This is the fourth in the series of travel photography articles. See earlier articles here.
Last week we looked at how important it is to choose a suitable background while framing the shot. This week, let’s look at introducing interesting foregrounds in the image. Also, let’s look at three images that have been submitted for review this week. If you would like your images reviewed, to know what worked well in the image and how it could have been bettered, post your images on India Travel and Photography group pool on flickr and tag them as itpcritique.
CHOOSING INTERESTING FOREGROUNDS
Sometimes it is easy to get a good picture of your subjects, simply because the subject is so beautiful that you can’t go wrong. Taj Mahal is a good example. Or it could be any well known mountain or a famous waterfall. While your photograph would be just fine by itself, it may not stand out or not have any personal memories etched into the image, simply because it is just one a million shots that get taken every day. Your picture of Taj Mahal would be exactly same as the ubiquitous image taken by hundreds of people who visit the Taj, and published many times over.
A great way to pep up such images is to add some interesting foregrounds to it. The choice of foreground has to be made wisely and it must fill in just the amount frame not to distract the viewer from the main subject. Let’s look at a few examples.
The subject of the picture here is the tall ancient temples from the small village of Jageshwar in Uttarakhand. Having taken a few images of the temples already, I was looking for something that can fill life to the image. That’s when I spotted this priest sitting on the steps in front of one of the shrines. He added a lot of interestingness and life to the image of the temples.
However beautiful Chandratal Lake is, I found it hard to get good images of the lake. It is a vast lake, and letting the clear lake to occupy bulk of the frame did not work very well. Its surface was very calm and reflected the sky and the mountains so well that the lake surface itself could not be seen. That’s when I thought of adding the stones in the foreground. This is what I finally got.
The scale and magnificence of Jog Waterfall would never have been apparent, had I not bothered to include a little bit of the cliff at the bottom of the frame. In fact, picture of the just the strands of waterfall would have left the viewer clueless about what is happening. The foreground also helps get the perspective right, and sometimes gives a sense of scale.
I stumbled on this image yesterday browsing through flickr, which would be a perfect example of using a foreground to enhance the image. The plant in the foreground by itself is not interesting, but greatly enhances the photograph as a whole.
To conclude, there are various ways by which a good foreground can improve the image. It could create a distraction that actually complements the image and makes it stand out from the typical. It can also make the viewer realize the scale, and help in getting the right perspective.
IMAGE REVIEWS
The two images below are posted for review by flickr users Prashanth M‘ and mridula respectively.
Both images are good subjects for introducing a foreground to enhance the image. While Prashanth M‘s frozen waterfall is well executed, something more to fill the bottom right portion would have improved the image. Normally, a flow looks pleasing to the eye when it moves from left to right than otherwise, but I guess such an angle would not have been possible with this waterfall. The image of lake submitted by mridula has nice reflection, and the mountains are positioned well in the image. But looking at the picture, I can’t tell how much does the lake extend to the front, and miss the scale of the entire lake. The piece of cloud sticking right on the mountain peak is also a distraction. Waiting for it to go away would have helped.
Though I was planning to review just two pictures, I could not resist posting this one, submitted by flickr user janhaviiii. A well executed image, the young monk is positioned perfectly well in the frame. The porch where he is sitting, steps leading up, the free space left in front of the monk are all that go well with the picture. The bottom portion of the image is unfortunately burnt, and is very prominent. But with the monk sitting in shadow and too much variance of brightness in the frame, this would not have been easy to prevent. One possibility to get this right would be to slightly underexpose the shot, and brighten the shadows later on the computer.
If you would like your images reviewed and know what worked well in the image and how it could have been bettered, post your images on India Travel and Photography group pool on flickr and tag them as itpcritique.
The second in the series on Thursday Travel Photography Column, discussing on the importance of early morning light.
Join India Travel and Photography group on flickr.
I have created a group on flickr, called India Travel and photography for discussions on travel and photography, and to share images and travel stories. Please join the group and share your images from recent trips, and possibly your travel stories along with images.
