3 B&W(?) smiles from Jodhpur Photo

Photographer’s Note

Still in the streets of the blue city. Indian photos always scream with colors, but on this one I finally decided to give a try in b&w. I'm a color person, so I'm still not sure. If you're interested check out the color version and judge by yourself.

This cycling kid almost bumped on my camera, but manage to make a turn, while smiling at me. Getting a free ride is common either on bikes or motorcycles. To go for this kind of frontal portraits on the streets I sometimes went for a wider aperture to get a faster speed and freeze better the movement.

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UPDATE: A very interesting statement that José found for me (in Oochappan's intro) about color/black and white in India:

"Raghubir Singh, 1942-1999: It is impossible to express India's particular beauty in black-and-white. Black-and-white might be a good medium to convey Europe's fear and alienation, but colour is natural for an Indian, and more appropriate for the extraordinary diversity of India. Unlike European art, Indian art did not have the tradition of independent black-and-white sketches and drawing. If any line drawings were made, they were for being filled out in colour. Colour is the fountain of India. Colour is the basis of the entire rasa theory, that governs Indian painting, dance, music, and literature."

rigoletto, Tue, lucasgalodoido, Vato_Law, alvaraalto, feather, leonorkuhn, xuaxo, luisafonso, danos, Cricri, Photo65Net, delic, noborders, bakes888, stego, bostankorkulugu has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

Tue (25608) 2007-09-16 11:37

Hej Ricardo,
I'm more a colour person as well, but I think you made a wise decision here to turn it into B&W, mainly because of this rather overexposed ground, which I find much more disturbing in the colour version than in this version. It's a very good capture of daily life in this street, which is full of bikes and motorcycles. The smiling child is well placed in the foreground and the portrait of the lady is also a great detail. Well captured!
Regards,
Lars

bhardwajkapil78 (486) 2007-09-16 11:42

Hi Ricardo...

I really loved the color version.. the B&W Just didn't look that charming...

so the critique is directed to the color image,,,
Regards

lucasgalodoido (16789) 2007-09-16 11:53

Olá Ricardo!
Muito interessante essa foto, principalmente por causa do fator humano. Gostei mais da versão em P&B, acho que na colorida o chão ficou muito exposto...
Quanto a máquina acho que o f/8 não será problema, gostaria de saber mesmo se existe algum polarizador pra ela, isso sim é fundamental! To só no agurado da vendo do meu carro pra comprar ela, mas ja tem 3 semanas que ele ta na agência e nada...
Parabéns e Abraço!

Vato_Law (11686) 2007-09-16 12:30

Olá Ricardo,
Fiquei a balançar entre a versão a cores e a P&B pois gosto de ambas.
Mas como esta á a principal é nesta ue devo focar-me e acho que o miudo e as bicicletas preenchem muito bem a frente da foto, especialmente o miudo com aquele sorriso rasgado, e o brilho metalico da moto em contraste com o carácter antigo da cidade.
O poster da Aishwariya Rai e a agitação tipica destas cidades complementam bem o fundo.
Finalmente, acho que esta conversão para P&B está bastante bem conseguida, como único pequeno defeito apontaria a sobre exposição do chão mas com a conversão para P&B isto até passa mais despercebido.
Um abraço.
Paulo

jasmis (50967) 2007-09-16 13:15

Superb exotic daily life shot. B&W - the proper choice, I presume.
Regards.

alvaraalto (5301) 2007-09-16 13:44

Hi Ricardo,
I’m colour person too. Still I like the Black & White here. It is like a picture in a newspaper and is therefore more than the coloured version an image with an actual message. The smile of boy is gorgeous.
Groet Rob

paura (39170) 2007-09-16 14:19

Ricardo,
Jovens são risonhos em qualquer lugar do mundo, não é? Interessante a proximidade de gente e coisas por aí. Penso que o espaço sinestésico na Índia deva ser algo conflituoso, não?

Abraços

Paulo

leonorkuhn (13981) 2007-09-16 19:15

Olá Ricardo,

Lindo menino, com um sorriso cativante. Excelente retrato, muito bem captado. Prefiro esta versão, pois em cores o fundo intensamente colorido fica distrativo. Excelente trabaho!

