Young Surma kids

I don’t know for sure, but I think there is an artistic competition among both the Surma children and adults to create the most interesting paint patterns on their faces. They all enjoy being photographed; in fact, if I miss anybody, they will be sure to let me know. The piece of black velvet I used as a backdrop not only provided a stark, dramatic background, but it also blocked out the late afternoon sun. As I’ve said before, diffused light is my favorite type of illumination for outdoor portraits. Nobody squints, the colors are rich and saturated, and there are no harsh shadows. I used a 24-105mm lens set to 55mm, and the settings were 1/400, f/5.0, and 1000 ISO.