Photo Story: Carrying Wood at the Mehtab Bagh, Agra, India

This photo was taken across the river from the Taj Mahal in an area next to the Mehtab Bagh Garden in Agra, India. This Indian lady was carrying wood for use as fuel and is pictured with with her son and goats.

Carrying Wood at the Mehtab Bagh

The Mehtab Bagh is garden located directly across the Yamuna River from the Taj Mahal, and is the same width as the Taj Mahal. This garden was built to be the ideal viewing location of the Taj Mahal.

Legend has it that Emperor Shah Jahan had intended to build a black marble mausoleum for himself at the Mehtab Bagh. His black marble mausoleum would have been located directly across the river from his wife’s white marble mausoleum, the Taj Mahal.

Shah Jahan was never able to build the black marble mausoleum as he was imprisoned in the Agra Fort by his son.

This photo was taken right at sunset which gives the warm color to the Indian woman, her son, and the goats.

Woman Carrying Wood Photo Details

Camera: Olympus OM-D E-M1
Lens: Olympus 12-50mm f3.5-6.3
Focal Length: 50mm
ISO: 400
Aperture: f/6.3
Shutter Speed: 1/320 of a second
Exposure Compensation: 0
Lighting: Clear evening, right at sunset

Photo Processing

Cropped the photo and lightened the shadows using the Shadows Slider in Lightroom 5
Applied the Detail Extractor and Darken / Lighten Center Filters in Color Efex Pro 4.
Used the Sunset II filter in Topaz Clarity to add warmth and contrast to the photo.

Selectively Lightened and Darkened the image using the Viveza 2 Plugin for Lightroom.
Reduced the noise in the photo using the Noise Reduction slider in Lightroom 5.
Selectvely sharpened the photo using the Unsharp Mask Filter in Photoshop CC.

Written by Martin Belan

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