Snapseed II

When it comes to creativity in photography, there are lots of options, both in camera and post-processing. In a post earlier this summer, I discussed a new app available for iPads (and possibly smartphones, but not desktop or laptop computers). It's called Snapseed and has an amazing array of special effects, most of which are fine-tunable by the photographer.

While India is a blaze of color, the simplicity in me likes the opportunity to boil an image down to its essentials. So, starting with a vibrant color photo, it took only a few adjustments in Snapseed to truly get down to the basics - almost a line drawing.  As with any photo of a person, the eyes probably matter the most, and that's obvious here.  I did not do selective work (meaning a different degree of adjustment on the eyes versus other elements of the photo), but rather and overall adjustment applied to the whole photo.  I love the result. Hopefully you will too!

Decisive Moment

Henri Cartier-Bresson is credited with coining the term "decisive moment." "I suddenly understood that a photograph could fix eternity in an instant." The challenge that photographers face is being ready for that decisive moment and following through - taking the photograph at just the right moment. 

The women were walking down a side lane toward me, approaching the sacred Lake Pushkar. Ranging in age from pre-teens to grandmothers, for some, many, most, it would be there first journey to the Lake, second only in holiness to the Ganges, corresponding to the November full moon.  I could see that there may be a photograph and quickly positioned myself head-on.  And just as I got ready to take my first shot, Lake Pushkar came into their view.  Their expressions say it all -reverence, awe, and excitement - the decisive moment.  Did I know that their expressions would take on such meaning?  No.  But I was ready for whatever came. 

And, honestly, I didn't know what I had frozen in time for quite some time.  The photograph was not shot as a panorama.  It was not until much later that, as I kept coming back to the photo, I really mentally zoomed in on the image and their expressions - and cropped the photo into the resulting panorama, focusing on the women's faces. It has subsequently become one of my favorite images - full of meaning and having the ability to convey meaning. 

Zero In on Subject

Our eyes zero in on subjects without us really know it.  Its only when we take a photograph that we see all of the extraneous material that our "eye" did not see but our camera lens DID!  Sometimes it takes a while to fully comprehend what the subject is.  Or, just maybe, there are several ways of presenting the same subject - one in a more "environmental" setting and one that is close-cropped, centering on the "real" image. 

One of my favorite photographs from last fall's journey to Rajasthan and the Pushkar Mela was of a young girl, perhaps 10 years of age - though looking more wizened than that.  The daughter of itinerant salespeople, she naturally composed herself for this first image. The "environmental portrait" included the tools of the family trade and the jumbled surroundings of sand and litter.  And those "Raj Girl Eyes" always have drawn me in. 

Recently, in looking at the photo again, I realized that there was a second image - and I think a stronger one - that zooms in on the face and the eyes. The wizened beyond years look is more pronounced because our eyes are now longer distracted by the surroundings, but can zero in on the face. Both images are, in my humble opinion, wonderful.  Each has its place. And as you review and edit and view and edit some more, look at options to more tightly zoom in the the "meaning" and "subject" of your photographs. 



All Things Raj

Finally coming down from an uplifting and overwhelming experience twelve times zones away - two weeks in the Indian state of Rajasthan.  Half the time was spent in the chaos of Pushkar during the Pushkar Mela (camel fair and Hindu pilgrimage); the other half a slower-paced exploration of the amber, blue and pink fort towns of the Raj.  Photo opportunities galore among the coughing, smiles, dust, joyousness, blaring loudspeakers, intimate encounters (no, NOT that kind), crowds, majesty, poverty, bubbas and sadhus, a/c vans, auto rickshaws, dogs and cows that make up just a portion of the experience that is India. You really can't prepare yourself for it; you just plunge in and take it as it comes - and it will come and blow you away. 

Some 2000 photos later, it's clear to me that my photography headed in yet a new direction compared to past journeys.  More people, less landscapes.  And more up-close-and-personal photos.  Personal space is not much of an issue in crowded India; and few mind if you take their photography, even close-up.  It still takes a while for this Westerner to get close and not feel as an intruder.  But that's the luxury of 7 days in one town - overcoming personal resistance and taking photography - and interpersonal interactions - to the next level.