Faces on the Street – Camel Driver
Camel Driver, Khuri, Jan 2012
First time on the ‘ship of the desert’, aka camel was an interesting experience. If only i knew, I would have put on something other than jeans while getting on it :) The first 2-3 minutes ‘in the air’ on the camel back felt weird and uncomfortable but once you relax and get used to the idea, its a joy ride, at least for the short duration of a camel ride that we undertook. Opinions differ when people take longer rides.
My camel driver had a magnificent saffron turban and I was tempted to leave it in color just for the turban, but for the textures and the tones in black in white on his sun-beaten face.
here’s the version with a more wide angle /normal perspective. Portraits with a bit of their environment and surrounding appeal a bit more , but in this case, it being a desert , there is not much in the background, so I am not sure. What do you think ?
visual journey 
What an incredible face, and so beautifully captured!
Thank you Mufidah. I really appreciate your taking the time to go through my posts. I guess you liked the portraits more than the others, which is what I enjoyed photographing the most in my last trip !
Both of these are great! I slightly lean to the second one, but not by much!
Thank you very much for your comment and for dropping by.
Beautiful portrait! I like the wide angle better, I think I enjoy seeing a bit more space around the subject. And for me, black and white is a winner!
thanks for sharing your perspective Alicia. I agree that adding a bit of the environment sometimes enhances interest
Nice image. I think that the way in which it is displayed would influence which version I prefer. If it was printed in a very large format, sat 3 feet by 2 feet or so, and displayed in a place where I could stand back or step up close, I would prefer the uncropped version. But – as I am viewing it now, on my little iPhone – I really enjoy the close-cropped version. I sure would like to see the color version, too! Great portrait! ~Kyle
that is a great point and I think you have explained it very well. There was something about the wide-angled (#2) perspective that forced me not to ignore it. I think i can verbalize that thought , thanks to you :)
As for the color version, if you don’t mind, I will email that version offline as I believe it might dilute this post and wont go with the BW theme either. Thanks once again for dropping by and I hope you visit again.
Abu, I would love if you sent me the color-version. Thanks! ~Kyle
Love the second one! Amazing portrait!!!
Thank you iltana. It was hard to pick between the two as I liked both, the first one only fractionally more.
Great shots – I especially like the way the angle of his right eye matches the angle of the turban, it’s subtle, but the perfect touch.
wow..that’s an astute observation. Thanks for sharing your perspective !
Oh my, absolutely the close up! There is so much in that face that it gets a bit lost in the uncropped version. But then the isolation of where he is may add to those lines and expression. Hmmm, still I prefer the cropped vision. Great face and photo.
Glad to hear you liked it and also your perspective on the two versions. I prefer the close up too but after much deliberation
Agree about the B/W. Great study.
Thank you Jane.
Very nice! Hope to see more.
Thank you Fergie and I promise there is more :)
Stunning portrait. BW much better!
yes the more I compare, the better the BW version looks. Glad to know that you endorse it too
A face full of character, Abu. I ;like this image very much :)
Indeed very expressive face and features. these images and photography are giving me an opportunity to see and enjoy diversity more than ever
I’m loving this new portrait adventure you have embarked on. Well done!!!
most of it was on a vacation trip to India but I am excited and hope to continue with street images from here onwards.
Marvelous !!
Thank you !
Superb! And I think the cropping is perfect. :-)
Glad u liked it Kathryn. I think I will post the uncropped version for comparison as well
In colour? I’d love to see that too!
no, still BW but uncropped..and maybe just at the same time you wrote the comment :)
Ah ha! Yes, now I’m really not sure… hmm.. I think I prefer it uncropped! Somehow more profound.
:) I told you so. It was a close call
Wonderful image! Such a sensitive portrait. Such great eyes. Perfect in black and white.
Thanks Joanne. It took me a while to decide between the color and BnW and also deciding the cropping (original was not such a tight crop).