Living my childhood on grandfather's back

[amit_raaaj]

This picture was taken at pushkar kund (Rajasthan, India).

Any feedback will be highly appreciated for the picture below!!!



Model NIKON D60
ISO 200
Exposure 1/160 sec
Aperture 7.1
Focal Length 55mm
Flash Used false

[graciousness]

I've been looking at this photo for a while. There's something very lovely and deep in the idea of it; I've been sitting here thinking what I would say or what to even think as far as what I could offer as a critique.

Overall, there is a balance between the aesthetic value and the technical execution of this photo in my eyes. Whilst technically, it could have been tweaked a little better (composure and subject exposure), the aesthetic value always brings me to my admiration when I first looked at this photo. The title is conveyed very well on the photo (or vice versa) - grandfather carrying his grandchild on his back as they walk along the riverbank of their hometown where years and possibly, generations, of family history have come and will, thus, continue through that child. I love the minimal colours that set the tone, esp the singling out the bright reds of grandfather symbolising his energy and strength that enables him to support and give excitement to that young life he has on his back.

Perhaps I may seem to have analysed the scene a little too much with so many words, but then if I simplify what I see and describe the emotion that it conveys for me, I would only have needed to be silent on the subject and let others come to the conclusion for themselves as they look at the picture.

But critique and advice has been asked for so here I am with my army of words

It's times like these that I wish I was more technically adept with photography so I could offer you more useful advice that you can take away with. But I can only offer you general advice so please bear with me and my simplistic critique.

Composition-wise, you need to crop the bottom a little bit so that it's not showing the wall on the left bottom side as it is not doing any value to the photo. It only merely suggested that you couldn't include a more full shot of your subjects (grandfather and child) so as to see the full scene a bit better. So I would recommend cropping it out, including this tiny object on top of it near grandpa that is a little distracting.

In regards to focus, I can't tell where you've focused your camera on, as the buildings are a little out of focus and so are your human subjects. Maybe this is the case because grandpa and child are both a little underexposed. They would really benefit from more exposure and that the background doesn't deter too much attention away from the main subjects. I guess in this situation where you shot in a bright day, it would have been harder to do proper exposure on darker skin, but I think someone can advice you how you can do this properly. Fill flash maybe?

I also wouldn't mind seeing a little bit more contrast on the buildings.

The mountains look hazy and that's a bit hard to avoid, so I don't know if just a tiny bit more cropping on the top would help it?

Other than that, I want to thank you for sharing your photo. You have a good eye and have deep, emotional sensitivity with your images and that, to me, deserve compliments. When you master your technical skills, you will be a good, if not, great photographer.

Cheers.

[JFSanders]

Would not change anything. Great photograph! Jim

[graciousness]

Originally Posted by JFSanders

Would not change anything. Great photograph! Jim

That was my initial thought, but still with the wall crop on the bottom

But then I thought I can't learn if I don't do more in-depth critique so I sat here and forced an evaluation to help me and the OP as part of our learning process.

I guess I have to think that there is always room for improvement and hence my elongated critique

[JFSanders]

You know, I didn't even see that part of the wall?! Yes, it should be cropped out. Nice catch young lady. Jim

[amit_raaaj]

Hi Grace, Jim,

First of all thank you very much for looking into it. I really appreciate the valuable comments made, and I am still wondering whether this photo was really that nice

Grace, I would say nice catch I did not realize the part of wall before reading this message.

Thanks again

Cheers,
Amit

[JFSanders]

Amit, we have a saying in the southern U.S., Even a blind squirrel finds a nut now and then. But this speaks to the main difference between a pupil and a master of the craft. A master has complete control of his tools and his mind and as such can create such a beautiful photograph more readily than the pupil who can also create such a thing but only by happy accident. Most of us will live our lives in the pupil stage and that is as it should be. Because if the creation of a beautiful thing was within the grasp of all it would quickly degrade into the mundane and expected and would quickly lose its beauty.

Be proud of your accomplishment and let that pride push you to mastery so that in doing such a thing you will obtain grace and a fulfilled life. Jim

[amit_raaaj]

Hi Jim,

Thank you so much for such a wonderful comment this is truly inspiring. Getting such a comment for someone who touched DSLR only 5 months back is truly motivational.

Thank you once again and have a very good day ahead