Hamster7
FollowI visited a small village temple area where villagers were getting ready for a ceremony. As I looked into the temple I saw this man, the temple priest, and hel...
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I visited a small village temple area where villagers were getting ready for a ceremony. As I looked into the temple I saw this man, the temple priest, and held my camera up to ask if I could take a picture. He nodded and held his hands together in a sign of welcome, as I fired off this single shot.
Edit - Photography is often a very personal thing for me, and the moments I experience when taking images often have more meaning for me than those who see the image. This is to be expected because I was there experiencing all the sights and sounds and smells and the moments either side of the one captured. It's a great feeling when other people also connect with an image that means so much to me. Thank you to everyone who takes the time to comment or "award".
Read less
Edit - Photography is often a very personal thing for me, and the moments I experience when taking images often have more meaning for me than those who see the image. This is to be expected because I was there experiencing all the sights and sounds and smells and the moments either side of the one captured. It's a great feeling when other people also connect with an image that means so much to me. Thank you to everyone who takes the time to comment or "award".
Read less
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berniemazor
April 08, 2017
Join the conversation. Add a comment or even better, a critique. Let's get better together!
Hamster7
February 03, 2018
Thanks for the kind words people (somehow managed to delete your comment Taffspride, but it is appreciated). It’s a nice surprise to be in the mix with some epic finalists.
Akinito72
June 02, 2018
Fantastic! Transcends all time and yet poignantly relevant! I am utterly left inspired and truly in awe. Well done!!!
Hamster7
August 19, 2019
You know, it really was. They don't often happen like that and thankfully it's in focus :-)
MRueffer
August 19, 2019
Your words make this even better The expression you’ve captured on him makes this shot amazing
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Behind The Lens
Location
This was taken in Bali. We saw that people were getting ready for a ceremony at the temple in a small village we were passing through, so we stopped to see what was going on. In Bali, the whole village contributes to any preparation and everyone was busy cooking, clearing land etc. I wasn't allowed in the temple as my legs weren't covered, but when I looked in from outside I saw the priest sat quietly looking out. I held up my camera and smiled, to ask if I could take his picture. He nodded and I fired off this single shot.Time
This was taken mid morningLighting
The light was pretty harsh as the sun was well up when this was taken. As so often with travel photography, I didn't get much choice with the angle of light and surroundings and having sunlight on his head and on the background while the rest is in shadow is not ideal.Equipment
This was shot using a canon 5Diii and 70-200 f4 IS lens, hand held at 116 mm. The 70-200 f4 IS much easier to carry around than the f2.8 and only marginally less sharp.Inspiration
What inspired me is the view of a peaceful scene of the priest, whose face has so much life in it. It was only a fleeting moment and I feel lucky to have been walking past and looking in at that time.Editing
The textures and fairly high contrast immediately made me think black and white. This also had the advantage of removing distracting colours in the background. I've also removed some distracting background elements and then carried out standard tonal adjustments and lightened the subject to bring it forward in the frame. The shot is as originally framed.In my camera bag
If I'm doing landscapes, these days I have a Sigma SD Quattro H with 85 mm and 35 mm sigma art lenses. For tripod work on static subjects this system gives fantastic detail. If I want to hedge my bets I'll take the Canon 5Diii and the holy trinity of lenses (16-35 and 24-70 f2.8s and the 70-200 f4 IS). This and a few neutral density filters covers my landscape needs. For travel style, as here, I'd swap between the 70-200 and 24-70 on the 5Diii. For aerial, back to the Sigma system.....Normal usually depends on what I'm going to shoot.Feedback
For this kind of shot I'd say you need to have a decent awareness of the general settings that work for the particular conditions you're experiencing. It can be tricky when you're moving from dimly lit interiors with bright light shining through gaps, to sunny exteriors. Sometimes compromises have to be made and you'll have to settle for a shot where the dynamic range exceeds the cameras capabilities. But I'll settle for a technically imperfect shot with bags of atmosphere any day. Auto ISO is your friend. Smile, and be curious.