Smiling Nepali's

[Rhubarb]

Taken in Patan, Nepal.

f4.2
1/160
ISO 400
34mm (51mm on 35mm equiv.)

Let me know what you think about this shot of these gorgeous two young ladies. What do you think of the tones? The crop? And feel free to comment and critique on anything else.

Thanks,
Rhubarb

 

[Senor Hound]

Its very sharp! It gives it a very different look than most other portraits of younger people which are softer.

Edited to add: In case there was any confusion, this was a compliment! Way to think outside the box, as they say!

 

[LaFoto]

To my mind it is perfect and could as well accompany an article on Nepal in National Geographics! And I mean this.

 

[Rhubarb]

Its very sharp! It gives it a very different look than most other portraits of younger people which are softer.

Thanks for your comment SH. When I'm making photos from the street (which by the way is a new thing for me) I like to make them look real, or even exaggerate this 'realness' a little. The opposite of a beauty re-touch if you will. So your observation correlates to how I was intending to present this photo.

To my mind it is perfect and could as well accompany an article on Nepal in National Geographics! And I mean this.

Haha! Thank you LaFoto for your lovely compliment. I'm not sure if I 100% agree with you but I appreciate it all the same.

I had quite a bit of fun with these two. They are street kids who work a very popular tourist area, trying to squeeze as much cash out of tourists as possible. They spoke such good English (much better than my Nepali), and they were making up all sorts of stories to try and get my sympathy. They know their craft and were very good natured so we made many jokes and they laughed at my poor handling of their language. I don't usually give money to street kids as it encourages all sorts of rackets where the kids are exploited and basically sent to the streets to earn money instead of going to school. However due to the entertainment provided and the beautiful smiles I couldn't help but fulfil there request for an ice-cream. To their dissatisfaction I bought from a store where I knew I wasn't being ripped off, they wanted me to buy it from a store where they would charge 10 times the cost of ice-cream and the circle of child exploitation would continue.

But at the end of day all kids like ice-cream.

 

[Emerana]

really nice photo. I love the story...I havent been to Nepal, but have to other countries where its the same sad story. This doesnt seem sad to me though, I thought they were students going off to school.

I do have a couple editing concerns though. One is their teeth look way over white. Did you edit them? They look too white. Also the dry patches on the girl on the right are very distracting. I think it might be slightly over sharpened.

I am not saying anything is bad about the photo, just some notes from my eye.

 

[Rhubarb]

really nice photo. I love the story...I havent been to Nepal, but have to other countries where its the same sad story. This doesnt seem sad to me though, I thought they were students going off to school.

I do have a couple editing concerns though. One is their teeth look way over white. Did you edit them? They look too white. Also the dry patches on the girl on the right are very distracting. I think it might be slightly over sharpened.

I am not saying anything is bad about the photo, just some notes from my eye.

Emerana thank you for your comments and feedback, I appreciate them.

I didn't edit the teeth, I think that the whiteness was a side affect of my contrast adjustments. I didn't notice them until you commented on them, and now that you have I must agree that they do seem too white. Enough so that after careful consideration I have done a re-edit (below).

I find it interesting that you find the dry patch of skin distracting, when I was talking to her, I couldn't stop my eyes from darting to that spot and back again. We humans recognise individuals by faces and when there is an abnormally to someone's face I think it upsets our pattern recognition system and we can't help but look. It is indeed distracting to us, and can even make us feel a little uncomfortable or at unease. I think this is also related to the loss of symmetry.

I wanted that dry patch of skin to appear in the photo as it appeared to me when I was interacting with her. I could of soften it up, I could got rid of it altogether but it was a real and prominent part of her facial 'features' at that point in time. It also adds important information to her story.

 

[tirediron]

Great capture! I very much hope that I will be able to get similar sorts of images when I visit India in a couple of months!

 

[dylj]

I have nothing to add except that I admire your work This, the pre-monsoonal clouds and the edit you did with the baby is what I've seen. Amazing photo, just lovely.

 

[Rhubarb]

Great capture! I very much hope that I will be able to get similar sorts of images when I visit India in a couple of months!

Thanks tirediron. As always I appreciate you comments. India will be amazing, and is also extremely photogenic. How long will you be there for? And you are so close to Nepal in India so you should make a visit!

I have nothing to add except that I admire your work This, the pre-monsoonal clouds and the edit you did with the baby is what I've seen. Amazing photo, just lovely.

Thank you so much dylj. That is simply a lovely thing to say.