Before Pray, C&C please

[jands]

Took this shot at the Adana Mosque in Turkey. I was trying to capture the practice of washing your hands and feet before praying inside the Mosque. Not sure I really captured anything though. At least anything noteworthy. C & C appreciated.

f/7.1 @ 1/1600
Shot at 105mm
ISO 320

Post process I brought down the exposure by .20, added a very slight post crop vignette, sharpened it up a bit, and also in-between and above the arcs on the Mosque in the background they were a tad over blown so I brought the exposure down on those places a tad further.

 

[Juice]

Why didn't you shoot at a slower shutter speed and 100 ISO?

 

[mishele]

If you wouldn't of explained what the picture was about I would of never understood it.(dumb American....maybe?)
At this point all we are seeing is 2 guys w/ their backs facing us. Maybe a side angle would of been better? A shot where we can see the water and them washing?

 

[thingsIsee]

I agree with mishele on the side shot and maybe a little closer to get them feet/hands and water. (been to Japan and Turkey)

 

[johngpt]

This is a nice "slice of life" photo. What I like in it are the primarily light values of all the architecture, offset with the darker values of the two men, causing them to stand out more from the surroundings. It would have been nice if that fellow's jacket wasn't at his head, so that the shape of his head would contrast more against the light washing station. But this was probably a very quick "grab" shot. If one had more time to move around, then maybe a slightly better angle could have been found, maybe not. It would also have been more in keeping with prevailing ideas of composition if the two men could have been placed off center somewhat, but again, you probably didn't have a lot of time to frame this. And perhaps if you moved to change your angle, you might have disturbed them, or perhaps there were other distractions in the scene that would have detracted from the effect you were trying to capture.

 

[Forkie]

I must confess that before I read your explanation, I thought it was two guys sitting on a bench reading their books. It's also a shame that the coat on the wall devours the guy's head.