festival time Photo

Photographer’s Note

An elderly monk at the Gustor festival at Karcha monastery, Zanskar.
Gustor literally means "sacrifice of the 29th day". This festival is associated with a special kind of dance that represents the victory of black hat dancers over evil. The dancers enact the killing of the Tibetan traitor Lang-dar-ma by a Buddhist monk in ninth century.

Zanskar is an isolated region in Northern India with a strong buddhist tradition.

For more photos see my "Zanskar" travelogue.

lebjohnson, Wanda1, ciakgiak, UlfE, jjcordier, Budapestman, gunbud, PaulVDV, paololg, claudio74, delkoo, patdeph, bukitgolfb301, leo61, sevy, Angshu, mdetay has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

wolf38 (12734) 2009-10-28 9:35

Hello Paul. An impressive portrait of this religious dignitary. The informative text is excellent. Compliment. Regards, wolfgang.

carper (64706) 2009-10-28 9:55

fine one Paul,
a good portrait, good colors, fine quality, very original photo job, have a good evening.
regard jaap

yquem46 (7842) 2009-10-28 10:20

pas un portrait ordinaire paul
parfaite netteté et couleurs. Juste dommage que ses lunettes cachent son regard mais çà ...!
Bonn soirée
patrick

Wanda1 (10935) 2009-10-28 11:04

Hi Paul,
I love these hats, and in your portrait you have captured wonderful details on it as well as on the monks face. I like the way he is leaning forward in the composition.
Regards
Wanda

ciakgiak (10632) 2009-10-28 11:08

Hello Paul,
what an interesting hat, but overall what a splendid portrait, so detailed and lightned, with superb colours too!
Friendly regards.
Giorgio

UlfE (8965) 2009-10-28 11:27

Hi Paul,

Magnificent photo of this monk and his impressive headgear. Perfect colours and sharpness and great blurred background. I like the way you really fill the frame. TFS and have a nice evening!

Cheers,

Ulf

john1 (2006) 2009-10-28 11:50

Bonsoir Paul,

Un excellent portrait de ce moine Tibétain, avec ce couvre-chef original de la région. Trés bon details et belle couleurs, bonne netteté et trés bon travail.
Une bonne soirée, merci pour le partage.
John

pulezan (767) 2009-10-28 12:50

Very good and clean portrait. Sharp details, would be maybe better with not so strong sunlight. Otherwise, good work.

Regards,
pulezan

sacimar (7381) 2009-10-28 13:13

Hi Paul,

what impressive portrait, it's an original picture, good details, nice job,

Best regards

Sergio

jjcordier (24566) 2009-10-28 23:53

Paul
Bon cadrage pour cet excellent portrait. Belles couleurs et bonne qualité d'image.
Amicalement
JJ

ifege (1743) 2009-10-29 2:35

Ah! What an outfit Paul. great colour and composition.
cheers
Ian

John_F_Kennedy (31315) 2009-10-29 3:41

Hello Paul,
Excellent portrait. A fine pose and excellent brightness and colours.
Best wishes,
Achim

Budapestman (41726) 2009-10-29 3:46

Hi Paul,
a splendid portrait with spectacular composition and details, the colours and lights are very nice, excellent sharpness and clarity. Beautiful shot, Have a nice day!
George

gunbud (27801) 2009-10-29 9:46

Hi Paul,
Wonderful capture of this old monk in his vivid yellow festival headdress.
The colors are clear and ture.
Regards, Tom

PaulVDV (5172) 2009-10-29 11:22

Hallo Paul,
Heel mooi portret van deze lichtjes voorover gebogen oudere monnik waardoor de ronding van de kap nog beter tot uiting komt. Prachtig contrast van het felgele met de donkere achtergrond.
Groeten, Paul

paololg (13673) 2009-10-29 15:50

Ciao dear Paul,
curious and beautiful image of this buddhist monk captured under an intense light that emphasizes his strange yellow hat. The photo is pleasant thanks also to the perfect sharpness and the colors well saturated, Excellent shot, my friend, compliments!
Ciao, have a nice Friday!
Paolo

scalerman (25731) 2009-10-29 19:23

Paul: I like the sharpness and profile of this fine image. Bokeh could've been more abstract - but it's a winner. c

claudio74 (6433) 2009-10-29 20:18

Hello Paul
Interesting portrait with nice colors to.
perfectly managed for a good result.
Well done
Reards
Claude

