Authenticity

There are those who feel that we should travel in certain ways - connecting with the locals - seeing certain sights - eating at certain "local" places. While I'm certainly one who wants to explore the cultures of the places I travel to and through, I really don't feel compelled to follow someone's dictates as to what constitutes the right way to travel. 

Gideon Lewis-Kraus book, "A Sense of Direction: Pilgrimage for the Restless and the Hopeful,"  relates stories about pilgrimages and the reasons why some of us do them these days. And the question becomes, if not done for the original reason (usually spiritual or religious), "is it still authentic?" And Gideon has a really noteworthy response: 

"My own feeling about authenticity is that we're all best off when we don't worry about it too much and just get on with the business of trying to travel in ways that feel meaningful to us, for whatever reason."

Know why you're traveling and make the journey your own - how more authentic and meaningful an experience can you ask for!

BTW, Gideon is interviewed on his pilgramage experiences on the WorldHum website: http://tinyurl.com/congnzz. 

One Way to Make Subjects "Pop"

During a visit to Wales, I attended the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod, an engaging event focused on music and dance. As with many such festivals, getting the right angle for a photograph is difficult, especially when dealing with the background. One of the dance performances featured a whirling dervish, all clad in white. The beautiful trance-induced movement was mesmerizing. And, as a photographer, I want to get "just the right shot."    

My favorite image was this one, with the "whirling skirt" in motion, forward facing and nice hand gesture. But then there's the background. The stage was surrounding on all four sides by viewers and folks in constant movement (just like the Dervish). The gentleman in red was a particular distraction photographically. While I use Adobe Lightroom for 99.9% of my edits and adjustments, this was clearly a case where something more would be needed. There are techniques in Photoshop to totally strip away the background. But, to me, that seems a bit dishonest - he was performing (which is not a word I like to associate with the Whirling Dervishes since they make it clear that its really a religious experience for them) in front of a crowd.

So I utilized a different Photoshop technique - changing the background to black and white and then reducing the background's brightness and saturation. Using layers and lassos is not a quick process,  but worth it in this instance.

The viewers are still there - so the setting is real - but now the Dervish visually "pops" out. The only remaining color are his hands and conical felt hat. This, by the way, explains the need to tone down the background, not just convert it to black and white.