I came to Rajasthan to live out my own Steve McCurry fantasy, to travel to the same places and photograph the same faces that he did. So this morning I went to Dhai-Bhai Kund, a 500-year-old step well in Bundi, India. This guy was sitting nearby. I asked him if I could take a photo of him in the well. He happily agreed. It was like a Nat Geo dream. ~
How I Made The Photo
Vision: Before I left for India a friend of mine told me I should visit the stepwells. They are really just wells or ponds that you get to by going down steps. The cool thing about them is that they look like something out of an MC Escher drawing, minimal repetitive patterns of zigzags and lines.
You can find these wells all over Rajasthan. Many of them are in small towns that you can easily get to by train, like this one in the Bundi, India. When I got to this well it was practically abandoned with no water at the bottom of it, just some dirt and a little trash.
I really wanted a human element to give it scale. Also, the composition was boring without anyone in it. But even more so, I wanted to get a portrait of one of these local guys with his colorful turban on, just like I saw in Steve McCurry’s photos. This guy was sitting around the corner having the tire on his motorcycle changed.
[Like this? Read: 27 Inspiring Photography Tips From Steve McCurry]
He didn’t speak English, nor did anyone else sitting around him. Somehow, through some bad sign language, I managed to get him to walk with me over to the well and make this portrait. I offered to give him a small amount of cash for his time. He refused. I went and bought him and his friends some drinks instead. It was one of the best experiences I had during my India photo adventure.
On a technical note, I shot midday when the sun was high. The soft early morning or late afternoon light is often the best, but if I shot at that time I wouldn’t have gotten the strong shadows deep in the well, as seen in the right side of this frame. I wanted those shadows because that contrast helps to add depth to the image. I also didn’t use a flash. I rarely shoot with one, let alone carry it when I travel. In the future, I might carry a reflector with me to bounce some light on his face if I were to do more of this.
Processing: edited single exposure in Adobe Lightroom, Nik Color Efex, Nik Sharpener.
- Camera: Sony A7 II
- Lens: Sony Vario-Tessar T* FE 16-35mm f/4 ZA OSS
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