After a 3-hour ascent along a contemplative pilgrimage trail on Mount Kōya, I finally arrived at Kongōbu-ji, the head temple of one of the major schools of Buddhism in Japan.
I paused to witness the monks performing their daily meditations, and listened to a sermon. A monk briefly paused in the gap of the door and was framed perfectly against the light with the aesthetically pleasing geometric composition of the carpet and lattice frame of the shoji filling the rest of the image. I kept the chairs in the image because I felt that it added visual balance to the image, and juxtaposed the monks standing outside vs the observer (me) sitting inside.
Captured on a Canon 5DMk3 with my trusty 50mm f1.8 lens.
I really like this image, and I was leaning more towards a 2 but the composition and thought process pushed me closer to the 3. The grids and the repetition really pull me in BUT if you could have waited just a second for the first monk to be out of frame so that foot doesn't distract it would make for stronger image.
I don't think the chairs add to the image and you could have shot to crop them out. In saying that the image would also work if the open frame was closed and we didn't see the outside area and monk - would make for a very Wes Anderson vibe.
Overall though this is a great image, the colours/tones complement the scene well. Nicely done.
Thank you so much for your kind words and taking the time to share such useful advice and insight!
You're right that I could've waited for the first monk to be out of frame. I didn't even think of that when I took the photo, and it could've indeed been a stronger image! I will keep that in mind when trying to isolate the subject even more.