Roll Another One..., a photo from Madhya Pradesh, Central

Photographer's Note

A sadhu prepares a helping of betel - a bit of areca nut and lime (the mineral) along with spices, perhaps tobacco, in the leaf of the betel vine.

This wad is placed between the cheek and gum and for the next hour or so and then replaced with the next betel of the day.

Betel is the source of the red spit of Asia (and some vivid smiles).

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Critiques | Translate

Darren (6823) 2003-10-18 0:18

Good shot Bob. I love your comments about the vivid smiles too, I see plenty of them here. I think you have a great subject and a good capture here. I do think perhaps it could be slightly sharper, and it seems to me you could have aimed slightly to your left more, as there is space behind him but hi right arm is slightly cropped. I would hazard a guess that there was something distracting on the left though. Perhaps the background, especially the fence is slightly distracting, but this shot would not be as effective from another angle. Good shot Bob.

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touristdidi (8578) 2003-10-18 1:35

fantastic!!!!!!!!!!!!! I think sometimes you probably must take them as you see them, no time to stand here or there, no one holds still! Excellent as is in my opinion!

cdewet (0) 2003-10-18 2:33

Hi Bob, A very good PJ shot, I think that his hands should have been completely in the picture, The dynamism of the eyes rivetted on the hands is strong. WHat is The RD Spit?

greg (2835) 2003-10-18 4:28

A very interesting portrait - I think it's a pity that you cropped his hands, and I agree with Darren about framing more to the left. The background is excellent - great colours, softly focussed.

Luko (13976) 2003-10-18 4:57

Agree with a lefter framing, but the problem is here how to get that shot better... I'd then suggest cropping a bit of the right side to keep some balance with the masses.

The background is interesting to me as it provides interesting blurry patterns but in the same tones as his clothes.

However there is in my view some improvements to look for with the contrast differential between the fore and back grounds. this is here that you could make the guy jump out of the screen and compensate the overall softness.

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Porteplume (3299) 2003-10-18 14:09

It's a really very attractive shot!
Agreeing completely with the opinions of a shot more to the left would have been better, but as Luko said, it's a bit too late for correcting that... ;o) So I appreciate the Workshop he made, framing tighter on the right and getting more balance again. Well done!