Fishing At the Feet Of God

Over the next few weeks I will be profiling some of the photos from my first publications, “scenes of india”.

The first photo profiled, Fishing At the Feet of God, is also the cover shot for the book. The photo features the Taj Mahal, as seen from Mehtab Bagh across the Yamuna River. The Taj Mahal and morning storm clouds are reflected in the Yamuna River while a group of 5 kids can be seen fishing from the river along a little sand bar in the middle of the river.

The process for making this image were somewhat more involved than just shooting the Taj Mahal. Prior to our trip to India I had done some additional research on photographing the Taj Mahal, specifically trying to find some angles and shooting locations that were outside the standard tourist shots you usually see. I found a number of spectacular shots from across the Yamuna River, and specifically Mehtab Bagh. When we arrived in Agra we did the standard tour of the Taj Mahal. I talked to our driver and he was very adamant that it was not safe for me to travel to Mehtab Bagh, especially by boat (which was my original plan). At the hotel I talked to the concierge about my desire to find a boat to take me across the river so I could photograph the Taj Mahal in the morning, and they were very clear that it was not safe for a westerner to make such a trip. I explained why I wanted to make the trip and the concierge stated that one of his co-workers was a photographer and knew of a great place to photograph the Taj Mahal. He would be working in a few hours and would call me when he arrived. Fantastic. So, a few hours later the concierge calls and I head down to the lobby to meet him, and as luck would have it he had a great place for me to photograph the Taj Mahal. Mehtab Bagh, across the Yamuna River…which if you recall is actually exactly where I wanted to go! But, once again, he stressed it probably was not safe for a western to make this trip by boat across the river. After some negotiating he agreed that it would be safe for me to make the trip by car, and we made arrangements to hire a hotel car to drive me to Mehtab Bagh.

I was able to convince Dablu, my sister’s father-in-law, to join me on the early morning trip (we had a morning off planned, and the rest of the traveling party was planning on relaxing in the hotel after a long train trip and sight seeing the day before). An hour drive in Agra traffic saw us arrive across the river at Mehtab Bagh. Mehtab Bagh, or the Moonlight Garden as it is also known, offers striking views of the Taj Mahal in the Yamuna River. As we arrived at the site, we were greeted by some local kids begging for cash. Seeing as we were the only two people at the site, outside of the little rascals, they decided to accompany us on our walk. Not to beg for money, but rather to stave of their boredom. As you can see from the photo a set of storm clouds rolled past the Taj Mahal, creating a fantastic backdrop in the mid morning sun. The clouds also reduced the glare from the sun, and evened out the shadows. For this specific shot I located myself in front of the 5 kids fishing in the river. I spent about 15 minutes in the location, so by this time they had stopped focusing on me and went back to their task of fishing in the river. The dynamic range of this shot made it challenging, the kids are heavily shadowed in order to maintain detail in the clouds and white marbled Taj Mahal. Dodging and Burning, using Viveza 2.0, was required to even out the highlights and brings back some of the shadow detail.

Outside of “Reflections”, this is probably my favorite shot from the set at Mehtab Bagh. It’s a different take on a classic travel shot of India, the Taj Mahal. The storm clouds and reflections create an interesting canvas around which to place the much photographed Taj Mahal. The kids fishing in the foreground brings the image back to reality and helps portray everyday life in the area. For them the Taj Mahal isn’t a 7th wonder of the world, but just part of their everyday life. And of course there is the luck of the draw, the Taj Mahal being closed on a Friday morning in preparation for a special activity in the afternoon allowed me to photograph the scene without the normal crowds you would see on the dais in front of the Taj Mahal.

To purchase this image, click on the photo above.

The hardcover edition of “scenes of india”, is available through blurb for $59.95 + tax/shipping.

For signed copies of “scenes of india”, click here

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 28th, 2010 at 11:31 am and is filed under black and white, india, scenes of india, urban landscapes and tagged with agra, black and white, book, clouds, fishing, india, scenes of india, silver efex pro, taj mahal, yamuna river. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.