By the Water Hole Photo

Photographer’s Note

It is time for a change and for a B&W picture. Today’s main posting is all about *donkeys*. Botswana has a donkey population of about 160,000 and 98% of them are owned by traditional farmers. Most of the donkeys are used in ploughing activities and teams up to 6 to 10 animals are commonly seen working in the farm lands. Another usage of the donkeys is for the transportation of goods in the poor rural areas. It is very common to see donkeys pulling the very appropriately called “donkey cart”.

For the WS pictures well ... I decided to go for a different approach and relegate the sunset picture for the WS2 position. By now I believe you are all tired of African sunsets and I also think you had enough information about baobab trees on my last posting.

However and just for the story, the Imbondeiro (African Baobab) was one of the trees that the tour guide introduced to us during the late afternoon walk around the lodge.
As the WS1 illustrates, the tour ended on a spectacular sunset, highlighted by a few drinks taken at the same water hole where many animals come to drink at night.

After spending 45 minutes walking at turtle pace and listening to unimaginable facts about baobab trees, we finally arrived at the water hole. Let me tell something, I was exhausted!!! During the time we stayed quenching our dehydrated bodies, Mother Nature did not help much and we were only able to see 4 donkeys and a few small birds having a drink before going to bed. However, we were told next morning that at around 2am, that same night, a family of seven elephants used the water hole for their regular bath and amusement. To tell the truth, missing the elephants did not bother me much, because they would only bring to 2678 the total number of elephants seen during our stay in Botswana!!!

ISO: 400

rigoletto, bostankorkulugu, Jeppo, cunejo200, pasternak, dareco, riclopes, lucasgalodoido, vascao, Photo65Net, ChrisJ, stego, manatee, MLINES, Wanda1, belido, celmaleite, Docarmo, jhm, ruisc_pt, Merline has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

rigoletto (26774) 2007-12-14 3:57

Hello Mr. Ribeiro,
I am also in my B&W mood nowadays, and day by day, i happen to prefer that duochromic tones for its dignity and possibilites of dramatic contrast.
The donkeys are a little bit lost in front of the dark BG, but it is of no sense, because theri reflections are the highlight of this superb shot. The tree is another bonus. Great!
Deniz

bostankorkulugu (33976) 2007-12-14 3:57

and this is a good change ribeiro... the donkeys are at the best spot to be... and the baobab is like an african version of a christmas tree... good job indeed...

cheers

korkut

Jeppo (12100) 2007-12-14 4:47

Hola Antonio,

this is an unusual pic from Africa. good Idea to turn that world into black+white.
I like the reflection on the water hole...

TFS
Silvio

cunejo200 (7237) 2007-12-14 4:53

Hello Antonio,
A successful landscape in b&w. The sky provides an eerily good contrast and balance to the textured tree with birds. And of course the donkeys and their reflection are the highlights. Well done. Greetings!
Danilo

pasternak (13644) 2007-12-14 4:53

really good, Antonio, the silhouette parts of the photo (the baobab and the donkey reflection) are perfect and very well balance each other in the frame, compliments for this!

Cheers
Alexander

dareco (17104) 2007-12-14 6:22

A very beautiful b&w and I love the reflection! Also the informative and interesting note! These pictures all look like 'another world' to me. TFS

riclopes (33131) 2007-12-14 9:18

Eh lá, foste aventureiro nesta e ainda bem, António. Um preto e branco artístico muito interessante com contrastes fortes bem aplicados. Até já tenho a cabeça a imaginar composições alternativas... O branco da água e do céu fazem um efeito surrealista que me atrai muito, como se este pedaço de terra estivesse pendurado no nada. O clássico pôr-do-sol também está excelente e o outro bónus soa-me a um convite que estou inclinado a aceitar já ;-) Um post que me desperta a imaginação.
Ricardo

lucasgalodoido (16789) 2007-12-14 12:25

Olá Antônio,
outra imagem bonita dessa árvore parente da "barriguda". Vou procurar imformações melhores pra ver se encontro informações sobre esse parentesco mesmo, mas a principio as "barrigudas" de minha foto só ocorrem no interior do Brasil e vale do Rio São Francisco. Acho que é o tipo de solo e clima mais seco que fazem elas terem formas parecidas.
Achei os reflexos ótimos nessa foto, assim como a opção pelo P&B.
Parabéns e Abraço!

vascao (192) 2007-12-14 15:41

Olá, António.
Excelentes a árvore e os reflexos dos burricos. Acertadíssima a escolha do P&B.
[]'s
Sergio

Photo65Net (43096) 2007-12-14 22:58

Antonio,
Your BW choice is very good here. It provides a particular mood to the picture, and allow you to show hard contrasts, which is very good.
Compo, reflections and framing are pleasant too.
Nice job,
Regards,
JB.

