I was in a car on a highway in India, slowing down as we approached traffic. I saw this ox-cart appear as we got close, and fired off three shots - could/should have used ‘burst’ mode. All were fine, but I liked the last one the most, very “natural” (for me in India, that is).
Finished editing, but something seemed off. I had to shoot through the car window, and I think that was making the image too “tan”, so I used the white balance tool on the driver’s white beard and that cleared everything up nicely.
I really like the subject, that is a man who’s had to work hard for sure.
I had a very quick play with this image between meetings. I do tend to prefer warmer colours in my photos, you’ll notice the trend with anything I upload; just a personal preference.
Fascinating. What I like most about your version is the warmer colors, which make the image more… alive. Going back to my version and it’s like “where did the color go?”.
Where I get stuck, is the size. I want people to see all the detail in my photo, but that leads to cropping. Your version is a complete photograph. My version is “just” an ox-cart. Perhaps this is because my 27" screen is on the other side of this planet, and all I have with me is my 14" MacBook Pro. Gosh, now I’m stumped.
Made a virtual copy, and added some more space around the ox-cart, along with warming up the photo.
I wish I was better able to see these things before someone else (you!) points them out. What I often used to do was sleep on my supposedly “finished” image, and view it the next morning before posting. I would often find things that could be improved.
One thing I know for sure - discussing my images with such a talented group of photographers that we have here in this forum, certainly helps me bring out the best in my photos. Hopefully I “remember” better for future photos!
I still need to think about what, if anything, I should do about the sky. Your version is certainly prettier, but not what I saw from inside my car. I did ligten up the driver’s face a little. But it was a “dull” area from all the land work going on, and your sky, pretty as it looks, is not what I saw. Maybe tomorrow… I want to think on this some more.
Looking at the strength of the ox’s shadow, the Sun is quite strong and making the sky too blue takes away from that. Stick with a pale blue that shows how blindingly bright the day is.
I approve, too, of the way your treatment addresses the driver’s face. There is a risk he gets lost in the original uncropped view.
That said, I wish I could always get blues as deep as Dave’s version. I remember Perfectly Clear from when it was licensed as part of Bibble/Aftershot Pro, and often used it.
Hi Mike, for the blue. I used a control line in PL and pushed the white balance left a little into the blue, then played with saturation and luminance of the blue channels a little in the local adjustments. There’s also a light vignette which I applied in radiant.
For now, I’ll leave it as-is, but will try what you did just to learn how to do it. It certainly worked very effectively! Thanks for the explanation.
Yes, it was blindingly bright, and over 95 or so, meaning I was very uncomfortable when I got out of the car. No way I know of to show how hot it was, but dang, when I stepped outside I started to feel light-headed. Lots of water helped. The driver didn’t seem bothered by the heat.
I wonder if a polarizing filter might have helped. As I recall, they helped early and late in the day, but not mid-day when the sun was at its worst.
Later today, I’ll check the other two images from my series of shots. This was the last image, when we got closest. I probably should have kept right on shooting, just in case.
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herman
(Leica M9 | iPhone 16 Pro | iMac M1 | PL6, FP, VP | Photo Supreme)
7
I kind of like the capture but I feel it looks way better in B&W.
I attached my version below with the corresponding .dop file.
I like the capture too.
My attempt. Don’t know Asia, so color come from what I remember from Africa. More reddish earth. But seems a kind of mix with this green.
Some problems in sky need to be solved.
My head is spinning with all these choices and information.
Last night, I went back to my three original images, and of all three, I prefer the first one the most, even though it is furthest away from my camera. Using what I’ve already learned in this discussion, this is the end result:
To me, seeing the ox-cart from the side is much nicer than head-on, and I got my light blue sky too. There are even clouds that I might eventually bring out more.
Side note: It certainly didn’t help for me to be shooting through a closed window in the car. I had no choice in the matter, so just ignored the useless or worse “filter” over my lens.
Thread Drift Warning added. The following post is in reference to the temple visit I went on with several people from my hospital. The ox-cart and resulting photos were unexpected, but the highlight for me of our entire trip. Continue reading at your own risk…
Well, for starters, on a hot dusty road, around 96 degrees if I remember correctly, the other occupants of the car would have pushed me out, and left me to burn up.
By the time I saw the ox-cart, I had barely enough time to raise the camera to my eye. By the time the window was down, the scene would have been history.
Had I been in the front seat, I might have had time to do something, but my main priority was the camera, not the window. Fortunately, the camera was all set, with my finger over the shutter release. Raise camera, focus, hold still, shoot. I practiced this when it didn’t matter. The camera of course was pre-set, and at some point I turned on auto-ISO because of the potential lack of time.
This is the small restaurant near the temple were we stopped for lunch. I suspect you’ll find it amusing. The fellow in the center is Dr. Venkatesh, the Chief Medical Officer at my hospital. The yellow bag on my chair was to prevent someone from taking my seat. Meals are served on banana leafs, and there is no silverware. I figured it was safer for my tummy to eat at the hospital before we began our journey. At least there are chairs - many people in India eat on the ground, legs crossed in front of them. Me - I just HAD to take this photo, and when I got a chance, I jumped up and grabbed it, returning to my seat to find someone wanting to take my place. Priorities…:
You are so right. I added a warning. Perhaps I should add a photo of the function at the temple, as that was the reason why we made the whole trip. Not tonight though, I’m tired and sleepy. Thank you for the great idea. Anything that follows the warning will no longer be considered drifting. Yawnnn…
