THE LITTLE PEOPLE OF PERU
High up on over 4,000 m in the Anden he guarded his cattle and donkey herd. The little shepherd alone on the dusty road to Cusco. Seen with a shot of luck and c...
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High up on over 4,000 m in the Anden he guarded his cattle and donkey herd. The little shepherd alone on the dusty road to Cusco. Seen with a shot of luck and captured at the end of October 2016 in Peru.
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Nov, 2016Views
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Awards
Contender in the Photography Awards
Action Award
Legendary Award
Contest Finalist in Rule Of Thirds Photo Contest v4
Contest Finalist in People At Work Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Monthly Pro Vol 29 Photo Contest
People's Choice in Story behind people Photo Challenge
Contest Finalist in Image Of The Month Photo Contest Vol 16
Peer Award
Top Choice
Superb Composition
Absolute Masterpiece
Outstanding Creativity
Magnificent Capture
Superior Skill
All Star
Virtuoso
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anthonydelaney
April 14, 2018
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
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Behind The Lens
Location
We drove our van over the highlands of the Andes at an altitude of 4,000 m from Urubamba and Ollantaytambo in the Sacred Valley, where we had visited ancient sun temples, colored weekly markets and solitary mountain villages, back to Cusco, the former capital of the Incas. There was no asphalt road, but only a sort of gravel road that shook the car. We saw rarely a car or other people at that place in middle of Peru. We were actually alone in this dust, alone with this nature and this incredible landscape. It was quiet except for the softly blowing wind.Time
It was in the afternoon on this fantastic day in mid-October 2016. The sun was high and bright, beautiful clouds made the partial deep blue sky into a natural experience. The thin air of the mountains glimmered. The different brown, yellow and orange shades of the landscape and the road were constantly changing by the fast-moving clouds, the shadows were moving as if they were alive.Lighting
It has always been a new challenge for me to take a good picture of such a bright light and so many moving shadows. Above all, when you suddenly have a dreamlike motif in front of the lens, like this one, which is only there once and disappears on the horizon after some seconds! What a blessing: The sun came from the side and cast really beautiful shadows. The real challenge here was to have the right exposure time combined with the correct aperture that depicted the small Peruvian "sharply" in front of his the donkeys and sheep herd led by him - and against a rather blurred background. The almost black brown skin of his face - partly visible under his hat - should be not appear too dark .....Equipment
I took the photo with a Nikon D800. I used the f/2.8 70-200 mm zoom lens without a tripod or flash. It was captured with an exposure time of 1/2000 s at f/5.6, 95 mm and ISO 100.Inspiration
Often it is just coincidence. Or not at all. The story was as follows: We drove along this gravel road. Rather slowly, because the landscape, the clouds, the colors represented thousand different and interesting motifs at the same time. And we did not know what to photograph first. Well, the road was suddenly very straight and led us downhill (like the long, wide and very straight roads through the landscapes of the USA). So we stopped briefly and went back upwards to take the appropriate photo from there. On the top of the hill someone looked back again - what a blessing! And there he came. The little man and shepherd from Peru. On this dusty road. With his donkeys and sheep. The too big sport shoes and the hat. It was THE motif at all. First he looked very seriously, but then there was a smile. He came closer and gave his hand to greet us. What a feeling! He was certainly no bigger than 1.40 m. And I had allowed to take pictures of him.Editing
Quite honestly, this photo I haven't edited very much in Lightroom (Photoshop was not used at all). It is and was just perfect. A little more dynamism and a little more depth, no picture cutting or enlargement, nothing. Hej man, that happens really rare.In my camera bag
My Nikon D800 or D750, a gorilla pod, a large carbon tripod with ball head and panoramic slider. If I have a special focus, that I want to photograph, I'll pack a macro, one or two telephoto lenses and/or a wide-angle lens in my backpack. Otherwise, I always have a 14-24 mm, 105 mm, 70-200 mm, 200-500 mm lens, a teleconverter, a cordless remote trigger, and various gray filters f.e. for long-term photos. Some memory cards and batteries are not forgotten. And there is an iPad Mini 4 for the control of time lapse recording.Feedback
The challenge is - I'm sure - to photograph the upcoming motif (here the shepherd and the animal herd) at the right moment: First very small, then bigger and bigger, then from the side, laterally from behind. It's easier to do this with a video camera, but that is just not wanted at this moment. And that all everything in a foreign country and (very) strange people. You do not know whether the little Peruvian shepherd will say yes to be photographed in this way. Be sure to look for the very bright light on the highlands of big mountains. The ultraviolet radiation, which one does not see as such, does its best to make the photo as a real challenge.
