A Lesson in Life
He came up to us, asked us to buy a pen from him for 5 rupees. When he received the money, he put it with the rest of the money in his pocket, went into a Macdo...
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He came up to us, asked us to buy a pen from him for 5 rupees. When he received the money, he put it with the rest of the money in his pocket, went into a Macdonalds, and bought himself a drink, sat in the shade, and enjoyed the drink to the last drop…
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Jan, 2016Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
I took this photo in Delhi, India, during the 6 months I was living there.Time
It was the high heat of the Delhi afternoon. Connaught square -one of the busiest squares in Delhi- was flooded with people of all shapes and creeds, each running about their day. My head was down, deep in though about an interview. Money was finishing fast and I had to find a job. He showed up on my path, with the best smile I had seen in days. He sold pens for 7 rupees each. That's 10 cents. I stopped. reached in my pocket and gave him 10. He smiled. reached into his pocket. Took out his bundle of money. Put the 10 with 40 more and disappeared into a McDonalds. I waited there, curious to see what happens next. He came back out...Beaming! Sat in the shade, and drank his cocacola. Nice and slowly, to the last drop. Smiling all the while.Lighting
The Lighting here really helps me to convey the story. The hot day, and the idea of cooling off in the shade with a cold drink, are better told when I have the soft lighting of a shade, with the hard and hot lighting of a beam of light coming into the frame on the bottom right corner.Equipment
Most of the time in Delhi, I walked around with my most basic gear. This helped me not be worried about possible potential theft, and allowed me to venture off into places I don't know. Also, a large camera also makes people uncomfortable with pointed at them. I had a basic Nikon D3100 here, with a basic 16-85 lens. No flash, or tripod.Inspiration
The experience took me out of my head, and allowed me to view the world from the view point of the boy. I had spent my days worrying about money and my life. But the boy who earned close to nothing, still put aside a part of his earnings and time, to really appreciate the little things in life. He knew how to live much better than me. That lesson came instantaneously and it looked me in the face at a time that I needed it the most.Editing
I usually do very little post processing, as I seek to reflect the things I see in our ordinary life. Therefore what I usually do involve Re-cropping the photos to bring more attention to the subject, changing the exposure and increasing the clarity of some shots.In my camera bag
This is what's important to me when I do street photography around the world: 1. Being inconspicuous / low profile 2. Being Light / Minimal 3. Reducing the financial loss by going minimal + second hand (I am not very rich and I make my money with my gear. so not having the worry of it the financial damage always helps me be more creative and risk taking) So It really depends on the situation and what I am getting myself into. Nowadays I take my Nikon D800 which I have really worn down and I am not worried about it anymore. my beat up Nikon lens 24-70 2.8, and the 85 1.8 incase of low-light situations or incase I need a bit more zoom. I put these in a small beat up messenger bag. With these, I go anywhere and everywhere.Feedback
Follow what I said about the choice of gear, and then get very curious about people and things. Go into places and be a bit nosy. Be willing to talk to strangers, and random people you see. These are not good advices for staying safe, but for getting interesting stories they will help.
