How I Got The Shot: Bob Holmes’ Women In Conical Hats

“Women In Conical Hats” Image Courtesy Of Bob Holmes

“I went down to the bridge at dawn, long before most tourists arrive, and begun visualizing the photograph I wanted. I found a section of

[the] bridge that would work with my idea, and put a wide lens on my camera for perspective. The shot called for a lower angle so I crouched down, propped myself against a rotting post and hoped I wouldn’t end up in the lake several feet below.

Different groups of people: monks, school kids, people on bikes, kept on passing but I continued to shoot. Eventually, from behind me, a woman in a conical hat walked by. Click. Then another followed her. Click [again]. Then another, and yet another…  I couldn’t believe it.  My back was to the women so I had no idea how many there were but I just kept on shooting; there was no time to turn and look.  The final image is better than I could have ever imagined and as with so many good photographs, it was pure serendipity. Being prepared for whatever was going to happen made that shot possible!”

The career of Robert “Bob” Holmes has taken him across the globe for the better part of 30 years. He’s taken assignments for organizations such as National Geographic, Geo, Saveur, Wine Spectator, Life, Time and hundreds of other major magazines and international companies. He has covered events ranging from the 1975 British Everest Expedition for the London Daily Mail and Paris Match to searching for snow leopards in the remote valleys of western Nepal for National Geographic Magazine. He was the first photographer to be honored twice by the Society of American Travel Writers with their Travel Photographer of the Year Award and he received the award for the third time in 2010. Be sure to watch Bob Holmes’ AYP Interviews.

More of Bob’s work:
Lumariaworkshops
Bob’s Website

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