The General Strike ended at 1 pm today and the streets were transformed. No more is Kathmandu a vast pedestrian walkway. The traffic is back as are the hustlers and hockers. The garbage has piled up over the past three days and will continue to accumulate. The union responsible has decided to carry on with time off as, quite cross that the Maoists upstaged their original protest, they want the public to understand that picking up rubbish is contingent on higher wages rather than commie rhetoric. 
The city is full of little alleys with offshoots like the one above. The picture doesn't give justice to the gloom and rank air in these places. I had to up the exposure or else nadda would be visible.As usual people were one of my key preoccupations today. Let me know what you think.
After the end of the strike, "Holy Men" came out of the woodwork. To be honest they struck me as yet another stripe of hustler; "take picture for money", but they added a bit of colour to the scene. 
My walk took in many bits and pieces and the increased commerce (which has come roaring back) is certainly a feature of the city which has been missing over the past few days.
I love this picture.
Cows and birds are friends it seems.
That's it for today. Tomorrow I have a mad dash around the temples I couldn't get to during the strike.
Stay well everyone
T
8 comments:
Amazing shots Terry, the smiling guy with the white beard looks like Santa's brother! Is there something special going on? Most of those people are painted in some way or another ...
Best wishes for the Christmas Holiday and for a great New Year Terry :-)
you never disappoint. i think the cow and birds is my favorite. love the pictures of people and can't wait to see more temples. xolis
Are you using a polarising filter?
TR-HW
That wasn't a rhetorical question.
Sigh.
TR-HW
Hey sorry for the late relpy. The only filter I use is a standard UV filter which really only serves to protect the lens. I do shoot in RAW format and develop the images in "Lightroom" and convert to J peg. In the processing stage I can play with the exposure and color saturation/vibrancy/shrpness etc. Its complicated and I'm still learning how to use the software
S'ok, just being grumpy. I ask because in some of the shots the sky is a brilliant blue, whilst in others it's more wishy-washy. Also think you get better effects shooting water if you have a polarising filter, it cuts the reflection off the surface. Mind you, not sure I'd like to see more below the surface of the Bagmati river...
Take care
TR-HW
Interesting aside: Are we in danger of forgetting how to look properly at the world around us? http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_8424000/8424343.stm
(& polarising filter, for sure)
Blue sky versus washed out sky:
This is all about setting the proper exposure. I often have to set the exposure on the sky and then increase the foreground exposure during processing. Similarily I may reduce the exposure in the sky during processing. It is rare to have the same sort of light in all aspects of the picture. If its a dull flat sky there isn't much you can do. I've never used a polarising filter the key reason being its a pain in the ass to keep changing filters let alone lens. I usually take the pictures "on the fly and apart from some bracketing at different exposures, I don't really have much set up.
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