Mono is the only way to go, the colors are so varied and bright that they distract from the story. I think that the car draws too much attention from the cellphone story in the image. I would crop off the car on the left and the part of the table on the right. The man is a bit close to the left edge, but it would require AI usage to add more space. What do you think?   Posted: 10/03/2026 14:20:47

Tom,

I appreciate your input, there are two reasons I didn't remove the car (1) cropping it would leave the walking man too close to the left, as it is has done in your crop (2) The car, is actually an iconic Yellow Ambassador taxi, which roots the image in Kolkata.

The Colour version actually won the National geographic UK Traveller award in the Urban category this year!

So I was reluctant to fiddle with it, but having done the conversion, I like the mono version as well   Posted: 10/03/2026 17:17:00

Nice juxtaposition. I am for taking out just that tiny bit of table.   Posted: 10/04/2026 13:34:26

I think Tom is correct this makes a great composition. I might try making the guy with the phone brighter to make him stand out from the background and maybe crop a bit off the right to conform to the rule of thirds. Here's what I'm thinking: I cropped it, brightened the guy and slightly darkened the background.   Posted: 10/11/2026 17:26:11

I like this Ed   Posted: 10/12/2026 00:42:38

I like your original crop Somdutt. It is so gaudy in colour but the mono is great because it is such a contrasty subject. How long did you wait for the perfect man to come along and hold his phone up or did you cheat and ask someone to do it? It's a super travel shot and a great street scene one as well. I never see such simple scenes as this with the perfect person in them.
Congratulations on your success in the travel comp.   Posted: 10/19/2026 13:53:49

Somdutt
Really good photo just crop the white out on the right and lighten the man a little..
  Posted: 10/19/2026 19:37:42