Incredible India

[Shuttergraphy]

Onto some more portraits as I hit the town of Leh in Ladakh.

P33

Shopkeeper at ladakhian restaurant serving tibetan food. Lowered down onto eye level then using the foreground bottles etc to frame her more effectively, also noticed a slight left tilt in body thus the negative space on the left plus some distracting elements on her right.

P34

I had waited for nearly 5mins for eye contact from him but he didn't want any so I just took this and went away, he was waiting on the streets for the arrival of Karmapa. Damn I needed the eye contact.

P35

Gosh I love my new 50mm f1.4 lens! So powerful yet so tiny.

P36

Breaking the eye level rule seem to work nicely here, I was on to something else when I noticed that he was looking at my camera so I turned and took few shots of him. Otherwise, this would be too much an in your face shot.

 

[Shuttergraphy]

P37

P38

So, no eye contact but it's ok because particularly when someone is in the act of doing something i.e. faking to pray then it's the action that becomes the focal point, not so much them and their eyes. Otherwise, I think it's necessary to get eye contact and typically you'd get it after abit of wait.

P39

P40

 

[zoossh]

P33

Shopkeeper at ladakhian restaurant serving tibetan food. Lowered down onto eye level then using the foreground bottles etc to frame her more effectively, also noticed a slight left tilt in body thus the negative space on the left plus some distracting elements on her right.

i like all your portraits and thinks the square format seem to work best in your portraits. the above particularly have the most natural skin hue with delightful colors behind too. i think i miss out too much on street shots in leh given too hectic trips around leh, and of cos for me, too slow an adaption to the altitude. the container happens to align with her jacket's line (i dunno what is the right word for that part of the clothing, zipper line??)

 

[Pokka]

the sq formats provides a fresh perspective of india. :thumbsup: hope to see more

 

[binbeto]

Very nice series.. Your portraits using the square format is the better ones. The rest is nice too.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[AReality]

Wow! Really nice portraits u have there! esp P37.

The landscape looks different with pinch of whites all around.

I wish I can go back there again...



.

 

[oeyvind]

Some nice landscape... BTW, do convert your pix to sRGB colorspace when u uploading for web display. Else your pix might be dull for PC user.

 

[Shuttergraphy]

the sq formats provides a fresh perspective of india. :thumbsup: hope to see more

Thanks, I've definitely got alot more just hit with some work and activites that I don't have time to review and edit.

Very nice series.. Your portraits using the square format is the better ones. The rest is nice too.

Without my 50mm f1.4, there would be no portraits so I really do love this lens but as a compromise, since i'm busy shooting peeps I only took 4 shots on my TX-2 panorama camera. How silly but I guess you can't be everything.

I wish I can go back there again...

Me too, i do want to go back in winter but then again, so many other places to go.

Some nice landscape... BTW, do convert your pix to sRGB colorspace when u uploading for web display. Else your pix might be dull for PC user.

I'm still a big landscape person and I think the landscape are perhaps the more difficult pics to capture. On ther other note, I am actually a PC user but too lazy to do that additional step. Didn't expect much difference but I really should be doing it. Next edit, I would. Having said that, I think I do have an issue with color management despite having calibrated monitor and all, I think it's just the colors I enjoy are the more earthly ones which explains some degree of muted colors, I think.

 

[Shuttergraphy]

P41

P42

I like this alot, I am actually standing on ladder arching backwards with one hand holding onto the ladder, to get just the right amount of blur on the ledge but sized up nicely to frame the monastery above Leh Palace.

P43

Really hard to squeeze this in a square format but what the heck. Hmm.. think there is even a horizon tilt.

P44

Not quite the effect I wanted but these prayer wheels don't spin too long. I had wanted blurred effect on first two of the wheels, so you my free hand to spin the wheels.

 

[Shuttergraphy]

P45

P46

Hmmm... I kinda like this, very much representative of the place that had mani stones all over but hard to capture them. I only wished I could go wider.

P47

P48

Royal Enfield a really popular motorcycle in India, only ones trusted around in the mountainous region of Leh. This was in the CEntral Bazaar in Leh as the light levels were going low, I had earmarked a panning shot for the Royal Enfield but got it in surprising circumstances. He just made a turn and starting to accelerate and the shutter was near impossible slow but got enough sharpness in it to be useful.

