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Keeping the Books
Harryb
Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 22,708 Major grins
Amboseli, Kenya
Harry
http://behret.smugmug.com/ NANPA member
How many photographers does it take to change a light bulb? 50. One to change the bulb, and forty-nine to say, "I could have done that better!"
http://behret.smugmug.com/ NANPA member
How many photographers does it take to change a light bulb? 50. One to change the bulb, and forty-nine to say, "I could have done that better!"
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First it strikes me because we are not home here. The three and their outfits require scrutiny. Then I want to see the "book" closer. It appears that the sheets are bound by wood pieces though they are three-ring punched (Glad they weren't playing with your laptop...). The terrain then captures my attention. Finally, the processing has me pondering if I like it or not. My conclusion is it is striking because it probably has every shade of gray possible on my monitor along with deceptive resolution.
The one contrary thought: Needed to get a closer angle and shoot more from your left -- the street shooter pondering how I would like to get this taken...
What I find most intriguing is the motorcycle tire shoes and the ear hoops on the left two individuals. BTW, the notebook looks to be a standard spiral 3 hole jobber indicating they are somewhat (or have been) close to a supply chain of sorts.
Is that a grass/sod hut to the right?
OK, I know I am an ass in bringing this out, because if I do, "everyone" will see it... but journalist integrity be damned, unless I am shooting for NatGeo or a newspaper, I will clone that deer horn branch out.
// richard <http://www.richardmanphoto.com>
richardmanphoto on Facebook and Instagram
www.FineArtSnaps.com
Thanks for the comments. The Maasai are basically living the same life that they led 1,000 years ago. Every now and then a piece of the present breaks through. Sometimes you'll see a warrior walking with his stick and spear with a cellphone on his hip. Here I was drawn to the scene by the spiral notebook. Since they had just taken out the cows and sheep for the day I assumed it was some kind of record of their livestock.
I took the shot because the light was behind me and this angle gave me the best light. Also it was a small village and there were 12 photographers in 4 land rovers visiting. It was tough to get an angle w/o another shooter's presence getting in the frame. The Maasai enjoy having their picture taken and will take a pose (aka, ham it up) if they notice you. I grabbed this capture before they were aware of me.
http://behret.smugmug.com/ NANPA member
How many photographers does it take to change a light bulb? 50. One to change the bulb, and forty-nine to say, "I could have done that better!"
The tire shoes are the standard because they are cheap and sturdy. Its common among Maasai to pierce and stretch their ear lobes. The hut is made out of tree branches, grass, mud and cow dung.
http://behret.smugmug.com/ NANPA member
How many photographers does it take to change a light bulb? 50. One to change the bulb, and forty-nine to say, "I could have done that better!"
One of the attractions of shooting in Kenya was the absence of Starbucks and those golden arches.
I would agree about that branch normally. I have just tried not to do the normal stuff on my African pictures. However in this case I might have to make an exception. Now that you mention it that twig is damn annoying.
http://behret.smugmug.com/ NANPA member
How many photographers does it take to change a light bulb? 50. One to change the bulb, and forty-nine to say, "I could have done that better!"
// richard <http://www.richardmanphoto.com>
richardmanphoto on Facebook and Instagram
now I'll be able to sleep tonite.:snore
http://behret.smugmug.com/ NANPA member
How many photographers does it take to change a light bulb? 50. One to change the bulb, and forty-nine to say, "I could have done that better!"
Thanks, glad you liked it. All pictures tell a story. Some just demand a little bit more imagination from the viewer.
I would call thisa dirt path filled with cow dung photography.
http://behret.smugmug.com/ NANPA member
How many photographers does it take to change a light bulb? 50. One to change the bulb, and forty-nine to say, "I could have done that better!"
// richard <http://www.richardmanphoto.com>
richardmanphoto on Facebook and Instagram
Its a quick rework, got those offenders on my second pass. I'm on the home stretch of going through 16,000+ captures from the trip and I'm getting a tad loopy.
http://behret.smugmug.com/ NANPA member
How many photographers does it take to change a light bulb? 50. One to change the bulb, and forty-nine to say, "I could have done that better!"
Your wildlife shots from this trip were pretty spectacular, glad to see you worked in some "street" type shots too!
Nothing about the shot is "familiar" to me. From the clothing, jewelry, surroundings, except for the three ring notebook in there in the middle of it all and I don't know why but it causes me to chuckle, it's a surprising moment. I'm waiting for them to pull out an iphone next
As for the branches, I was fine w/ them in, they were part of the scene after all.
_________
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Actually i was a street shooter before I moved to Florida and got into the wildlife. Those two types of shooting have a lot in common. In both you are taking in an everyday scene and looking for something interesting in the context of the scene. When you find a "moment" you need to do a quick capture because those moments are fleeting.
The Maasai are good people and very interesting. They have pretty much resisted assimilation and are still living their traditional lifestyle. But there are moments when current day contraption appear.
http://behret.smugmug.com/ NANPA member
How many photographers does it take to change a light bulb? 50. One to change the bulb, and forty-nine to say, "I could have done that better!"
I can understand how you could see that. The texture of the stump is very similar to the texture of the soles of their sandals.
http://behret.smugmug.com/ NANPA member
How many photographers does it take to change a light bulb? 50. One to change the bulb, and forty-nine to say, "I could have done that better!"
www.FineArtSnaps.com
I agree with you. The Maasai wear bright red and sometimes blue robes. When I did my initial processing of the Maasai images I started out in color and soon started doing B&W conversions on many of the images. I'm now about to go back and redo most of the Maasai images in B&W for the reason you stated. When I did the inital capture of this image it was more a snapshot type of capture.
Here's a quick B&W version of the above image.
http://behret.smugmug.com/ NANPA member
How many photographers does it take to change a light bulb? 50. One to change the bulb, and forty-nine to say, "I could have done that better!"
Thanks Damon, its interesting that a simple thing like a spiral notebook can give a capt ure much more impact.
http://behret.smugmug.com/ NANPA member
How many photographers does it take to change a light bulb? 50. One to change the bulb, and forty-nine to say, "I could have done that better!"
Yeah well that shows how strong "Juxtaposition" is.
However even without it's an interesting / well processed/captured image.
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