From next week, I intend to critique one or two images every week as a part of Thursday Travel Photography column, explaining how a photograph can be bettered and/or what makes it stand out, highlighting the technicals and aesthetics related to the image. To have your images critiqued, add your images to the group pool and tag them as itpcritique.
Waking up early in the morning is critical for getting good outdoor shots, especially when you are shooting landscape images. The soft light of the morning hours just before and during the sunrise can bring life to a scenery that may look flat in later hours of the day.
On a cloudy day or in clear summer days, the light just before the sun comes out tends to have a blue tint that works well when you are shooting in mountain landscapes, beach side or other open areas. In winters, the early morning sun on clear days tends to have an orange hue that can bathe the landscape in glorious colors. A gentle fog in the morning can diffuse the light and create magical effects in the landscape, highlighting the contours of the mountains and removing excessive details from the scenery. A few examples:
What could have been an ordinary image of wild grass is transformed into a colourful frame in early morning light, on a winter morning. But such brilliant colors may not occur in summers.
The mild fog in the morning hides the finer details of the plains and highlights just the contour of the mountains in this picture. Also notice the blue tint in the entire frame, which will not occur in the later hours of the day. A similar shot, made in the afternoon would be full of details of the plains, and the emphasis on the hills would be completely lost. Also, the image would have a dull color and would look very flat.
Another important character of the morning light is the angle of the incident light. Because the sun is close to horizon and the light is not harsh, sunlight casts mild shadows in depressions in the landscape. Shadows created by such lighting (normally called side-light) help highlight the texture of the subject and show the depth and help visualize the third dimension in the photograph. Contrary to this, afternoon sun has equal intensity in all areas, be it depressions or crests, making the scenery look flat and two dimensional. Where the afternoon light does cast shadows, the shadows tend to be harsh, which form completely dark areas in the image, making the picture look ugly. An example.
In the image above, which was shot in early morning hours, the distinction between each layer of mountains is clearly visible, and there is a depth in the image. However in the picture below, which was shot in the same region but in later hours of the day, distinction between the layers of mountains is not as prominent, and the image is not as appealing as the one above.
If you are shooting wildlife, there is another advantage besides the quality of light. Birds tend to be less active in the morning hours and are easier to shoot. You can find some birds, and animals like monkeys in a close huddle in winter mornings, which makes them look appealing, like in the image below.
To ask me any questions on morning light or other aspects on photography, to start a discussion or share your images related to the topic, join India Travel and Photography flickr pool, add images and start discussion threads.
Starting today, India Travel Blog will feature a column on Travel Photography every Thursday. This column aims to help amateurs as well as keenly interested readers to hone their photography skills, and enable them to take better pictures when travelling. Besides providing simple, helpful tips on getting good pictures, we will also touch on simplest post processing techniques, managing images and other aspects that needs to be addressed after taking a picture. We will also feature a way to have one or two images critiqued every week, and one or two questions from the readers answered. Welcome to the column – ‘Thursday Travel Photography’. Comments and feedback welcome.
I posted a short write up on ‘10 tips to get good images‘ on Club Mahindra Blog a fortnight ago. This week, I was hoping to take up each of these 10 tips and explain in depth about how to get the best from it, using examples. When I was looking back at the write-up today, a comment from Kalyan caught my attention. He said:
“…I get scared of the 3rd tip [about shooting people]. I mean ’shooting’ children is easy but adult strangers! I get too jittery to ask. Hope you write another post on – 7 tips on how to ask ‘May I click your photograph’?”
Let’s talk about this in today’s column.
There are two lines of thinking about getting permission from people when taking photographs.
First, that it is important to take permission before taking pictures. By shooting a person without taking his or her permission, we would be invading their privacy, and it is not right to take a picture against their wish.
Second, that a good image can’t be shot when you request for permission. You may be denied permission in the first place. And even if you are allowed to, you still can’t get a candid image of the person being photographed. He or she becomes conscious of the photographer and the mood of the moment will be gone.
It is difficult to deny both streams of thought. It is important to respect someone’s privacy, and at the same time it would nice to catch the mood of the moment perfectly. Every photographer will have his own views on this, and it is hard to say which is right. Personally I follow a middle ground between the two and choose my action depending on my location, and general attitude of people about being photographed by strangers. While I find it important to respect someone’s privacy, I do go ahead and shoot without asking in places where I find it likely that people are not apprehensive about their picture taken.
