Most of the time spent in the Surma village in southern Ethiopia my photo tour group had diffused light which, in my opinion, was ideal. The lack of harsh shadows meant all of the artistic detail of their face and body decorations could be seen and appreciated. I took this shot with a focal length of 135mm on my 100-500mm Canon zoom, and the settings were 1/500, f/9, and 1600 ISO. Almost everyone enjoyed being photographed, and they always ask to see their images on the back of my camera. They don't have mirrors, so that's how they can see themselves. They've learned the word 'good' so they can tell us they approve of the pictures. These three young girls probably were 12 to 15 years old, but the Surma don't have a written language nor do they keep any kind of calendar so they don't know how old they are.
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