A photograph from my visit to the lake town of Nainital (see the lake here).

In the crowd of a festival, this lady was walking with a resolute gait and a beaming smile. Her simplistic dress, and beaded jewelry show that she is a pahari - one of the wonderful group of people that inhabits the Himalayas.

The distinctive Paisley design on her head scarf is a motif used throughout South and Southwest Asia - now popular across the world. Although the word "paisley" comes from the eponymic Paisley, Scotland (where the design was used extensively in shawls), the original Sanskrit name is mankolam - referring to the mango-like shape of the pattern.

Personally, I found it difficult to choose between the color version and this, so I have posted the original in a workshop. I think the black and white version has a less distracting background, but I may be wrong.

Also since the photo isn't one of those "posed" photographs (yes, hard to believe), the focus may be a bit off... I find posed photos rather artificial.

In PS2

Selected her

USM 18 radius 40

USM 150 radius 0.5

Edit USM, darken 50 pct

Used levels and curves to darken more

Reduced exposure to -0.33

Inverted selection

Blur tool, lens blur...this is the first time I used it

Both versions have details not visible in the other... For example, the light green eye color and orange bead necklace visible here is not in the b+w version, while the remarkable scarf patterns don't show as well here.