Morac (20319) 2009-10-30 1:06

Bonjour Paul,

C'est un superbe portrait plein de dignité.
Les couleurs et la netteté sont parfaites.
Amicalement
Marc

delkoo (34264) 2009-10-30 9:40

bonjour paul,
j'ai fais, dernierement, un reportage sur des moines venus du Laddhak, qui faisaient un mandala pour recolter de l'argent afin de construire une école près de Leh, et dans ta photo ,bien cadrée, je retrouve, toute la piété dont ces hommes sont empreint.

didier

Waylim (10741) 2009-10-30 9:45

Hi Paul,
This a very good daily life/ceremony or event shot. Featuring this monk in this very eye catching hat. Wonderful detail of the character. Northern India seems like a wonderful place and another country in itself, with more Buddhist influence, due to the Tibetan in exile and immigration. I wish to be there one day. Thanks.
Way

patdeph (17784) 2009-10-30 10:00

bonjour Paul
les couleurs sont magnifiques ,et la forme extraordinaire de la coiffe font tout l'intérêt de cette photo!Rojoutons que le cadrage et la profondeur de champs sont excellents pour mettre le sujet bien en valeur!
Amicalement
Pascale

devimeuxbe (55865) 2009-10-30 15:52

Bonsoir Paul
c'est un portrait très beau. On hésite entre le sourire et le respect; J'aime beaucoup le jeu des couleurs.
Amicalement
Bertrand

bukitgolfb301 (4588) 2009-10-30 16:28

Hello my dear Paul

What an another impressive supper shot!
Reasonable and bold framework/composition, sharp focusing and good color contrast are outstanding as usual! Anyway congratulation on your masterpiece!
Thanks for sharing and best regards,
Have a nice happy Saturday !

Takero

leo61 (43384) 2009-10-31 13:01

Hi Paul!
An excellent portrait of this old monk and his strange yellow hat and turquoise glasses.Perfect light,great POV and fantstic bright colors and contrast.
Regards,Leo

InasiaJones (20102) 2009-11-01 20:47

Hi Paul,

Here's a hat I would like to have in my gallery!

Light from above that works because it isn't a portrait from face, and the way colours and textures are popping up with contrasts is very good.

Well filled frame.

Cheers!

André

ryno (4606) 2009-11-03 23:20

Hi Paul, you captured his spectacular head-dress with great shrpness, and you were also lucky to have good light to help bring out the shadows and textures. The interesting background curtains (?) add atmsophere to the shot. Nice one!
Regards
Ryno

marietom (31876) 2009-11-10 14:53

hello Paul,

Superbe chapeau, jolies couleurs.
Bonne soirée
Marie

keribar (42742) 2009-11-10 20:58

Hello Paul,

A fine portrait where the light is king. Love the simple background. Keep well - Izzet Keribar

kschanna (2634) 2009-11-11 4:35

Hello Paul,

Funny yet serious, a bit oxymoron-ic, the head gear is quite surprising, I wouldn't have thought how it would go (as intricate as it is) with the stoic lifestyle of the monks. Very interesting and a very important shot. Bravo

Kamran

sevy (13348) 2009-11-24 0:43

Hello Paul,

Nice shot remembering me my travel in Zanskar and also my last one in Nepal. Nice side portrait allowing to evidence the yellow hat. Good also the blur background making us focusing on the portrait.
Nicely done and presented in this cropping.

Yves.

Angshu (33619) 2009-11-29 20:03

Hello Paul
A very fine portrait, with his elaborate head-dress, his poise with his face down, yet he looks up, good facial features and good use of shallow Dof. Very well composed and framed for this fine portrait
Regards
Angshu

mdetay (4293) 2009-11-30 19:08

Hi Paul,

Nice capture of this yellow head.
Good portrait, good colors, fine quality, quite original photo.
Well done. Congratulation.
Cheers from Hong Kong.

Michel