You may like, love or hate this image but the reality is photography feeds nearly every iota of me - which is all I need. I mean, come on, if I had shot this scene with what my internal camera meter was "suggesting" I do, the end result would have you yawning your way to another dot-com address. Hell, I'd be right behind ya!
If you had been there to witness the place and hear my shutter trip, however, you would have seen blonde colored sand and a blue-bird sky. In fact, if I had simply pushed the button while lacking a vision of what could be, the students, the shade, the shadows would look so offensively dark and unrecognizable you'd be bored by now and I'd be looking for a new career.
Truth is, this image is straight out of camera, minus a minor contrast/black point adjustment, of course. It did take me some time to absorb and appreciate, but in my mind this image leaps from its pixels and commands attention. It is unique and mildly ethereal.