People crossing river Kavery in South India

[jkzo]

 

[The_Traveler]

this is potentially a very nice shot but it was taken under difficult conditions.
My guess is that this was dome with the sun high in the sky and this fools the light meter in the camera a bit and so the shadows and faces are underexposed.
Note how the histogram is pushed to the left, meaning that much of the scene is dark.

A circular polarizing filter would help some but the best remedy for this is taking the shot when the sun is much lower in the sky.
Additionally a bit of background on this scene would be enjoyable.

Lew