I asked this baba’s permission before taking his picture. He was glad to consent, but as soon as I asked him, he became conscious. He was casually chatting with people around him, but suddenly stopped, adjusted his headgear and posed for the camera stiffly. The mood of the moment was gone.
Women in mountain regions of India(such as Himachal, Sikkim, Arunachal) prefer not to be photographed by tourists, and shy away when they see a camera pointed at them. People from globalized societies, such as in big cities, or most people who are aligned with modern ways of living prefer not to be photographed from strangers. However, as you go into smaller places, people are likely to be more open and do not get disturbed by photographers. Some may even be delighted to get photographed, and will be glad to pose for the camera.
I did not ask him for permission to shoot. But I was standing in front of him not very far away, and he was well aware that I was shooting him. I spent a few minutes wandering in the area before getting this picture.
I avoid photographing people altogether in the first case where people are apprehensive to getting photographed. There would be a few occasions when a great photo-opportunity would have made me break this self-imposed rule, but I have always regretted it more than having enjoyed the process. When I was travelling in the tribal village of Dha and Hanu in the Indus Valley of Ladakh, elderly women frequently asked for money to get photographed. Since I was not keen to pay, I avoided taking pictures but could not resist in some occasions when I saw them walking in front of me wearing their tribal clothing. I requested a lady to pose for a photograph, and she consented, but asked for some money after the picture was taken. I politely refused and moved on, and she did not seem to mind much. But when I took a picture of another lady a little later even as she was far from me, this time without asking for permission, she was clearly upset and did not hide her disapproval. She asked for money, and was not happy when I refused. I managed to get away, but felt guilty about having taken the picture without her approval and deleted it soon after.
This lady from Dha Village agreed to be photographed. But another lady I met after her was unhappy about her picture being taken without her consent. I deleted that image.
While I tried taking pictures in Dha-Hanu, in many such occasions when I have seen people unwilling to pose either due to privacy concerns or for any other reasons, I have resisted the temptation to shoot. I rarely shoot people in areas of cities where people may not be keen to get photographed, and have let go some good opportunities on realizing that people may not be keen to get framed. But if people are not a prominent part of the scene, I do not have two minds about going ahead with my shot.
At the same time, I have taken some additional measures to get a picture when I really wanted it. Driving through Himachal’s Kinnaur Valley, we saw two beautiful women walking by, wearing traditional caps and necklaces on the way. Knowing that they would never be willing to get photographed, we requested our driver – a talkative person who knew the way of locals, to talk to them and ask for their consent. He did manage to get their permissions and we quickly took a few shots. In another incident, I was keen to get images of a woman weaving a jasmine necklace in Madurai, who asked for some money to be photographed. This time, I obliged and paid her to take a picture.
In places where people usually do not mind being photographed, such as in rural areas, in parts of Rajasthan or Ladakh, I have simply gone ahead and photographed people without asking their consent. I must admit that the best of my people images comes from such places, but I also feel that it is not right to go out of way to get those best shots. In such occasions, while I don’t make it obvious about taking their pictures, I consciously avoid hiding from them as I shoot.
I shot this picture during a festival in a monastery in Ladakh. There were a large number of photographer-tourists around me taking her picture. She was well aware that she was being photographed. While it is impossible to say if she was okay about being photographed, she did not appear upset about it, nor did she disapprove.
When you do ask for permission to shoot, talk to them casually and spend time with the person you are shooting and make them comfortable first. Take a few sample images initially, until they start getting used to the camera, or ignore it altogether. It is then possible to take images of the person without getting him or her conscious. It is much easier with kids who become friendly quickly and will be happy to be good subjects for the camera. I usually try talking to children who eventually become comfortable and do not remain conscious of the camera for long.
It is easy to break the ice with children.
To conclude, I don’t think there is an easy and perfect solution to the problems of shooting people. At the same time it is important not to break into anyone’s privacy and go out of the way to get the best shot. When you do ask for permission, spend time to break the ice before getting your picture.