the canals of banjarmasin I. Photo

Photographer’s Note

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banjarmasin is the capital city of south kalimantan which has a total area of about 72 square kilometers
banjarmasin is located along the barito river near the coast at the right border of the image
banjarmasin is the largest city on borneo
banjarmasin is a fascinating place where you'll have the opportunity to see the floating market where people make trades of food
banjarmasin is called the "venice of the east"
banjarmasin is famous for its bustling canals
banjarmasin is the only city in kalimantan worth visiting for its own sake rather than as a place from which to go upriver
banjarmasin is also connected by pelni sea lines to surabaya
banjarmasin is the most interesting urbanized area of kalimantan
banjarmasin is arguably kalimantan´s most interesting city
banjarmasin is home to the grand mosque sabilal muthadin
banjarmasin is also an excellent base from which to explore the surrounding region
banjarmasin is the centre of indonesia's gemstone trade
banjarmasin is developing as a tourist city with good acommodations
banjarmasin is a time consuming journey
banjarmasin is a large oil town with some fairly unattractive area
banjarmasin is the center for diamond cutting and polishing
banjarmasin is swampy
banjarmasin is considering the reinstatement of levies on the local drinking water company
....
"googlism.com"

take a river trip in the early morning on the canals... you definitely won't be dissapointed...

Galeota, Homerhomer has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

Galeota (10334) 2006-09-10 2:21

Hi Mark, the spot seems to be very interesting, but your choice of composition doesn't really work for me. Even though I'm not particularly blinded by tech rules, everything seems pretty much centered, hence lacking some dynamics. The light is dull also, and there are visible artefacts on the edges of the wooden roofs n(wouldn't be surprised to see some chormatic aberration there, also), probably due to the high contrast and...over sharpening? Not among your best, IMO.

Homerhomer (4005) 2006-09-10 2:45

Mark, in all honesty I share Gal's concers, not that it's centered because that doesn't bother me, but the fact that there isn't much going on, infact it misses something. Think the image would work composed as such if there were additional elements, someone on the boat in the foreground, kid jumping to the water from the house above your head etc, but the way you have it just doesn't work for me. It also seems dull, less of the problem, prepared a workshop to give it more punch.
Peter

[workshop] [compare] +

Darren (6819) 2006-09-10 5:05

Hi Mark, I think I am more or less with Gal and Peter, I find this a little static and a little dull. Jumping into the river, as has been mentioned, would be nice. I think a tighter crop in general might not hurt either. I don't really care for the sky, not only is it blown out, but I think it has created a loss of contrast in the top parts of the buildings. I guess you were in a boat and couldn't get closer, but more than anything I think that is what is needed here.

Have fun tonight ;)

kajspice (4534) 2006-09-10 10:00

well..it certainly beats a boat ride along the Thames :)

Reading what the others have had to say, I must say I join the masses, however - luckily, you seem to have enough space and detail to play with. I think a panoramic crop, without the sky and perhaps even a little off the bottom would still do justice to what you saw. Oh..and a little bit off either the left or the right. The little naked dude and his friend are enough to make this interesting for me...

RandomCameraGuy (3063) 2006-09-10 13:19

I gotta agree with the other guys about the choice of composition (with this sort of presentation). I think that with a slight change though (I'd have fully centred the guy and gotten the rooftops), and a diff pp method this would work. I'm thinking a hazy, b/w lomo feel, with heavy pp, and a heavy vignette.

In any case, I was only in Kalimantan a day (on my way from Sabah to Java), now I wish I had stayed longer...

Luko (13902) 2006-09-11 5:13

I wonder with this one whether you weren't coming out of an aircon hotel room and forgot to wipe your lens.. it looks like fogging.

Quite static too, wonder whether vertical wouldn't have been the option there...

The positive side is that it's Banjarmasin.