feast Photo | TrekEarth

Photographer’s Note

every week the andhra fishermen community residing on Puri Beach make sacrificial offerrings to the Hindu Mythical Kali. A pig was sacrificed and its intestines were left aside for the dogs and birds to feed on

KevRyan, sidstakes, michiels, AnimeshRay, Bogdan, s10001in, jeanfrancois has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

AdrianW (2241) 2007-07-19 9:28

Interesting composition; unfortunately the dodge/burn around the bird and the dog/kid is noticeable even from the thumbnail page. It's distracting. Sorry!

battousai (827) 2007-07-19 9:31

This pic would be really gread if only you didn't do these tacky-looking halos around the bird and that child. They look really awful... and I would say you've destroyed something really beautiful.

lovettcms (418) 2007-07-19 9:44

Technical flaws aside, I liked the photo for the sense of convergence. This is not a convergence so well choreographed as to seem contrived, since not every element in your photo seems consciously focused on either the physical or spiritual nature of the ritual described. But the photo does what the best of the visual can do, which is to suggest something more real than visible--what we might rather inadequately describe as a force of annihilation and regeneration.

kajspice (4534) 2007-07-19 9:53 [Comment]

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stiginthedump (1823) 2007-07-19 10:03

The first thing that caught my impression was the position of the bird. Very nice, I thought. The dogs and the fisherman are suitably placed, but I to have a problem with the over processing of the image.

sidstakes (770) 2007-07-19 10:33

hey sohrab! my first comment on your te posts!!

decisive moment indeed...the expectant scavenger's closing in on their feast...the warmish tone adds a timeless character to this photograph...manual print has its own charm ..the tactile nature of it is what i like here...

michiels (4170) 2007-07-19 11:48

hello Sohrab,

A photo with a great mood, also the soft gray tones add to that atmosphere, you cannot tell if it is a recent photo or an old one, i like that confusion. I passed through your gallery .... awesome !!!! (i'm really jealous ;DD) put some in my india theme.
greetings, inn

Galeota (10334) 2007-07-19 12:03

Hello Sohrab. Perhaps there is a technical flaw with an excessive dodging, like others have mentioned. Why do I keep seing the presence of the Holy Spirit, then? I can remember, when I was a child, to have a small book of christian prayers with an illustration of a bird, spreading his wings, and flying in a sort of divine aura like the one you achieved in this scene. This doesn't appear as a sacrificial offering to me, but rather as the incarnation of the announced saviour coming to save those poor beings from perdition, and into redemption. Our view on the world is exclusively cultural, and there is nothing original in what we see. I'd say, only science takes us one step further. Hope you're well.

[2]

coco (27820) 2007-07-19 14:53

Hi Sohrab.

Splendid shot about daily life in India.
Also I like how you played the lights. Well done.

Regards.

prantik (1134) 2007-07-19 15:22

When I first saw this picture on my work monitor the halo around every object looked very unappealing. The halo around the large bird (kite, maybe), particularly, appeared so strong that I thought it was a solar eclipse caused by an albatross. I started to agree with Kajal. However, as I am looking at it on my Apple-G4 monitor now, it does not look bad at all. The strong halos are all gone and are replaced by a uniformly over-exposed background which does look pretty good. Maybe you don't need glasses, but a better monitor (my work monitor is much better than my laptop). The photo otherwise is exceptionally good. It has your name written all over. In fact the dog intruding its face from the left frame just barked your name. Every single subject is beautifully distributed creating a feeling of a visual symphony. And as Sid mentioned, a decisive moment it is.
Best
Prantik

CliffW (2310) 2007-07-19 15:32

I agree that the dodging around each of the elements didn't blend well and is pretty noticable. That aside, I do like the long format and the positioning of each of the players. It's an insightful photo, regardless of the technical issues.

KevRyan (22352) 2007-07-19 16:50

It's a wonderful hallmark observation and another great testament to your timing and compositional skills Sohrab.....a master printer you are not and it would be great to put your negs in the hand of someone who is. So many masters of the art of composition are not printers of note - although of course there have been very many who are!

best wishes kev

Polonaise (5636) 2007-07-19 17:09

Either...
I go around announcing that Sohrab is screwing-up his pictures quite skillfully, with a healthy dose of certain charm..
Or …
I'll remove the dedication from one of my posts, because you are skillfully screwing up your very own pictures…
In some less developed cultures it's called: Cannibalism…
In a little bit more advanced cultures it's called:
F***ing around with our brains through our preceptors…
-------------------
A camera fallen into your hands was a gift from heavens…
Photoshop is like making love to a woman…
We tend to believe that every time we give her an orgasm…
Sure….!

--------------

The note...
What happened to the rest of the pig...?

