Tanjica
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Behind The Lens
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Being an editor of our church magazine and site for about 15 years now, I take a lot of photos in church and all related events and people. This woman's name is Velika, meaning 'Great' in Serbian. She had had a very difficult life and then somehow settled in our parish church's premises, or better to say in a shed. She had been offered to move to a retirement home, but she would refuse. She was a strange woman, her words touched your soul and often hit where you are most fragile... She would adopt stray dogs and cats. Rarely did she accept anything we offered her. She used to say she would never leave the church yard and her home.. And she didn't. She died there, aged 80 last winter. I took this photo in front of the Parish home where we used to sit after the services. She would always join us, had some coffee and some refreshment.Time
It was before midday, after the church service. Plenty of light although it was cloudy.Lighting
It was overcast and the light was diffused. I like my photos to be in natural lightning.Equipment
I used my new (at the time) Canon EOS 400D with Sigma 17-70 f/2.8-4.5 DC MACRO. I rarely use flash, almost never a tripod.Inspiration
Velika was standing right in front of me on the stairs and the dog just next to her. I was too close but quickly realized nothing is wasted - I had everything I need just there. There was no need for the face to be seen.Editing
The color version inspired two artist for their work. Here you can see "Crumbs of Life" by Cassandra Dolen: https://www.flickr.com/photos/32314956@N02/7184063576/ Some time later, this artist did a color reduced almost a sepia version of her work and at the same time I tried to convert my photo to a BW. I believe it works well this way due to the fine contrast and light.In my camera bag
Canon EOS 60D with an all-round lens and a normal 50mm wide aperture lens. I use the built-in flash.Feedback
Amateur photographers tend to be trapped by the logic that the more is seen the better, so they like everything being in the frame. However, the best concepts are in details. I was lucky to take this shot, thanks God for that and for the memory eternal of Velika. Thank you for your appreciation.