Playing in the Mud, a photo from Uttar Pradesh, North

Photographer's Note

As i've mentioned before, Varanasi was one of my favourite cities that we visited in India, and we visited about 13. Although this area along the Ganges River is very polluted and dirty, i'd still go back again today and enjoy every moment.

This scene was capture early in the morning, you can easily tell by the misty fog thats still in the air in the upper portions of the background.

And yes, normally we don't position our subjects in the middle of the frame like this, but for this paticular scene the children seemed to fit better this way. Also, I wanted to make sure I captured the man on the right, and the laundry on the left, just to complete it better.

These three children were simply playing in the mud with their hands, a simple moment of joy and using whatever they could find.

Thanks for looking

snunney, holmertz, ikeharel, COSTANTINO, cornejo, Royaldevon, PaulVDV, Vasa, ourania, tyro, adores, kordinator has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

snunney (130967) 2015-12-06 4:08

Hello Craig,
Charming capture of this trio of mudlarks. Clever framing nicely places them in context. I like the misty background that I remember well from our early morning visit to the ghats. Fine technical quality.

holmertz (103584) 2015-12-06 4:14

Hello Craig,
A very typical sight from India. Children playing simple games, people working hard by very simple means, colorful laundry, some rubbish on the ground. This could be seen everywhere but endlessly amazes the foreign visitor. These children don't smile the way most will do when facing a camera, but they don't look shy either, just not very impressed.
I always like photos like this. Some slight adjustments of shadows/highlights may not have been totally out of place.
Best wishes,
Gert

npecanhuk (79329) 2015-12-06 4:24

Hi Craig!
Great portrait and picture of daily life in that place!
Special regards to the management of light, colors and, of course, composition!
The inclusion of so many details in the upper background was such a wonderful idea and adds a lot to this already superb photograph!
TFS - congrats,
Cheers,
Neyvan

mesutilgim (0) 2015-12-06 4:29

Hello dear Craig,
They are seemingly surprised by the photohrapher !
But which kid didn't do it ? Most probably more interesting than to play with some plastic toys.
You've captured here a wonderfull moment.
TFS and have a nice weekend
MESUT ILGIM

Fis2 (171877) 2015-12-06 6:00

Witaj Craig!
Curious scene from daily life.
Children are very nice.
Good framing and colors.
Beautiful eyes.
Well done.
Have a nice sunday
Krzysztof

pajaran (117001) 2015-12-06 6:18

Dobar dan.
Lep pogled i trenbutak, interesantan i dobar teskt ...
Lepo pokaazana deca na obali reke, dobar kontrast i perspektiva, lepo uvacen trenutak igre i pogled na snimatelja.
Deci treba malo da budu zadovoljna i srecna.
Deca su nase najvece bogatstvo i buducnost.
Imajte lep dan za odmor, sve najbolje.
Paja.

Sergiom (117241) 2015-12-06 6:21

Bonjour Craig

Les enfants vont toujours trouver le moyen de s'amuser avec ce qu'il y a de disponible autour. Comme il y a des châteaux de sable, pourquoi pas un en boue. C'est charmant de les voir se tourner vers la caméra.

Bon dimanche

Serge

COSTANTINO (117726) 2015-12-06 6:27

Hello dear Craig and have a nice time
and a happy new week
interesting capture early in the morning
describing a different way of living
hre the kids play games
great presentation indeed
welldone
regards
Costantino

dta (98848) 2015-12-06 6:34

Hello Craig ,
A fine composition . At first glance , we are attracted by the three children playing with the mud and looking towards you . But the entire scenery is interesting , with the young man working in the river , the boats , teh washing .
Regards

rychem (72187) 2015-12-06 9:19

Playing with mud was also attractive to me when I was a little boy, happy children, well captured
regards Ryszard

emka (158744) 2015-12-06 9:55

Hi Craig, I can't say what was my favorite city in India, I visited more than 20 and I liked them all. How to choose between Jaisalmer, Varanasi, Udaipur, Agra and other ones? And no need to do it. But Varanasi was the most fascinating and unusual. And I liked it very much. But it is not for everyone taste and my friends told me that if they knew what they would see, they wouldn't go to India. My answer was - if liked to have everything clean and fresh, better was to go Switzerland or Norway. Nice scene with many details to see. The kids are just beautiful with their deep black eyes. near them the tagetes flowers, maybe wanted to sell them as offers but were left. On the right dhobi is washing laundry. Always amazing how can the wash in dirty water?? But there is no other. Every time I see such photos, I feel how I miss Asia. probably one day I just buy ticket and go again.
Warm regards Malgo

cornejo (61504) 2015-12-06 10:20

Craig Hello, very nice picture of this interesting scene of daily life, children playing with clay, well captured in this interesting image with good sharpness, light, color and quality. A great job well done, congratulations my friend. Thank you for sharing this interesting work.