Uma boa semana para você
Leonor

ribeiroantonio (21967) 2007-09-16 19:48

Acho que a conversão para P&B favoreceu muito a foto, pois na versão a cores o chão está decididamente sobre-exposto. Também conseguiste dar uma boa luminosidade à cara do rapaz, o que em si também favorece a foto. É muito interessante ver a uantidade de miúdos na rua. Está boa e gosto muito.
António

Graal (58688) 2007-09-16 23:08

Hi Ricardo,
interesting street reportage and portrait of cyclist in one. Pleasant natural smile. Good work. I like it.
Gr., Aleksander

partha (13667) 2007-09-17 0:11

Hi Ricardo,.
Defuinately u give the essence of Indian street. They are narrow, congested but full of life.
B&W is a nice choice either.
Regards.
partha

cepekdong (3668) 2007-09-17 0:12

hey mate

i absolutely agree: india is a great country to take pictures. i was even thinking of one day going there just for a photo travel ! but that will be after my studies so i can afford not to eat indian food, just western !

ciao

rigoletto (26762) 2007-09-17 0:26

Ola Ric,
You stood at the right place at the right time and were therefore granted with the warmest of smiles. B&W is highly appreciated.
I somehow could prefer also a warm smile from that lady in the poster (who looks like an Indian Tyra Banks, LOL)
Street photograpy. This is it :)
Cheers,
Deniz

UnTrained (0) 2007-09-17 0:34

Olá Ricardo,
with its good and countless contrasts its just a good one for the b&w. The smile is good captured and for my perception the framing is very fine. So much things in the shot, you could not avoid to cut anything. What you did and how its done seems to be the best choice for minimum disturbing here. The large part of the ground is asking for a bit highlight reduction in my eyes.
Lieben Gruss, Ulf

xuaxo (5835) 2007-09-17 2:50

Olá Ricardo,
Prefiro a foto a cores. A vantagem deste P&B é que disfarça mais aquele chão branco.
As motocicletas também são demasiado modernas para a foto a P&B dar um ar antigo à cena.
O olhar bem de frente do rapaz é de certo modo contrabalançado pelos olhos do cartaz à direita. A propósito, além da tua Gods and idols, não tens mais com aqueles cartazes magníficos dos fimes de Bollywood?
Um abraço,
Francisco

luisafonso (858) 2007-09-17 3:08

Grande p&b Ricardo! Desta vez esta versão monocromática obscura completamente a versão a cores. Os contrastes e a luz fazem a foto e a tua escolha foi mesmo acertada. Gosto do que se vê, da abertura que usaste. Deixa-nos deambular pela cena e procurar tudo. Muito boa.

John_F_Kennedy (31994) 2007-09-17 3:22

Excellent street scenery. Superb composition in deep b/w colours. Impressive shot
Best wishes,
Achim

feather (50122) 2007-09-17 4:01

As you know I'm a colour person too, but I'm with you on this one. The extreme contrasts you had with the strong light is handled better in B&W and is actually a good feature of the image. What is really surprising me is the depth you got with f3.2. I would have expected most of the background to be out of focus. It's a very good daily life image and the smile of the boy really makes it.
Good work
Kath

danos (33192) 2007-09-17 5:52

Ola Ricardo,
what a happy face in B/W format.The razor sharp focus is excellent and i love your composition and choice of POV, as the other people of the grame has been captured superbly, wonderful light and brilliant colours(in the color versio), a very well crafted shot.Well done Ricardo.

Regards,Danos

Cricri (43706) 2007-09-17 7:54

Hi Ricardo,
Belle scéne de rue, joli sourire du garçon s'amusant sur son vélo en te regardant...
belle image en N/B, mais une préférence pour çelle en couleur....
friendship
cricri

Photo65Net (43096) 2007-09-17 9:52

Ricardo,
This BW, with these contrasts, is very eyecatcher.
The man's attitude, with his smile, is pleasant, a nice one.
Regards,
JB.

noborders (14201) 2007-09-17 14:20

Although a "colour person" myself, your B&W version of this street scene is great, and probably better than the colour version IMO - the contrast between the young cyclist with the light in his back and the blinding street is stricking...
Best regards,
Cath.

zeca (20026) 2007-09-17 19:32

Outra ótima foto, Ricardo. Gosto muito do contraste, muito bem aplicado e ideal para um p&b. O enquadramento oferece boa profundidade e o sorriso do menino faz da imagem algo descontraído e alegre.

