Hindu aarti

 

I took this on a recent trip to Sri Lanka. I am trying to improve my storytelling/travel/documentary photography skills as an amateur. This was taken in Sri Kailawasanathan Temple while a ritual was being held inside. From my limited knowledge of Hinduism, I think it is "aarti" that is being practised here (Do correct me if I am wrong).

 

Please tell me if this photo tells a story to you or is it lacking in any way.

 

Camera and lens: Leica M10-P, Summilux 35mm at f/2.8, 1/125s

 

Cheers!

I think, the warm colors and golden tones on the temple (Hindus love gold :-)) add to the atmosphere quite well. The framing is well executed. The DOF is also well enough to isolate the priest and the temple from the somewhat cluttered background, at the same time not too artificially shallow to obscure the background. My major complaint is the person in the foreground which is a distraction for me. Most importantly, she is blocking the deity, which is the subject of the priest’s offerings. Hiding it takes away from the story in my opinion.

I think, the warm colors and golden tones on the temple (Hindus love gold :)) add to the atmosphere quite well. The framing is well executed. The DOF is also well enough to isolate the priest and the temple from the somewhat cluttered background, at the same time not too artificially shallow to obscure the background. My major complaint is the person in the foreground which is a distraction for me. Most importantly, she is blocking the deity, which is the subject of the priest’s offerings. Hiding it takes away from the story in my opinion.

 

Appreciate the feedback! Good point on the person that's blocking the deity, in hindsight, moving to the left would make this a better shot. Didn't notice that until you pointed it out! Thanks!

Using a photo to tell a story can be gratifying, so kudos on your project. There is plenty of information here. Something to consider is just how much info to provide that will be visually effective. In this case, I’m not sure about the people on the right, what they’re adding to the story and what they may be taking away in terms of focus. The snippet of story on the left, however, seems to show a strong gestural connection between the guy over there and the main guy. That dynamic adds a lot to the story and photo. The woman in the foreground seems intrusive to me as well. As for the focus, I understand your approach but also wonder how I’d feel if the secondary events of the background and sidelines were more in focus. I think the subplot nature and foreground/background difference would still provide separation, and wonder if more focus would actually provide a stronger narrative, especially in the kind of documentary vain you talk about.

More fool me

+1

Using a photo to tell a story can be gratifying, so kudos on your project. There is plenty of information here. Something to consider is just how much info to provide that will be visually effective. In this case, I’m not sure about the people on the right, what they’re adding to the story and what they may be taking away in terms of focus. The snippet of story on the left, however, seems to show a strong gestural connection between the guy over there and the main guy. That dynamic adds a lot to the story and photo. The woman in the foreground seems intrusive to me as well. As for the focus, I understand your approach but also wonder how I’d feel if the secondary events of the background and sidelines were more in focus. I think the subplot nature and foreground/background difference would still provide separation, and wonder if more focus would actually provide a stronger narrative, especially in the kind of documentary vain you talk about.

Much appreciated! I wasn’t sure about the people on the right too, I wanted to show the dynamics of a group of people interacting with the priest who is topless. Maybe it’s their bright coloured clothes that are distracting? Thanks for the much detailed feedback and reminder of watching corners in composition!

+1 to Supriya's post. It is usually a mistake to have a major element in the foreground out of focus. The OOF woman in the front is large and right in the center, which really damages the image in my opinion.

Hi Andrew, I like your photo.

 

At f/2.8 you have a narrow DOF and the focus on the man offering the light is good. So the 'story' in the photo for me unfollowed as follows:

1. An Indian/Asian man's holding something up in his hands

2. The position of the arms/hands of people in the background (left and right) tell me that it's a religious ceremony

3. I see the temple/altar which - with 1 and 2 - makes me think "offering"

4. Although the woman in front is out of focus, I notice that she's holding her arms/hands as the people in the background are

5. I notice the rails around the altar and that the man is the only person inside the rails

 

So my 'story' is that the man (a priest?) is making an offering and the other people outside the rails (including the woman in front) are participants in this ceremony.

The people left and right arte an - for me - an important part of the 'story''.

 

Even though the woman was in front of you, I suspect that this was probably the best place to take the shot. Though it's worth think about how it would have looked from a step to the right. I don't know the Leica M10-P but I read that the ISO goes up to 64000. This one (on automatic ISO ?) was taken with ISO 500. So in low light situations, it's worth considering setting a higher ISO (3200?) manually and choosing your F-stop accordingly.

 

One more tip (perhaps) is that taking a few steps backwards with a smaller aperture would have brought the man (offering) and woman in front more into the same DoF. You'd get a much larger 'frame' than you you need but cropping in PP would give you the frame you wanted. TBH, it's difficult to think of all this and set it up at the time of the shot! But my main point is to keep the 'final image' (after PP) in mind when taking the shot.

 

Hope this helps,

 

Mike

 

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Please tell me if this photo tells a story to you or is it lacking in any way.

 

Camera and lens: Leica M10-P, Summilux 35mm at f/2.8, 1/125s

 

Cheers!

Hi Andrew, I like your photo.

 

At f/2.8 you have a narrow DOF and the focus on the man offering the light is good. So the 'story' in the photo for me unfollowed as follows:

1. An Indian/Asian man's holding something up in his hands

2. The position of the arms/hands of people in the background (left and right) tell me that it's a religious ceremony

3. I see the temple/altar which - with 1 and 2 - makes me think "offering"

4. Although the woman in front is out of focus, I notice that she's holding her arms/hands as the people in the background are

5. I notice the rails around the altar and that the man is the only person inside the rails

 

So my 'story' is that the man (a priest?) is making an offering and the other people outside the rails (including the woman in front) are participants in this ceremony.

The people left and right arte an - for me - an important part of the 'story''.

 

Even though the woman was in front of you, I suspect that this was probably the best place to take the shot. Though it's worth think about how it would have looked from a step to the right. I don't know the Leica M10-P but I read that the ISO goes up to 64000. This one (on automatic ISO ?) was taken with ISO 500. So in low light situations, it's worth considering setting a higher ISO (3200?) manually and choosing your F-stop accordingly.

 

One more tip (perhaps) is that taking a few steps backwards with a smaller aperture would have brought the man (offering) and woman in front more into the same DoF. You'd get a much larger 'frame' than you you need but cropping in PP would give you the frame you wanted. TBH, it's difficult to think of all this and set it up at the time of the shot! But my main point is to keep the 'final image' (after PP) in mind when taking the shot.

 

Hope this helps,

 

Mike

Great insights! Glad that you are able to follow the story here (I must applaud your skills observation on those fine and subtle details). Agree stepping to the right would reveal more important detail, as others have rightfully pointed out. You are right about the auto ISO as both aperture and shutter are set manually. Interesting thought on creating a less shallow DOF to include details in the background, but I guess this needs to be balanced with creating too much distractions.

A big thank you to all the generous feedback! So what I learnt here is to be more aware of the main draw of the story, ie the interaction between the priest and the altar. Taking a step sideways would make a stronger picture.