Good evening and happy start to the week.
All the best from southern Spain.
Angel.

carlo62 (81265) 2015-12-06 14:56

Ciao Craig
gli occhi dei bambini sono sempre curiosi, in qualsiasi parte del mondo e in qualsiasi situazione.
Hai fatto molto bene a mettere questi bambini al centro della composizione, il resto della foto si completa con tutto ciò che li circonda.
Saluti
Carlo

Royaldevon (86400) 2015-12-06 15:07

Hello Craig,

This is both an excellent capture of the children and a journalistic capture of the social conditions. It succeeds exceptionally well on both counts.

The children are giving you that look that I have witnessed often. This is child's play, we are having a great time what do you want! There is no smile ... come and join us!
The shot is really well composed and the slightly oof b/g captures the the whole atmosphere of this riverside location. It is grubby but it is very real!

Thanks for sharing this,
Bev :-)

fabianoleite (13575) 2015-12-06 16:10

Interesting depiction of the children, well representatvie of the traces of the ethnicity, and with colorful clothes to create a rich array. Well framed, too, congratulations!

lousat (139960) 2015-12-07 3:40

Hi Craig,magnificent morning atmosphere on the river where the guys play,i like a lot the perspective,perfect to take the misty background too,original pic,no needs toys to be happy there.Have a nice week and thanks,Luciano

PaulVDV (63452) 2015-12-07 10:33

Hello Craig,
You took them by surprise! All three look up at the same time with their hands still in the mud.
A very attractive composition with their heads together and all the arms reaching for the natural toy.
Excellent daily life-picture.
Best regards, Paul

Silvio1953 (222847) 2015-12-07 11:27

Ciao Craig, lovely composition with cute playing trio, nice scene, splendid light, excellent clarity and wonderful colors, very well done, my friend, ciao Silvio

batalay (41261) 2015-12-07 17:19

Hello Craig,

Children being children. I think playing in the mud might just be the oldest pastime of children, certainly as old as stick and stones, but older than wheeled devices. I will not forget your recommendation of Varanasi as one of your favorite sites of all.

Warm regards,

Bulent

Vasa (515) 2015-12-08 16:23

Hi Craig,

you are on the wonderful place and your witness is great. Your Pentax is on the level of your wishes. Many thanks for sharing this human scene and many thanks for your support in my gallery.

Warm regards from Belgrade,

Branko

kasianowak (17676) 2015-12-08 23:30

Hi Craig
Amazing and timeless image of these kids playing in spite of having no toys and, most probably, not having eaten breakfast.
Your central composition is perfect and they deserve to be right in the middle of the frame! I'm glad you took care to include the fascinating background details which make the picture complete, there is a lot to look at here.
Have a nice day
Kasia

Cricri (176) 2015-12-09 9:32

Hi Craig
Toute jolie scène, j'aime le regard des enfants vers toi, bonne lumière, couleurs, le fond brumeux, belle présentation
belle soirée
cricri

ourania (51103) 2015-12-10 10:08

Hello Craig,
it's an excellent picture in every way, the children are very intersting and the seven eyes looking back to the viewer with equal curiosity are just captivating. I like how they look surprized, we feel like intruding and there's superb dynamism, making us expect movement and continuity in the scene. Although the children dominate the frame, there's very rich context around them, the colours are excellent also because they are atmospheric. I think that your idea to place the children in this way was most effective. Congratulations and thank you!
All the best, have a great day,
Ourania

tyro (30513) 2015-12-11 9:46

Hi Craig,

I love these "close and personal" shots you do of people and, judging by your exif data which include your lens's focal length, I reckon you must only have been a couple of feet from this group of children - no wonder they're giving you some funny looks!

But what a gorgeous shot of these children playing in the mud, perhaps making a "pie" or some "worm soup" - I can remember having fun doing that too - while we have a wonderful background view through the haze of buildings along the banks of the Ganges and boats moored at the shore, while a fellow at the water's edge does his laundry in the river - though I suspect he might find his clothes come out less clean than they went in.

A gorgeous and captivating shot of these children in their normal environment, perfectly taken with good light and colours and exceptional clarity.

Beautiful!

Kind Regards,

John.

adores (46979) 2015-12-12 18:57

Hi Craig!
The background really situate us. I like this a lot, especially their serious faces looking at you, probably trying to understand what you want from there. You framed them in a perfect way and we can see a lot more in background.

kordinator (8738) 2015-12-13 13:18

Hello Craig
A magnificent scene with those children.
Lovely and lively scene.
Excellent clear view.
I like this mood.
Best regards
Saša

ikeharel (114535) 2015-12-14 3:00

Seeing this photo, Craig, makes me think what the future will hold for these kids.
They look happy and content, but do they know other than their immediate "world"?
An outstanding subject on photo, and well taken despite harsh light backdrop's.
I confess I had lot's of thinking before writing a critique on this picture.
Have a nice new week,
Ike