RADEEH (2762) 2007-07-19 18:49

Interesting shot of Puri beach in B/W.
Lot of activities going on there.
Mentioning of Andhra fishermen doing sacrifice in
puri beach make me little curious.
Good shot TFS

Furachan (0) 2007-07-20 1:43

Small as it is on the page, this one speaks very LOUDLY indeed - there is a characteristic glow, Sohrab, which surrounds the components of all your recent images - I suppose some heavy dodging as they say - but look, the thing is through your lens all are imbued with an inner life and a certain existential sadness that cannot fail to move - dogs, birds and those poor souls left contemplating life's vagaries from their spot...
All the best to you this day,
Francis

vts_ch (2624) 2007-07-20 6:39

Hi Sohrab,

To be honnest the halos do not work well here, the don't serve the image, it is too distracting and useless... Sorry

Take care

Uzi (1148) 2007-07-20 7:22

intresting monochrome photo.
nice atmosphere on it.
I almost feel the breeze and here the hype of sea waves
One minus : a little more down part of the photo would create a better compostion IMO
Cheers
Iza

AnimeshRay (8886) 2007-07-20 8:27

Hi Sohrab,
Somewhat late into this one, I see that others have said all that I wanted to.

Indeed a visual symphony.

I also see the 'divinity'.

But my monitor (a MacBook 17" glossy) does it injustice (I think). I should like to see the original before criticizing the original.

Bravo!

photographer123 (5750) 2007-07-20 9:02

hi..
very good composition but the pp work is too bad...you should not burn the photo this way...anyway thanks for share...one think to say...can anybody tell me why someone need glass?has kajspice no glass?...best wishes...subir

prezntime (3945) 2007-07-20 20:57

Sohrab.

Dude, you need to get the dodging and burning under control. If I'm not mistaken you said before that you do not process your own negatives, but you do do the printing. If you don't process your negatives, you need to start...I think the lab your using is cooking your negs in hot chemicals. I know you like to push process as I've seen from previous posts...is your lab being instructed by yourself on how to develope the negatives?
Otherwise, your expsoure is just off...it also could be that your trying to compensate for the blownout skys that tend to showup in photos from this bright corner of the world...I don't know.

Anyhow, don't change a thing if it means that you'll need to change your approach towards composition...but, you'll need to work a little harder (or less) in the darkroom to bring these photos of yours up to the expectations that you've set.

Chris.

s10001in (1485) 2007-07-21 9:01

Hey,

How are you doing?
Smart Work in wet Darkroom.
I do not feel you did anything wrong with Photo.
Infact selcting only the lady & flying brid on see is claver choise.
Other wise it would have flat image.
Nice work.
Keep it up.
-Regards,

bwiti (402) 2007-07-22 17:25

This a great shot full of live, I love the hundred details who live your picture... So congratulations and sorry for my poor english...

Luko (13894) 2007-07-23 3:26

Sohrab, what I really like with every of your pics is how you pack your image with so many scenes and happenings. If you were one of the capital sins, I guess it would be gluttony. No worries though, it's probably one I would also share as it doesn't have the same meaning in french.. "Gourmandise" is a way of life, keeping one's senses open to the world : no meager cropping, let the whole world come inside our viewing... we have all the time in the world for close ups, we want everything and NOW.

As for the wet darkroom processing, I won't agree with some of your choices but I haven't seen the print though. I am wondering why you aren't using bleaching technique instead of masking and pre-illumination+hot developper brushing to make those white areas come up.

Maybe I shouldn't grant you the full awards for the darkroom shortcomings but I'd say f**k the ratings. If any pictures really deserve those green goblins, it might be yours : thanks for resisting to the TrekEarth doxa.

Talking about doctrines, I tried to register to microstock agencies ten days ago to see whether I could get images sold at low price. I didn't even suceed in my first application! 12 photos rejected out of 12! Not interesting in terms of composition, not sharp enough or too sharp, "poor lighting" (:D ), etc. Looking at the favorite photos of these agencies you browse through endless pics of mormon looking guys shaking hands, ducks in ponds, mundane houses next door, smiling kids, etc.
Interesting experience : in fact it shows that PHOTO can have lots of meaning, not only one.. Photo is like humor, it depends who you're speaking with.

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sayan (2609) 2007-07-24 3:28

hi Sohrab,

I like the picture. The life on the beach is really well captured. The note is small but very effective. There is a lot talking about the halo around the figures, and atleast in my monitor I can not see any 'uniformly overexposed background', but may be I like the effect of halo. I can not explain though, but seeing the pic, I just love it!

regards

sayan

Homerhomer (4005) 2007-07-28 7:15 [Comment]

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ALSOM (6616) 2007-07-30 6:05 [Comment]

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JKaranka (353) 2007-08-02 10:24

I like the composition. The sea giving a long line broken by the boats, and the clumps of people and dogs at the left and the right. As previously commented... the dodging is really obvious! I'm not sure if it's a matter of fancy, but I would rather leave the figures a bit darker and allow the viewer to find them (like the odd dog head at the very left).

Cheers,
Joni

shutterbug (531) 2007-08-13 16:35

Hey Sohrab, I see you're still the TE celeb, as always. Love the photo, love your work.

babul (610) 2007-08-19 17:25

wow man is this is a print or scan and photoshop i have tu day is impresive image special mood is going on on all picure emazing big bravo and aprishiacion for your work one small questio do you using 400 or you push film do 1600 becous i now you using trix

kaud (1838) 2007-08-31 4:40

So powerful b&w composition Sohrab!
Great!
Your photographs always have a story inside!

fplohoff (757) 2008-01-16 8:38

Hi Sohrab

I don´t need to remark another time what a great photo you did here. I would like to ask you you, how you processed this and some others of your b/w pics, especially the smooth white shadows around the big bird and the lady in the foreground. I should be very grateful if you answer me this.
Best
Frank