lobster ladies

I came across these ladies while I was exploring Hout Bay, South Africa. I was wandering around the waterfront taking some pictures of various things when I spotted these women sitting on a rusty trailer enjoying the sunshine. As I walked towards them the lady on the far left said that I could take their picture. I seized that opportunity right away.

There are faults one can find with this picture but it is one of my favorites from my trip. This was taken around 1pm when the sun was high in the sky. I considered moving them to an area where I could get better light on them, but that in my opinion would have taken away from the image. I did not move them at all because their positioning was an interesting aspect of the shot. These women were sitting exactly like this picture shows. Same arrangement. There were two small steps on the trailer with no other seating anywhere around. So, they huddled on the steps and enjoyed their break in the sun.

After taking a couple shots, I asked them where they worked. They pointed to a lobster packaging company that exports all over the world. The woman that told me I could photograph them asked how they could get their picture. None of us had anything to write with and they were late getting back from their break. I am looking for the address of the company and will send them a copy if I find it.

This is one of my favorite pictures from my trip because they were open to me as a photographer and something told them that I would welcome the opportunity to photograph them. I have become a big believer in that if I am open and accepting then I will be rewarded and in this case I was. I met several nice ladies, learned a little bit about the lobster business, and got to take a picture of them and that experience. I could have made a more technically pleasing picture for others to enjoy, but this was just right for me.