Smiling under a heavy load Photo

Photographer’s Note

Re-scanned at three gain levels (one for dark faces, one for bright bundle and one for the rest), manually merged, cropped to lose FG and other distracting element, levels, colour corrected & sharpened.

I'm not sure what it was that these women were carrying, near Pushkar but it didn't stop them smiling when they saw that they were being photographed.

phwall, dareco, Urs, daddo, saxo042, eversmile, akm has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

phwall (5532) 2009-06-20 19:11

Hi Steve,
Indeed a very happy photograph, all the girls laughing and smiling is very uplifting for the viewer.
What I really like here is the short DOF, having the background soft really makes the girls "pop". This is an fine example of an almost impossible capture on a variable aperture zoom attached to a DSLR. I like the saturated colours, in particular, the reds and the yellow, stunning. I've had a look at the original and all of your new work on the shot has really paid off, it is a marked improvement on the original.
Nice work, makes me feel good just looking at it.
Regards
Peter

dareco (17104) 2009-06-20 19:20

I'm guessing that if I ever have to carry this much ontop of my head I will NOT be smiling! so that's the first thing that I find amazing in this picture :) The colors are very beautiful and lively. A wonderful capture. TFS

DannyJ (282) 2009-06-20 20:29

This is India! Love everything about the shot...their smiles are very contagious!

maglex (1550) 2009-06-20 21:41

Hi Steve, this is a beautiful scene of the local women at their daily activity. Your choice of depth really makes this photograph special and the blurred view of the steep mountain slopes. The colors are amazing and all of them with smiles on their faces. Thanks for sharing...Alex

everlasting (10898) 2009-06-20 22:46

nice scene steve full of life and colour.

Wanda1 (10923) 2009-06-20 23:03

Hi Stephen,
Colourful and smiling India, and this shot shows that well. A good shot including some of the landscape too.
Regards
Wanda

Urs (2726) 2009-06-20 23:35

Hi Steve

You really have put into this picture a lot of work to convert it to digital. If I would do that with all my color slides, I do not know if I could finish in one lifetime. How much time did you invest only in this one? What these women are carrying? I guess fodder for their goats and cows. Your picture really is great, very intense in colors, great sharpness and DOF. Well done

Best regards
Urs

bantonbuju (48514) 2009-06-20 23:40

hi stephen,

this is a fantastic bit of photography... those four ladies - in their "oriental" colourful dressing with the full bags - against that mountainous background - they look terrific!

love this work,

best wishes, jerzy

daddo (11279) 2009-06-20 23:50

Hi Steve. One of your best I think, because of the glorious colours, those flashing smiles and the beautiful background. Such spontaneity from those lovely ladies.Regards. Klaudio.

yquem46 (7830) 2009-06-21 0:53

great moment Stephen
How could I be in Pushkar and miss this !?
Best to you
Patrick

holmertz (9528) 2009-06-21 1:37

Hello Steve,
A light-hearted picture with very pretty colours.
Thanks for sharing,
Gert

teutza (10560) 2009-06-21 2:13

this is amasing how they can smile with all that on their head..hmm..maybe it's not so heavy:D
the colours are extremely beautiful. do you have ant closer look? i think it would be even nicer to see all those expresion closer!
teo

saxo042 (15482) 2009-06-21 2:30

Hi Stephen,
Really an expertly performed scan! The colours and content here are just perfect. This is a very attractive photo!
Kind regards
Gunnar

delpeoples (5810) 2009-06-21 7:08

Hi Steve, this is a great shot for so many reasons: the colour and clarity bring the image alive, the positioning of the subjects within the frame and that fantastic wilderness in the BG and then the subjects themselves...amazing...not something I have ever seen (especially down George Street on a Sunday afternoon... and their beautiful smiles. You really know your way around portraits! TFS and have a wonderful week, Lisa.

eversmile (5997) 2009-06-21 14:19

Hi Stephen,

This is charming, with the pastel hues in the background contrasting with the very vivid colors of the saris in the foreground; and the joyful mood of the women. I think you made a great work from the original shot. Like this, I can only wish we could see a larger version, to look closer at their large smiles! I really like it... Congratulations!
Regards
Marine

kschanna (2634) 2009-06-22 4:52

Hi Steve,

The rework has worked really well. I think you made the right decision by cropping it. The field of view of this crop from a 35mm frame is very impressive, looks a lot like a photo journo shot. The colors of the rescanned frame are excellent...guess velvia has done its trick again.

Cheers
Kamran

akm (648) 2009-06-22 19:15

Hello Stephen,
A beautiful image -- the work on the original is very effective and definitely worthwhile. Thank you.
Regards,
Mary

abulafia (4802) 2009-07-02 5:43

I love the strong colors in this picture Stephen!

I really like the picture, but a closer look would maybe have been better:)

Nevertheless a good picture
Harry