Yogi's in Varanesi!

YoungNomad

Hey everyone! Brand new member of these forums - very quick introduction before I post some photos.

I'm 29, and my fiance and I are traveling through India for the next 3 months. We're semi-retired, so I've been able to devote a bit more time to trying to learn the art of photography.

I'm one of those incompetents - I really only know the bare basics, I mainly know what needs to be where to make a shot look good.

Anyway, enough rambling. I set myself a task to get up and close to as many Yogi's as I could today, and I think the results are pretty cool.

Would love some feedback / critique etc etc. I'm not made of glass, so feel free to rip into these shots :thumb













Also, there are a few more at tamerik.smugmug.com

Have a great day everyone!!!

Erik

Dmanning

Neat shots. Very interesting subject to say the least. I'm not viewing on a calibrated monitor but they seem underexposed. I love the piercing eyes that are in a few of the shots. Some fill flash could probably go a long way because in several of the shots the eyes are just black spots. Can't wait to see more of what you experience there.

Thanks for sharing.

Agnieszka

OH MY GOD!! This cracks me up!! I took photos of the SAME guys in a different town (3&4)!!! Hahahaha.

How did you like Varanasi? Where else are you guys going?

As a general comment, I'd say go down to their eye level. Some of the shots you took were taken from above, and aren't as strong in my opinion

Ans what do you mean by 29 and half-retired?? Uhm, that's a good life!

Foques

The eyes are fantastic in #2

YoungNomad

Awesome replies - thanks heaps guys!

Yes - I think the Yogi's wander around quite a bit, they're such awesome subjects to photograph.

I think using a flash would have created too artificial a light source, but I'll give it a shot next time to see how it looks.

I definitely think squatting down a bit more to get them at eye level is a great idea - thanks heaps

Semi - retired ... bit of a long story. We run our own real estate agency in Canberra, and are fortunate enough to have it at a size where we don't need to be involved in the day to day running anymore, which has freed up our time to travel and take it easy for the next few years.

Still stressful, but nowhere near as much as working 14 hour days :P

Thanks for all the feedback

reyvee61

Welcome you young semi-retired guy you!

These are as fascinating as the characters in them.
I would say just get down to their level and the portraits are on their way to being better....

Photogbiker

Great shots
Love the subjects, color and detail. They do seem a bit underexposed. Experiment with your flash. If it looks "too artificial" you don't have it set right. Try a 1 to 2 stop underexposure on your flash compensation, it will amaze you how you get a fill light that doesn't look like a flash. Get low is good comment also, and crop in. Look at the impact the second one has compared to 3 and 4. They look like you are just walking by and literally and figuratively "looking down" on them. Also a lot of dead space around the faces in 3 & 4. If you were just a few inches lower in #2 it would have been a stronger image. Lighting on 2 is nice also. Looks like indirect with maybe a light colored wall behind you filling his face. Less contrast in scene didn't cause your camera to underexpose.

A couple tweaks and you would have some publish worthy shots there. Keep posting, can't wait to see more of India up close and not postcard shots. Good stuff