Burden

She spends her day collecting wood. Sometimes bamboo but today it was branches, skillfully trimmed to length with a rather wicked looking machete. I have no idea what the wood is used for, it doesn’t look much good for anything but firewood, but who knows.

I have tried photographing her before, but the shot has never worked as she always looks into the camera. Today I decided to try something different. I made a note of her route which took her along the narrow border between two paddy fields. This is quite a balancing act, especially with a large load on your back and so it was not possible for her to look at the camera. I sat on the ground for a lower angle and just waited for her to hit the mark.

I tried various crops, but none of them were better than the original. I am so used to cropping bug shots that it just didn’t feel right not cropping. I had forgotten that this is how it is supposed to work, frame the picture in the viewfinder and shoot.

Dave