Waiting in Little India

[erusan]

This was shot in Little India, Singapore. I intended to express the atmosphere at this market, with two colorful ladies sitting in the foreground while in the back, life goes on relentlessly.
The main reason I posted this image for critique is that, inspite of its technical flaws (mainly the lack of sharpness), I was quite pleased with it. But photographing for your own pleasure and satisfaction is not too difficult, and I am therefore interested to hear opinions on the composition and photographic value and find out where I stand in the eyes of other photographers.

Does the atmosphere outweigh the technical flaws? I would be grateful if you can comment on what you like and dislike about this particular capture.

[BernardLanguillier]

Hi there,

Nice image. I was in Little India Singapore about 2 years ago, and loved the place.

The picture works for me thanks to the diverging look of the woman, they might be looking away from you, or from each other.

I guess that a classical composition would want a look to keep you inside the image, but the way it is here kind of makes us wonder, and takes us exploring the place.

I guess that the very bright area left of the left woman's face is probably a bit unfortunate but you couldn't do much about it I guess. Towards the bottom of the image, I would personnally get rid of the cut feet by cropping some.

Regards,
Bernard

[jdemott]

I like the colors and the atmosphere, but the composition doesn't work for me.  Both women are looking out of the frame, but not in a way that really makes me wonder much about what is going on or what they are looking at; it just loses my attention.  Then my eye is led down the middle of the photo and not much is happening there.

[Jonathan Wienke]

IMO the shot would work better with a looser crop on the sides. The main point of interest is the two women, who are both cut off by the edges of the frame, and there's nothing really going on in the middle to overcome that.

[Ray]

This is a classic composition disaster. Sorry! You've got essentially two separate images with nothing much to connect them. Even worse, you could make a case for three separate compositions with nothing to connect them; the two women in the foreground and the view down the aisle.

But never mind! You have provided an example of what not to do.

[erusan]

Thank you all for your insights. I have learned a few good lessons already, and will try to put them into practice.

One would be to be sure to think out the way attention of the viewer flows within the image. Another would be to ensure that composition is uniform so it supports the viewers wandering eye. I appreciate very much the detailed remarks of all commenters, and they have opened my eyes - at least about this image. Future will tell if I learned from them  

Ray - I hope this forum will thrive now that it has at least one bad example among the entries. Thank you for pointing that out.

I hope to continue learning from all of your expertise, and perhaps contribute a note here and there...
Thank you very much for taking the time to comment, it is priceless, to use a cliche.

[Ray]

Ray - I hope this forum will thrive now that it has at least one bad example among the entries. Thank you for pointing that out.

Of course, you understand that rules of composition are not sacrosanct. The two Indian ladies are so large and colorful they at least make the image interesting even though one tends to be a bit disturbed by the fact they are both walking off the page.  I'd rather an interesting image that breaks the rules than a dull one that conforms to the rules.

The fact that the lady on the left (of the viewer) is not sharp (in fact they are both not as sharp as they could be) also detracts from the impact.

[russell a]

The colorful dresses constitute the story of this shot.  As a learning exercise, try cropping the women so their heads are clipped at  the top corners, select, blur, and desaturate the middle section and see if you can make something of the shot.