Paolo (40753) 2007-09-18 1:39

The b/w give an old-style mood to this beautiful portrait, Ricardo, with a well managed contrast and light.
thanks, ciao

delic (6735) 2007-09-18 2:14

Hi Ricardo,
Cool capture from the street jungle in Jodhpur. The boy's smile fills the foreground nicely. I think I like the color version better though. Regards,
Hakan

bakes888 (18327) 2007-09-19 2:33

Hi Ricardo. Great photo. Well timed and composed shot. The BW conversion looks fine to me but I am no expert on the subject. Good detail and contrast. Thanks for sharing.
Cheers, Paul.

brevbrev14 (372) 2007-09-19 8:00

Hola Ricardo, i like the strong contrast here and the natural expression of the boy..
a good piece of this country...
ciao!
Valeria

stego (22448) 2007-09-19 19:35

Olá Ricardo,

Que horror, aquele chão todo queimado! :-)

Estou a brincar, claro, não me choca nada e duvido que houvesse algum remédio que não passasse por uma aldrabice que provavelmente levantaria suspeitas ao olhar.

É uma bela cena de rua, cheia de vida, bem enquadrada e bem exposta(!). E claro que o sorriso do rapaz ajuda bastante.

Não devias ter enviado a versão colorida :-), pois se por um lado o P&B fica muito bem e dá mais destaque ao rapaz, que assim não é prejudicado pelas cores vivas, por outro lado... É quase um sacrilégio não mostrar todo aquele colorido das roupas e cartaz a contrastarem com o cinzento da rua.

Aqui vai uma citação interessante que encontrei na intro do oochappan:

Raghubir Singh, 1942-1999: It is impossible to express India's particular beauty in black-and-white. Black-and-white might be a good medium to convey Europe's fear and alienation, but colour is natural for an Indian, and more appropriate for the extraordinary diversity of India. Unlike European art, Indian art did not have the tradition of independent black-and-white sketches and drawing. If any line drawings were made, they were for being filled out in colour. Colour is the fountain of India. Colour is the basis of the entire rasa theory, that governs Indian painting, dance, music, and literature.

Um abraço, José.

bostankorkulugu (33962) 2007-09-20 14:45

i was in stockholm the past few days so missed this one... i like the happy mood in this shot a lot ric... i see three happy faces looking at me... the boy is marvellous of course but the two ladies on both sides with their seductive smiles add a lot to the mood for sure... fust great...

um abraço

korkut

Angshu (34089) 2007-09-20 20:51

Ola Ricardo
Honestly I cannot decide which version is better. I liked the natural colours and of course the smile on the boy's face. The harsh light in the BG creates a 'cut-out' effect on the boy on his cycle in the B&W version. Maybe a bit of PP in "selective colour" on the OE portion, thereby giving a slightly greying effect? Honestly there are a lot of lively colours and hence my bias towards it. I found Stego's critique with Raghubir Singh's statement as very interesting. Thumbs up for experimenting on this good street photo my friend ...gives us food for thought.
Regards
Angshu

manatee (4295) 2007-09-22 14:55

Ola Ric:

I saw both pictures and i prefer this in B&P.

Muy buena foto, me hubiese gustado ver al nino que esta atras del que esta sonriendo, me gustan tambien lo que pasa alrededor, como los posters, las gente pasando, las mmotocicletas y la luz y sombra.

Gracias amigo, que pases un muy buen fin de semana.

Elas

berek (29005) 2007-09-22 23:09

Ola Ricardo,
B&W in very good idea for this picture. I like colors and B&W version. nice daily life view and very good note. thanks. best wishes.
B.Erek

jmdias (19813) 2008-09-15 17:07

ricardo

o MR spok andou por lá, eu posso apostar ! hahaha. O rapazinho está mesmo muito bem posicionado e iluminado, mesmo o caos da rua está bem aqui pois dá noção de como é o local. muito belo flagrante do dia-a-dia. prefiro fotos em P&B quando as cores não são especiais

abraços

jorge