Helping hand Photo

Photographer’s Note

Back to a post from Borneo's rural coastal interior. About 1.5 hour away by road from Kuching, an orange ferry crosses the 1-km wide Sadong River mouth, taking villagers home to the other side of river. Without the ferry, it would take 4 hours drive of detour on winding road. Therefore, the ferry service is considered a helping hand to these poor rural people. The orange color of ferry front looks like a helping hand unfolding out to offer assistance to people who need it. In this world, we all need a helping hand every now and then, big or small way.

Sarawak is a land that has poor infrastructure facilities and rural people have to endure lack of services partly due to sparse population and remote access. To link up villages, towns and urban centres are not easy due to rivers, soft grounds and economically not viable infrastructure development incurring high costs. So it may take 30 years or 1 generation to see a bridge built here to replace this ferry. I was experimenting with my D700 sensor and heavy bigma lens. The late afternoon light was still good, so normal iso200 was used here.

Sarawak's land area is bigger than the 11-states that make up West Malaysia in the Peninsular, however the infrastructure of this state is very much behind due to less allocation of budget spending over the years of federal government neglect. In 2008, due to the loss of majority by politcial parties in the West, the people of Sarawak and Sabah still voted in strong favor of the ruling coalition to form the federal government but have began to raise voices about the neglect to these states, in the hope that immediate remedies to help the vast majority of rural poor are taken and promised. It remains to be seen if the federal government is giving a helping hand.

A good case in point will be a by-election in one of rural interior area called Batang Ai state constituency on April 7, 2009. A vote to speak a voice. Stay tuned for the outcome!

UlfE, siamesa, Maged, jafadabret, skippy007, snunney, jhm, lrw1966, lucasgalodoido, Royaldevon, stego, papagolf21, AiresSantos, jusninasirun, axiotea, phwall, azaf1, pierrefonds, JanD has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

bracasha75 (22387) 2009-03-24 12:45

Helo Bill
Help is always welcome no meter how she looks
One intresthing photo and day life scene
Very sharp picture.I like color on this ferry.
Cheers,Braca

UlfE (9168) 2009-03-24 14:01

Hi Bill,

Excellent daily life scene. I love the stong colour of the ferry. It is also very vivid with the people preparing for getting of the ferry as soon as it arrives to the other side. TFS and have a nice day!

Cheers,

Ulf

emka (22319) 2009-03-24 15:58

Hi Bill, Ferrys are so impressive. They look like strange beasts. This here seems not big but in splendid strong red color. Amazing sharpness.Nice photo.

Warm regards

Malgorzata

Maged (1520) 2009-03-25 0:11

Hello Dear Bill
your superb quality shots make that boat looks amazing , the red color over the silver water really beautiful , and of course excellent light control.
Best Regards
Maged

jafadabret (40323) 2009-03-25 0:35

Bonjour Bill.
C'est une très belle photo avec comme qualité première une belle lumière. J'aime les couleurs et les reflets dans une composition simple et très lisible.
Excellent !
Jacques

skippy007 (7337) 2009-03-25 1:50

Hello Bill, A very sharp clear image in brilliant colour. I think politicians are the same the world over, but lets hope that these people can make enough noise so that they cannot be ignored by those in power & make them take some some notice.
Well done
Bravo
Take care
Santo

snunney (35464) 2009-03-25 2:23

Hello Bill,
I like how you have framed the composition to concentrate on the 'jaws'. The strong graphical lines and the vibrant orange hull makes a fine daily life image. Excellent sharpness.

aadilj (17950) 2009-03-25 4:27

To me they appeared like two huge alligators with their mouths open wide! I like the clarity and the colours on this one Bill and like the way you have compsoed this lovely shot

siamesa (13231) 2009-03-25 4:31

Hi Bill

These tones of the water are very beautifuls.An useful helping hand to the people from there. Very well done.
Hugs
Maria

jhm (83328) 2009-03-25 6:50

Hello Bill,

Thank you very much for your intersting note, I learn everyday on TE.
A modern ferry in this country, you took excellent the backside of the ferry, good detailed.
Nice composition and colours, presentation are superb.
Very well done, TFS.