ChrisJ (70443) 2007-12-15 0:36

Hi Antonio

Nice symmetry afforded by the superb reflections of the donkeys. A marvellous tonal range, with good sharpness & contrast. Well composed, & tfs!

stego (22448) 2007-12-15 1:47

Olá António,
A malta à espera de zebras com um felino à coca para papar uma e afinal dás-nos uns burricos. :-)
Estou a brincar, se calhar até fica mais interessante assim, pelo toque de originalidade e até de ironia!
A compo está excelente, "nem se nota" que os bichos estão ao centro (claro que não é problema, pois dada a posição do charco e da árvore, não havia melhor posição relativa para os animais).
O P&B fica muito bem, embora não faça ideia de como fica a cores - ultimamente é raro não preferir as cores, pelo que talvez até seja bom não mostrares a versão colorida.
Só vejo um problema menor: os burros não se destacam lá muito bem do fundo, mas isso nada tem a ver com o fotógrafo.
Um abraço, José.

paura (39202) 2007-12-15 3:07

António,
Ficou linda sua fotografia. Até a escolha pelo preto e branco, suponho determinada por um ceu menos atrativo, ficou perfeita na análise conjunta com o reflexo dos animais.

Abraço

Paulo

manatee (4297) 2007-12-15 15:44

Very nice picture Antonio: The reflex of this dunkey ins the lake and the back ground of this amazing Boabab trees is expeectacular, this composition is so african, but so peculiar, is very anacronic and out of the civilization and costums we have in occident, that is the reason is so special, because is so different.

Bravo Antonio

MLINES (10948) 2007-12-15 17:35

Hi Antonio. The B&W works well with this twil light photo. The clear sharp reflections are the part that draws the eye so well. Good work. TFS. Murray.

savask (1813) 2007-12-16 0:30

the B&W was a great idea. I love the reflections of the animals on the lake. great detail

Wanda1 (11015) 2007-12-16 3:24

Hi Antonio,
The black and white with high contrast suits the shot well. I love the reflection of the donkeys in the white mirror of water, and the silhouette of the magnificent tree looks like an ink drawing. Nicely done.
Regards
Wanda

belido (16813) 2007-12-16 5:25

Olá Antonio,

os tons em preto e branco nos trouxeram uma apresentação do lugar, ao meu ver, muito mais atraente do que seria a cores. O lago e o reflexo dos animais sobre a água foram, sem dúvida, uma ótima inclusão. Gostei bastante da imagem!
Abraço,
Carlos

celmaleite (2912) 2007-12-16 18:12

Maravilha de reflexos tão nitidamente aparecendo na água. Uma foto bem artística e bem destacada pelo P&B. Parabéns e abraço
Celma

Docarmo (8844) 2007-12-16 22:36

Olá António,
Linda imagem com estes fantásticos reflexos e o imbondeiro em grande estilo - composição primorosa!
Boa escolha do P&B.
Fotos em WS belíssimas também, mas esta realmente foi bem colocada como principal.

jhm (83298) 2007-12-17 2:55

Hello Antonio,

You chose for a BW picture, with the donkeys as subject, these are a little bit lost in front of the dark BG, but it is of no sense, because theri reflections are the highlight of this superb shot.
But I'm no great fan of BW.
Thanks for sharing.

Have a nice week,
John.

Clementi (45179) 2007-12-17 2:58

Ciao Antonio ,
great B&W shot , fantastic reflections on the wather .
good contrast and sharp .
Giorgio

Scharan (13955) 2007-12-19 9:49

Olá Antonio

Uma maravilha de foto...B&P ficou muito bem e criou um excelente contraste. A composição é simples mas muito atraente.
Amei, parabéns!!!
GA
Vera

ruisc_pt (6207) 2007-12-23 7:45

A imagem reflectida dos burros a preto e branco foi uma opção... que resulta sempre.
A imagem do embondeiro em contra luz..é fabulosa.
UM ab.
R

Merline (6578) 2008-01-06 9:34

Hi Antonio,
this goes kind of straight to my heart. I love donkeys and I hope that they are treated not too badly as is often the case. Great idea this b/w, the mood created by the white sky and reflection is magnificent, very pure looking. I like the compo with the lone baobab, and the peaceful anymals, they look kind of fragile. A bonus, their reflection in the water.
Nice note too!
TFS
Best regards
Michèle

Bluejeans (33049) 2008-01-07 9:09

Oi Antonio ,
Ficou uma foto de artista , a arvore esta fantastica gostei dos ramos , não esperava era ver burros mas qualquer outro tipo de animal , os reflexos ficaram muito bonitos , parabens!!!
Um abraço Gonçalo

foozi (4735) 2008-12-31 16:37

Hi Antonio,
what a lovely shot. To me the most striking element is the refelction on the water surface. Really an added beauty to the existing overall presentation.
Well thought and brilliantly composed.

Regards and Happy New Year.

Regards,
Foozi

jmdias (19837) 2009-03-19 8:04

antonio

o baobá parece até um velho pinheiro. legal ver as suas formas. Muito boa a imagem ao mostrar os burros e seus reflexos na água. bonita opção pelo branco e preto

abraços

jorge