Young Rug Seller in Mecca, Saudi Arabia

[Nessad]

Young Rug Seller by Nessad Choudhury, on Flickr

I took this shot this past July when I was in Saudi Arabia. It's one of my favorites, and the first time I photographed a stranger off the street. I was nervous asking a random person if I could take their picture but he was more than happy to get his picture taken .

I like the colors, but there just seems to be something off? What can I do differently next time I attempt a shot like this? Looking back, I should've asked him to come closer to me, so I could've gotten a shallower depth of field with the rugs in the back. I post processed it slightly, just basic cropping, and some contrast editing.

Thanks!

[Photologyst]

Great idea!

However, I don’t see too many fabulous carpets?

The photo appears to be overexposed, colors are pale. The boy is not looking at the camera while whatever he is looking at is out of range.

Bottom line for me, this photo does not have the “mystery” and dark “allure” of the far east. It appears as a tourist snap rather than a photo.

Try PS processing and cropping the photo.

[windrider86]

I'm willing to bet you'll get more responses if you post your photo here for us. Its just much easier to give critique if we arent flipping back and forth

[Nessad]

Oh okay, thanks for the suggestion. This is my first post on these forums so I wasn't sure if a link would be better or not. I edited my original post.