ABSOLUTION Photo | TrekEarth

Photographer’s Note

sitting at the gates of a monastry..
greeted her..
she whispered something..
a twinkle in the eye..

telling her beads..
deep in prayer..
so peaceful..
such calm..

frozen in time..she looked away..never looked back..

nothing was more important..

Forgiveness...
Freedom...

beads are all she has..

at the Rumtek monastry...it is just respect..i knew she wouldnt be comfortable being photographed..i took a chance..she said no with a big smile..

All i have is this memory..i still remember the face..she was way into her 90s..it was too much to ask for i guess !

Cheers

Manamo, Jardim, avene, ciakgiak, quillo has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

jst1951 (117) 2009-04-15 4:24

Hi
a nice photo, great compo. I like zhis photo jiri

charlotte_iona (1098) 2009-04-15 4:41

Beautifully composed, but I feel the focus is misplaced - it should be on the foremost beads and the fingers & thumb holding them, rather than on the sleeves and farther beads.

Manamo (3472) 2009-04-15 5:14

Sayeed, I have to agree with Charlotte here. It's a matter of centimeters. Maybe your hand moved slightly at the moment of pressing the shutter and that made a huge difference at the end.
I like your approach with the lady. respect is more important than the picture in that case. Still, even if you did not portray her face, you show something meaningful, a nice detail. I like it.
But the focus? mmm, I wish it was on her left hand...
see you!
Marc

baladeva (202) 2009-04-15 7:04

nice color contrast, TFS.

wolf38 (12728) 2009-04-15 11:39

Hello Sayeed. Photo, titles and text complement each other in the best way. In the close framework only the really important is to be seen. The text pleases me very well. Regards, Wolfgang.

holmertz (9586) 2009-04-15 12:03

Hello Sayeed,
Even though you weren't allowed to take the woman's face, I think you ended up with a very fine photo. Much has already been said about the focus, so let's forget about that. I still like to watch her old hands fingering the beads among her red clothes.
Best regards,
Gert

Jardim (3197) 2009-04-15 14:03

A extrordinary capture, very colourful, powerful but simple.

JJ

avene (10944) 2009-04-16 9:43

hello Sayeed,
I like a lot the way you have composed the photo, her hands and prayer beads define her and who she is, it is a "portrait", even if we do not see the face. but I agree with others about the focus, it should have been on the beads in the foreground, or, alternatively, everything should have been in focus. right now the slightly blurred nail of her thumb is really distractive :)

regards,
Kristine

ciakgiak (10548) 2009-04-16 9:46

Hello Sayeed,
pity for the focus, but your idea and your realization are simply fantastic. Well done dear friend.
Best regards
Giorgio

aadilj (17950) 2009-04-16 22:42

Hello sayeed, thats superb and very well conceptualised shot. I love the clarity and the language that those hands speak.

quillo (7158) 2009-04-18 5:57

-

Hola Sayeed ..........................:

The nearby approach of this image is very effective,
the colors, the light and the definition are good
and the best of the photo the conjunction is between
a good note and an interesting image.

Felicidades amigo y hasta pronto.

-

archimatica (13252) 2009-04-20 13:14

Hi, Sayeed.
Great detail, very colourful picture, simple but poweful.
Best regards
Renzo

Wandering_Dan (3213) 2009-04-22 11:22

Salaam, Sayeed -

I see all the discussion on the focus issue, which is there, but even so I think it's a wonderful character study. A difficult shot, and one where autofocus is, as you discussed with Kristine, not always helpful.

I had thought the D80 (I have one, too) included the AF mode in the exif data, but I looked over the whole list and I can't find it. Strange; it records everything else.

Best,
Dan

MarcT (21097) 2009-04-28 22:01

Hi Sayeed,
Very nice close up on these hands.
Beautiful red colors.
Cheers
Marc

ViktorVaughn (1517) 2009-05-04 20:42

Great to see you back Sayeed. I don't participate as much as I used to on here, but trying to get back into the swing of things. I have a ton of photos I could post, hopefully I find time to show some. This one here is a good shot. As the people have commented, it could have been great! The slight mis-focus hampers it, but still wonderful idea.