Midday in Kolkata, India
Aug, 2018Views
78
Likes
Awards
Zenith Award
Moderator Award
Community Choice Award
Superb Composition
Top Choice
Categories
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Discover more photos See all
Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken in Kolkata, India while traveling. I love traveling and am a self taught photographer so this was a great and exciting opportunity for me.Time
This is definitely one of my favorite images. After a pretty productive morning of walking around where all the markets are in the city and just getting to explore the the culture,I got on a bus with the group I was traveling with to go to a new location, so it was about mid afternoon when I took this photo.Lighting
I really wanted this image to draw the viewer in and see the beauty in what is mostly overcrowded and noisy streets. I loved this time of day because of how the light lit up the alley, where we normally see alleys as dark and scary, this one is full of light and even the steam coming up through the vents in the ground caught the light and just gave it a whole new feel that is so peaceful and pleasing to the eyes.Equipment
I actually took this photo with my IPhone! I couldn’t get to my physical camera fast enough because I was on a bus and I didn’t want to miss capturing this moment.Inspiration
While spending a quite bit more time riding in a bus than i would like from one destination to another, there was a brief hold up in traffic, I took this time to soak in my surroundings, that’s when my eyes then landed on this alley, there stood a man minding his shop. I was mesmerized by this scene because of how calm it looked compared to the hustle and bustle around him. I could help but captured this moment.Editing
I didn’t need to do much to this photo actually. I sharpened the image and detailed it in specific areas to really bring out everything that was going on in this photo architecturally, there is a lot of texture so I wanted to draw that out. I enhanced the areas that had a pop of color and then added a simple filter from VSCO to really draw out the natural tones and beautiful pops of color that is so loved in and about this culture.In my camera bag
What I always Have on me is my Canon Rebel T3i body, my 55-250mm lens, and my 18-55mm lens. These lenses have served me well and I have traveled all over the world with them, I’m proof that you can still create and capture the perfect shot with what you have. Sense I don’t have a large amount of camera equipment in my bag that I have built up, I also have my iPhone which serves me well in moments when I need to be very quick with capturing a photo when my equipment is put away due to transportation, like this picture.Feedback
Go with the flow! This photo involves people living their lives, so you can go in with an image in mind that you want to capture, but you could come out with something totally different but completely authentic. That’s what I love the most, is how real it is. There is so much traffic in Kolkata, so you have to be very aware of your surroundings. It’s not the safest city so take precautions, I was lucky to be with a group of friends. The city is very dirty and the weather could change very quickly and start raining and then won’t stop for two days. It’s normally always “cloudy” or “overcast” but that would just be the unhealthy smog in the air. So go in prepared to possibly never see the sun. It does make for great lighting though! There are so many photo opportunities in cities like Kolkata.
