I rode my new bike (//stefaniegiglio.wordpress.com/2010/07/16/mzungu-akwera-njinga-white-girl-on-a-bike/) about 10 or 11 kilometers to where I was told I could find a carver named "Charlie." It turned out that there were 4 carvers named Charlie in the area, so I had someone take me to find the closest one. He wasn't home, but his brothers and cousins were, almost all of whom were also carvers. I was led to a field just off a dirt road, where a brother and a cousin were working in the shade of a tree. They allowed me to photograph them, but I'm pretty sure they assumed I'd take two or three photos and be done. I ended up staying with them for three hours. At the end, Gift (that's the name of the carver in this picture) gave me this crocodile. He carved my name onto its stomach. I also bought the fish he made since Jannatu (the other carver) didn't finish anything while I was there. I paid Gift twice what he was asking for the fish and told him to give the other have to Jannatu.
Anyone who knows me knows I don't do heat. The temperature was bearable in the shade, but the rides there and back were very sweaty. I was covered in wood chips from laying all over the ground to get some images from this shoot, but the splinters were definitely worth it. This shoot was one of the most satisfying I've done so far in Malawi. I was very pleased with how the images came out!
Edit (Gimp)
- New layer via copy > Colorize orange-yellow > Curves > Mode: Soft light > Lower Opacity to 60%
- New layer from visible > Desaturate > Mode: Overlay > Lower Opacity to 50% > Add layer mask > Mask out chisel and mask out 10% of highlights on toes
- New layer from background > Desaturate > Lower Opacity to 10%
- New layer from visible > USM (x2, large and small radius)
- Resize
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