Best regards,
John.

lrw1966 (1632) 2009-03-25 9:11

Bill, Hi:

Wonderfully well seen and presented. Thanks for the great notes, as well. Congratulations, excellent color and detail.

Larry

Nicou (45711) 2009-03-25 10:03

Hello,

Merveilleuse image, cet anvant de Ferry, de très belle couleurs, de reflet merveilleux sur l'eau, superbe.

bravo et amitié

Nicou

lucasgalodoido (16789) 2009-03-25 12:05

Hi Bill,
interesting capture of ferryboat, the details and red colors are amazing. I´d like of reflections too. Great job, my friend.
Regards,
Lucas

Royaldevon (5944) 2009-03-25 12:34

Hello Bill,

The strong, vibrant colours of this ferry, with its reflection, make the shot almost leap from the monitor.
I particularly like the circular movement in the water which encourages the eyes to follow it and absorb the details.

Have a good day,
Bev :-)

stego (22448) 2009-03-25 13:12

Hi Bill,
Poetry with such an industrial piece? Not so usual, but after reading your note and looking at the photo makes much sense. The colour of the ferry, its forms and the reflections on the silver water render the photo very catchy.
Regards, José.

papagolf21 (56737) 2009-03-25 15:02

Bonsoir, cher Bill,
Ce n'est pas toujours évident de trouver le sujet, et pourtant si l'oeil aiguisé du photographe sait où placer son objectif (ce qui est le cas ici); c'est une réussite.
Le monstre d'acier s'apparente à une bête féroce aux couleurs superbes.
Amitiés.
Philippe

AiresSantos (42902) 2009-03-27 0:40

Hi Bill
I like this daily life picture. Fine colours and reflections. Well framed and done
Have a nice weekend
Aires

jusninasirun (10213) 2009-03-27 6:39

Hi Bill.

I have heard about this ferry service and how far around we have to go in order to travel the ordinary road. The bigma have brilliant show of colors and details in this shot. So bright with colorful ripples under the ferry. I like the way you have closed on the subject here.

TFS and have a wonderful weekend.

Regards,
jusni

axiotea (16287) 2009-03-27 6:45

Salut Bill
After reading your note I do understand better the title and how the ferry is important for the villagers..
I like the shiny texture of the water in FG with the colored reflection.
Cheers from Bangkok
Marilyn

phwall (5705) 2009-03-27 17:34

Hello Bill,
Sharp lens that Sigma, it may be heavy but well worth lugging around with you if it produces shots as good as this.
Here in Australia we refer to ferries like this as "punts", when I was a kid driving from Sydney to Brisbane we had to cross three rivers in ferries like this, it was the high point of the trip for me, what an adventure that was.
Excellent composition, the free space in front of the loading ramps gives the image a lot of motion. Added to the sharps the colour rendition is excellent, the saturated orange stands out beautifully against the pale blue of the river.
Very nice image and a throughly well written note to go wit it.
Warm wishes
Peter

azaf1 (15547) 2009-03-28 2:37

Good morning Bill

Looks more like a red croco with aan open mouth :) Really it is a striking composition with the two bright color tone that catches the eye at once. Nice off centre placement in a balanced frame.

Have a lovely weekend and TFS
Argiris

mauro61 (16290) 2009-03-31 1:50

ciao Bill,
bravo a fissare questo particolare che sembra la bocca di un mostro in metallo.
ottima la saturazione che dà vivacità alla tua immagine.
saluti
maurizio

pierrefonds (26645) 2009-04-01 10:28

Hi Bill,

The presence of the people has an effect of scale. The refklections in the water are assets to the composition. The point of view is showing the utility of the ferry. The good luminosity has a good effect on the colors of the ferry. Have a nice day.

Pierre

JanD (15053) 2009-05-11 5:14

Howdy Trekks!
Wonderful shot. Good colors. Very good saturation. Ideal sharp.
Regards.

Photo Information

Copyright: Bill Laucp (trekks) (14334)
Genre: Places
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2008-12-22
Categories: Daily Life, Transportation
Camera: Nikon D700, Sigma 50-500 mm F4-6.3 EX DG APO RF HSM, 4Gb Sandisk ultra II, 86mm UV
Exposure: f/6.0, 1/200 seconds
More Photo Info: view
Photo Version: Original Version
Date Submitted: 2009-03-24 12:34