Cane Dance
by OmanOtter

Comment by Melethia:
This looks like a very interesting ceremony. How did canes come into play, I wonder?

Wedding Swordsman
by OmanOtter

Comment by Melethia:
I love the crazed look in his eyes! Perhaps just enthused, not crazed. But it's good.

Watching the Dancers
by OmanOtter

Comment by surfdabbler:
Hi Sean, here's a critique for you...
It's a pity this shot relies on it's title to explain what they are doing. The photo itself makes me wonder why these men are sitting there. There's a range of people and expressions, but they look a little bored. On the RHS, I would crop off the end of the row, and remove the blown-out highlight in the background. The backlighting gives a nice rim-light to define some outline points of each face. Some shadow adjustment in photoshop would help to bring up the rest of the faces to see their expressions better, and this would really help the viewer connect with the subjects. The overall photo looks a little crooked, and this might also be helped by cropping the RHS, so the eye has no reference to know it's crooked. :)

Watching the Dancers
by OmanOtter

Comment by OmanOtter:

Originally posted by SaraR: To my very western eye, this is a truly interesting photograph. I love the mixture of expressions you have captured, and the exposure of the white kandooras is spot on - the only negative is the brown trousered knee that has crept in to the left of the frame.

Thanks Sara. Yes, I agree about the knee, but couldn't do anything about it. I haven't heard the term kandoora before. We call them dishdashas in Oman. This was taken at a wedding in the very northeastern tip of Oman - on the Musandam Peninsula on the shore of the Strait of Hormuz - in a small village called Bukha. Because that location is (like Alaska) geographically separated from Oman proper, and because of its proximity to the United Arab Emirates, many of the people there dress more like Emiratis than Omanis. The groom (in black) is dressed in traditionally Omani attire - note the turban - as are a few of the rest. Most of them, however, are dressed as Emiratis. Some of them, in fact, are Emiratis. Many of the people in this area have left Oman for better economic possibilities in the UAE. In any case, it was fascinating to get to be a part of this wedding.

Watching the Dancers
by OmanOtter

Comment by SaraR:
To my very western eye, this is a truly interesting photograph. I love the mixture of expressions you have captured, and the exposure of the white kandooras is spot on - the only negative is the brown trousered knee that has crept in to the left of the frame.

Watching the Dancers
by OmanOtter

Comment by zeuszen:
Energy/Range/Story: 6/6/6
Composition/perspective/manner: 6/6/5
Aesthetics/Technical:6/6
Presentation: 6
Total:5.9
Vote: 6

Remarks: Perhaps due to one viewers unfamiliarity with both setting and subject(s), the image holds a photojournalistic interest. I'm looking forward to the dancers. :)

Watching the Dancers
by OmanOtter

Comment by Frankie_Lv:
Nicely done, Just need to see the dancer somewhere (title) we have no clue at what there looking at.

Watching the Dancers
by OmanOtter

Comment by AmeedEl-Ghoul:
I would've loved to see the dancers as part of the composition,
is it Bahrain by any chance?
Regards,

Drummer
by OmanOtter

Comment by OmanOtter:

Originally posted by JR: But you did get the brown....

But I didn't. Charlie got it with his free range photo, didn't he?

Drummer
by OmanOtter

Comment by one2one:
But you did get the brown....