Lemon seller -revisited

[Manfred M]

One of the first pictures that I posted from Bangalore was this shot of a woman selling lemon's at the Russell Market. This was 100% a "stealth shot".

Lemon seller

We were back there a couple of days ago and got a shot of her when she knew I was taking her picture (we had just bought a dozen lemons from her). This is a fairly tight crop as the bundle plastic bags she puts the lemons in and a plastic PET bottle beside her, were not elements I wanted in the image.

[Mike Buckley]

What's not to like? Diffuse light, complementary colors, composition of the fabric forming leading lines that point to the subject's face, great catch light in the eyes, smile, slight upward look -- all wonderful! Did I forget anything?

[IzzieK]

Looks like her shawl is handmade...the purple of her shawl actually separates her from the background but I find the background pretty much has the same colour as her cheeks? Is this because of the colour of her skin or whatever else? Just curious...

[Manfred M]

Looks like her shawl is handmade...the purple of her shawl actually separates her from the background but I find the background pretty much has the same colour as her cheeks? Is this because of the colour of her skin or whatever else? Just curious...

The wall is orange and she has a dark skin tone. What more can one say? With the lighting doing what it is, the wall is going to cause a bit of toning of her skin, but not really that much. Although she speaks a little bit of English, the native language in this part of the country is Kannada, which doesn't help us at all.

[mugge]

Manfred. Wonderful shot. That smile of her, it is warm and knowing.
Cheers Ole

[Rob Ekins]

Stunning, well done!

Click on the larger image folk!

[Sergio M.]

As noted, considering the wall and her skin tone, you still managed it perfectly.
Great shot.

Sergio

[Shadowman]

Nicely captured.

[John 2]

Two different shots and both nice images Manfred. The original is her in her environment. This one is a nice portrait. I like the square(ish) crop and particularly good lighting. Must be hard to find when it's mainly sunny.

[Manfred M]

Must be hard to find when it's mainly sunny.

Frankly, you can't get a good shot when it the subject is in the harsh, tropical sun. I look for subjects in the shade.

[rpcrowe]

I agree with you in attempting to select a subject that is in open shade. I don't like harsh shadows either but, tend to prefer them to dappled sunlight and shade. It's a matter of "taking" a picture vs. "making" a picture. You made your picture very nicely...

[flashback]

Although she speaks a little bit of English, the native language in this part of the country is Kannada, which doesn't help us at all.

Manfred, aren't you from Kannada?

[Mike Buckley]

Good one, Jack!

[FootLoose]

Nice subject, Manfred, but I think it is out of balance. Most of the frame is filled with a large purple triangle with a small circle on top, but that circle is the major interest in the shot. I think it needs a significant crop from the bottom to direct the reader to the face and lines on it and the jewelry ornamenting it. Look at it at maximum size in lytebox and you see what I mean.

[just me]

Full marks for the photo and the photographer !!!!!!!

Griddi......

[Manfred M]

Manfred, aren't you from Kannada?

Rolls eyes. Yes, I was expecting something along those lines, from somebody. To make things even funnier, I live in Kanata, Canada. If I allow my German heritage to come through (I was actually born in Germany), I should be spelling this as Kanata, Kanada...

Kannada is a language; Karnataka is the part of India where Kannada is spoken.

[Manfred M]

Nice subject, Manfred, but I think it is out of balance. Most of the frame is filled with a large purple triangle with a small circle on top, but that circle is the major interest in the shot. I think it needs a significant crop from the bottom to direct the reader to the face and lines on it and the jewelry ornamenting it. Look at it at maximum size in lytebox and you see what I mean.

Thanks Greg. I actually had the image you suggest while I was working it in Photoshop, as a more traditional head shot.

I wanted to try something a bit more unusual. What struck me about the image is that I had two geometric shapes of roughly equal area / impact, one orange and one mauve and the head acts to tie the two geometric shapes together. Simplifying the image down to these three basic components, one of which ties the other two together.



I guess it isn't quite working for you, but it works for me. The more traditional shot I was looking at was more along these lines, which is what I think you might have been thinking.




The posting is a bit fractured as we lost the power for about 90 minutes in the interim, so I posted part and the rest took a while to get up.

[FootLoose]

Good point, Manfred, I hadn't considered the orange area. Still, I think that is a great face with cheeky eyes that deserve more attention.

[Mike Buckley]

Kannada is a language; Karnataka is the part of India where Kannada is spoken.

That's just too confusing.

[Mike Buckley]

Still, I think that is a great face with cheeky eyes that deserve more attention.

I agree, but for me that would be for another photo, not this one.