 

[Shuttergraphy]

P49

P50

P51

P52

 

[Shuttergraphy]

Oppps, you have to put up with more monasteries, I just simply love them being so nicely positioned behind such beautiful backdrop. Despite my attempt to make them look different, I guess they do look alike especially the ones around Leh.

P53

I'm convinced that I would need to buy a fisheye lens to go wider for my square format.

P54

Attempting to bring more foreground into play as the plains that surround some of the monastery makes you wonder why they built it so far away from where people are styaing mostly.

P55

P56

Ok back to some portraits, a nun at one of the monastery that was at the bottom instead of it being ON something.

 

[OMlegacy]

Hi hi
Did you meet Karmapa at Leh?
Any photo taken by you?
If have can share?

 

[Shuttergraphy]

P57

This was a wild-goose chase as I tweak my itinerary to make sure I coincide with the archery contest and boy was it a waste of time but the subsequent portraits made up for it.

P58

When I first caught glimpse of them walking to the festivals.

P59

P60

Many people at this event was trying to capture the picture of the little girl but she wasn't cooperative, I didn't even try. But as I sat myself nearby and was looking to photograph another group of people then when I turned around I noticed her smiling, so i waved back then I took the picture. Got it!

 

[OMlegacy]

Nice of you to share these wonderful photos of yours! Thank you very much!

 

[Shuttergraphy]

Hi hi
Did you meet Karmapa at Leh? Any photo taken by you?
If have can share?

Ask and you shall receive, I missed that one out. Oh Mani Padme Hum!

P61

This is of course not him, this was when he was inside the monastery. It was crazy packed to try to get in but somehow most people just waited at lowerdeck, so I went up to take a closer look.

P62

Then Karmapa came out and was escorted out of the monastery, somehow he took a peek upwards towards me and my travel buddy, whom is a ginger german, which might just be the reason. I think he had a better photo of Karmapa as I had the wrong super-wide lens as he was testing my 17-55mm at that point, which would have been a much better lens for this. I switched to burst and fired away. Karmapa is third highest ranking lama in tibetan buddhism, now residing in Dharamsala.

Nice of you to share these wonderful photos of yours! Thank you very much!

No... thank YOOUUU! For the encourangement.

 

[OMlegacy]

Om Mani Padme Hum

Karmapa Khenno!

Thank you very ,much, can we use your photo of Karmapa?

Ask and you shall receive, I missed that one out. Oh Mani Padme Hum!
P62

Then Karmapa came out and was escorted out of the monastery, somehow he took a peek upwards towards me and my travel buddy, whom is a ginger german, which might just be the reason. I think he had a better photo of Karmapa as I had the wrong super-wide lens as he was testing my 17-55mm at that point, which would have been a much better lens for this. I switched to burst and fired away. Karmapa is third highest ranking lama in tibetan buddhism, now residing in Dharamsala.
No... thank YOOUUU! For the encourangement.

 

[OMlegacy]

Stunning Landscape and Beautiful People. But you got an eye for good pictures, cropped or otherwise.

Excellent Photography, Solid Composition and Excellent Exposure. Incredible India.

Nice Thread... thanks for sharing your photo prilgrimage with us !

 

[Shuttergraphy]

P63

Trying to figure out another way of highlighting the paintings on the wall, just depended on the surrounding walls to frame it.

P64

Kinda like the unique terrain that you'd get at Ladakh, very unlike most of the places I've been to. Having said that, hard to capture it in full glory as 2D they look really flat so dependant on lights to hightlight the 3D of the terrain.

P65

P66

This is the type of valley pictures that I'd really love to discover, evening sun rays piercing through selectively. Imagine if there had been a monastery in the highlighted area, I would have waited a full day for that picture. But the only way you can find that out is to know where the direction of the sun is coming from, that is why I carry a watch with compass. Not to see where the lights are coming from now but to figure out the potential of a place in different timings of the day, I can always come back.

 

[Shuttergraphy]

P67

Hmm... I think this still works despite the shallow depth. Framing-wise, I'd like to be alot more daring with the crop. I feel more 'engaged' when the picture is crop tighter, thus why I love my 50mm even with the crop 1.5x factor. I hope you do feel that way rather than claustrophobic.

P68

Hahahahahahahaha! Managed to grab this shot, i was on 12-24mm then switched over to 50mm in just a couple of seconds. Of course my friend realised it was a photo opportunity and continued to engaged the boys while i swap lens.