I´m uploading some pics for my next blog post, and the best two shots I got of a particular scene are the following:
old mosque, chinguetti by bartjeej, on Flickr
and
View attachment 103273timeless / prayer time by bartjeej, on Flickr
Now both of these photos make the scene look a bit quieter than it really was; it was prayer time, and a number of men - I'd say about 20 in total - entered the mosque over the course of a couple of minutes. However, photography is a sensitive issue in that part of the world, and doubly so around mosques, so several men indicated that they didn't want to be photographed. I respected that ofcourse, but since they were usually in groups, that meant I only got one man entering the mosque (the 2nd shot). To me, that scene is too quiet to represent my experience. I also got a shot with a boy walking past me (the 1st shot), which has some movement and mystery, but to me that lacks the focus on the religious aspect of going to the mosque. So, very much against my principles, I decided to try and combine the two persons into one shot. I chose the background of the 2nd shot for its sharpness, and with some effort, pasted the boy in:
rush hour by bartjeej, on Flickr
My questions are:
-does it look awkward / unnatural?
-does it improve the scene?
-and if not, which one of the original scenes is the better one?
There're some differences in lighting with each shot as I tried to capture what it looked like; it was shortly after sunset, and the side of the minaret that's towards the camera had a wonderful alpenglow-ish lighting going on, really quite magical.
Thanks in advance for any comments, criticism, advice, etcetera!
and
View attachment 103273timeless / prayer time by bartjeej, on Flickr
Now both of these photos make the scene look a bit quieter than it really was; it was prayer time, and a number of men - I'd say about 20 in total - entered the mosque over the course of a couple of minutes. However, photography is a sensitive issue in that part of the world, and doubly so around mosques, so several men indicated that they didn't want to be photographed. I respected that ofcourse, but since they were usually in groups, that meant I only got one man entering the mosque (the 2nd shot). To me, that scene is too quiet to represent my experience. I also got a shot with a boy walking past me (the 1st shot), which has some movement and mystery, but to me that lacks the focus on the religious aspect of going to the mosque. So, very much against my principles, I decided to try and combine the two persons into one shot. I chose the background of the 2nd shot for its sharpness, and with some effort, pasted the boy in:
My questions are:
-does it look awkward / unnatural?
-does it improve the scene?
-and if not, which one of the original scenes is the better one?
There're some differences in lighting with each shot as I tried to capture what it looked like; it was shortly after sunset, and the side of the minaret that's towards the camera had a wonderful alpenglow-ish lighting going on, really quite magical.
Thanks in advance for any comments, criticism, advice, etcetera!