Photos

This was taken in a Mandir, or a temple. I've selectively desaturated the background in post-processing. To see the original, go to the workshop.


The red column in the middle holding the plant is called the tulsi mandap - holding the tulsi plant, botanically known as Ocimum tenuiflorum. The tulsi plant is revered by Hindus as an important ayurvedic plant - known to have medicinal qualities. Almost every house and certainly every temple in India has this tulsi mandap. The leaves are very strongly scented - it is closely related to almost all other herbs, especially Basil.


I think the desaturation helps highlight the subject. Although this may sound controversial, partial selective desaturation is actually more realistic, since it approximates the vision of the eye. Generally, the image of a subject focuses on the part of the retina known as the fovea. This area is filled with cone photoreceptors - the detectors responsible for detailed viewing and color vision. However, the rest of the image peripheral to the subject is focused out of the fovea, in a region with a low cone cell concentration (hence the phrase peripheral vision). Thus, although this part of the image is not black and white, it has a significantly lower saturation than the subject. I tried searching this theory through google - but apparently photographers are unaware of it.