The Tea Weighers Photo

Photographer’s Note

Bags of freshly picked tea leaves on the scales at the Pedro Estate tea factory in Nuwara Eliya. This tea estate covers a large area, and behind the two men you can see a tally board which lists the amount of tea collected from various parts of the estate.

Tech: If someone can comment on how to get more detail out of the faces on the two men, which are quite dark, I would appreciate it. I have a lot of pics of dark people against a bright background, so any suggestions are welcome.

In this photo I have already tried using Photoshop:
- contrast mask
- curves
- overall brightening, then selective darkening of the bright area in the top right of the photo.

Focus: I liked the texture of the bags of tea, so I put the focus on them (I was standing half way up some stairs at the time). It was quite dark inside, so with the wide aperture, the two men are a little out of focus.

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Critiques | Translate

clodreno (0) 2004-02-28 3:45

Nice picture Josh.. I like the way it's taken, you, beeing up ..I don't know how it was, but may be I would like to have more contrast in this shot. I'll try a ws and post it I think I like it.

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manny (21378) 2004-02-28 4:30

The faces of the men are a bit soft in contrast to the texture of the sack. That being said, this is a very good documentary shot. It does look spontaneous.

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joso (1786) 2004-02-28 4:55

I like your B/W series, Josh.
Well composed, focusing on the bags.
Will try a WS for the faces

Kenny10pin (19301) 2004-02-28 8:27

Very nice focusing on the bags, they have a different kind of tinge (lighting and colour ) on them.

Nice image, however, it is a little too bright near where the door is though, but overall well done

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BobTrips (1853) 2004-02-28 19:19

Interesting photo, good choice for B&W, good shot angle.

Try using the Dodge Tool and Sharpening Tool on the faces. Set the values low so that it's easy to make gradual changes.

In general I find that I can work with real contrasty images by Dodging the dark and Burning the light. Just like the old days in the wet darkroom. The nice thing is that now one can do a little work, take a look, and step back if it wasn't the right thing to do.

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orme (6746) 2004-02-29 0:56

Good shot, Josh. I liked the way you focused on the tea bags; they are very sharp. Good detail. The high angle is good too. Well done.

Jeppe (18623) 2004-03-01 12:41

I do like tea - so its nice to see a picture from the route my little teabag might have taken - Thanks for sharing Josh.

gepall (1808) 2004-03-02 6:20