When I reached Mahtab Bagh, a bus ferrying foreign tourist had already arrived and they were being led into the garden by the guide accompanying them. I quickly followed them into the garden.
Just as we reached the far-end facing Taj, one of the tourists around me loudly exclaimed “Oh my god, what a colour to wear”. As I followed his gaze, I was shocked too. Right in front of us, bang in the middle of our view of the Taj, in the early morning fog and mist was a lady dressed in florescent pink. She presented such a stark contrast to the misty monochrome of the scene all around. She stood out in the camera frame, almost spoiling the serenity, as it were, of the place.
I had no option but to go even beyond her and to capture Taj from much nearer then I would have otherwise loved to, as it restricted capturing the wider scene. Having taken my quota of snaps, just as the sun showed up in the east, I ventured back for a different point of view.
Now much at ease with myself, having accomplished what I had set out to do, I looked at that lady and her companion who had now joined her, I suddenly realised that the contrast to the scene could probably be visually attractive too. Were they not dispelling the monotony of the monochromatic expanse of the scene? I decided to photograph them as a reference point in the scene. While I would have loved to keep them in the left of the frame, the magnificent symmetry of the Taj presented a serious challenge. I had no option but to pay attention to Taj’s symmetry and keep the couple in the centre of the shot with an odd bush/tree jutting in from the right. Despite these limitations the eventual shot turned out well.
