give the shot some energy.

[wilgk]

The simple composition of the 3 elements make for a very strong image.

[FootLoose]

Nice composition but I agree with John about the distortion.

[IzzieK]

Good composition...the three elements balances the shot...

[mugge]

I like it very much. My only problem with this picture is I have no problem.
Cheers Ole

[just me]

Hi Manfred, I like it very much as it is........

Greetings,
Griddi.......

[Manfred M]

Okay - posted a reworked version where there is no facial distortion and this time kept things in colour.

[Rider in the Sky]

Maybe, I'd clone out the lamp.

but as Griddie sez, it's just me......

[Manfred M]

Maybe, I'd clone out the lamp.

but as Griddie sez, it's just me......

I already cloned out the bell. Pretty soon there won't be anything left to clone out!

[Dave Humphries]

I prefer the second version Manfred.

Maybe, I'd clone out the lamp.

Pretty soon there won't be anything left to clone out!

Hmmm, I'd leave the lamp, but I think I would definitely remove the unsightly cables.

Even the stone plinth the lamp appears to be on is a bit incongruous, not (from this angle), appearing to be part of the wall - but removing that is probably a step too far.

I've also cut out the distortion correction (reverse keystoning) to correct for shooting up at the subject

I note with interest that, rather than (as I might have), split the difference and have both poles leaning in, you chose to place the lamp parallel to the side and let the flag pole lean more.

I appreciate this is partly down to other adjustments mentioned with regard to the monk's face, but it works well here because we can believe that he is holding the pole at an angle to vertical (even if that wasn't the case).

Who knew there'd be so much for everyone to talk about with just three things in shot

Cheers, Dave

[Manfred M]

Thanks for the comments Dave.

I've removed the cables to see what that looks like and it does clean up the image; I've left them in the original B&W version. On the other hand, loose cables, lamps and flag poles that are not parallel, crooked walls are more of a reality in South Asia than the perfect placement of these objects in the developed world.

As for the choice of leaving either the lamp or flagpole leaning, I stuck with premise that the impact should look "logical" in the viewer's mind otherwise the correction could look "fake". The arm on the flagpole lends plausibility to it leaning as the monk's arm appears to be pulling on it.

I find using the "skew" tool a bit tricky when it comes to fixing perspective. When things are straightened, the overall side effect is to also give everything a bit of a squashed look and I was hesitant to risk distorting the monk's face again. If I relax the vertical constraint and pull things up a bit to compensate, the reverse keystoning (perspective) and the distortion of the monks face can both be corrected.




I also find it interesting as to how a fairly simple composition like this one can get a lot more comments than some very complex images. Simple can be a lot more challenging than complex!

[RBSinTo]

Manfred,
This is a nice image. Well seen and captured.
I think the light pole as a compositional element is positive as it adds a bit of balance to the right side of the scene, although I feel that because the pole and lamp look more modern than the other elements, to me it almost seems to be anachronistic.
Still, it is your photo and I defer to your decision to leave it in.
The only other thing that bothers me is the apparent black outline that I see around parts of the Monk's head, neck, left shoulder and right hand. Were there other things in the background that were cloned out?
Regardless, I like the feel of the shot.
Robert

[Manfred M]

Robert - the building is fairly recent; it opened in 1989, so the lamp is definitely something that was not a retrofit to a building that was hundreds of years old. I suspect it is part of the original structure.

http://www.rangjungfoundation.bt/Fro...ngMonastry.php

The shot was taken at 140mm (racked all the way out on a 14-140mm lens) on a mFT camera. Unfortunately I was traveling quite light (2 months of backpacking through South Asia) using a 50-litre backpack meant a pretty bare-bones trip. A longer lens would have been great. Perhaps next time, if there is a next time (Bhutan charges a minimum of $US 250 per person per day to visit the country, so from a value proposition standpoint, this part of the trip took less than 1/4 of our time on the ground and about half our trip budget). Chances that we will go back, especially to the eastern parts of the country are low...

Yes, there was a fair bit cropped and a bit of the shelter over the bell was cloned out. This is the full image I started with: