Buffalo point - Buffels punt Photo

Photographer’s Note

Something quite different from what I usually post, almost a landscape but perhaps more in the Trekearth "see the world" philosophy than the BW photographistic shots I upload.
------------------------------------------------
Buffalo Point on the banks of the Irrawaddy river. This is the place where in Mandalay they used to load and unload buffaloes (and also where Hiroji Kubota took a fantastic photo)... today ,no more buffaloes but still bamboo and wood rafts going down the river.

The banks are as you expect pretty sloppy, the kid you see on the stairs just had his sh*t of the day (don't laugh we all do... you too...) a minute ago, I was careful not to slide on it.

The kid gang was, as usual, going around the clumsy photographer -that's me- the thing new was they were picking up dried snake skin along the banks. It added another worry about would be lying below my next steps. I was thinking that I finally prefered the sloppy option, not the live one.

A warm sunlight suddenly distracted me from my clumsiness. It reminded me some epic scene from Kubota and strangely enough dutch painters... Buffels Punt could it be called.

I had a few shots then walked back to bother some monks and a horse... but you already know that.

waysai has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

mrbialy (2568) 2005-09-22 18:22

Hello. Very interesting and mistick places for me, like from old tale or something. This one is so different then your all gallery, but still very interesting. I like here compo and colours(olmost half is brown, and half blue and white), and of course captured with young boy. good luck

don_narayan (2014) 2005-09-22 18:38

what a scene. amazing light. great composition. The little girl in the corner is great, and what a look. I like the "big picture" but it is maybe too big (imo).

gebala (0) 2005-09-22 20:40

so sad but so beauty photo, exellent shot, great point of view, rgs

Darren (6819) 2005-09-23 0:22

Hey Luko, different for you indeed. Certainly the light was right; really nice here. Probably due to your distance, not as involving for me as your more close in shots, but technically and aesthetically this is very good. Maybe just a little dark?

I believe we were here as well, but the river seems so much lower in your shot.

mareseye (1209) 2005-09-23 1:32

Bonjour Luko,
Que c'est beau ! Magnifique lumière, teintes chaudes, belle compo...J'aime beaucoup la présence de cet enfant à l'air songeur aui semble perdu au milieu de ces amas de bois.
Bravo, c'est superbe.
Amicalement,
Mare

entrelec (8342) 2005-09-23 2:27

This picture looks like a painting, the lightening is really rich.
And all this camaieu of one color!
Sorry, I just end reading your note while writing critic and see you already speak about dutch painters.
So you can see your picture is a good way to communicate your feeling .
The problem is this kind of work don't attrack with the thumbnails.
joel

jinju (14265) 2005-09-23 3:29

Theres treasure here, hidden in uneventfullness. I think that Francis is correct, that the thumbnail doesnt draw us like some of your more forceful photos. The quietness of the composition and subtelty have to be searched for the be found. It doesnt just jump out at us. Its so calm, it is like the undecisive moment before the decisive moment. I look at this photo and I imagine that this is like the calm before the storm, that the boy sees something approaching, but something the camera has not shown us.

Luko, I want to thank you for the last workshop you did. I think it was brilliant. I wasnt really very satisfied with the quality of some of those museum shots, but you showed me the way to unlock it. I will copy your technique for some of the photos I plan to post. You are right, the photos came out a bit underexposed and need radical work. And the framing was just brilliant. Solid white. Ill be using that soon.

Thanx.

Furachan (0) 2005-09-23 3:36

Brave, brave photo for a TE upload. Let me explain: were it not for the "Luko" brand at the bottom, many of us might not click it open, as it yields nothing as a thumbnail.
This is Big Screen, opening scene ein the movie kind of thing.
Stupendously beautiful light.
Fascinating "riverboat" activity upper left
Riveting dreaming boy bottem right.
I do think though (in solidarity with Narayan) that there are SEVERAL fine photos in here.
The total tapistry is almost too grand for our
small format. This is Cinerama not 16mm
But it is truly lovely all the way through...
-F

AmiBe (6042) 2005-09-23 4:37

Hello Luko,
en effet une image un peu différente de ta èart mais la qualité est toujours là !
je ne connaissais pas cet endroit...
La lumière de fin de journée est très belle.
C'est enfant, si petit dans la compo, est pourtant un élément essentiel sur lequel mon regard se pose.
Je me demande ce qu'il fait là.
Merci a+

dolin (15647) 2005-09-23 5:09

Salut Luko.
Très belle lumière et un ciel intéressant.
Un jeu d'ombre et de lumière, du contraste et de belles teintes.
L'enfant dans le coin donne la note finale....la photo ne serait rien sans cette présence.
Bien joué
Fred

faubry (32974) 2005-09-23 5:40

belle scène traditionnelle, tout ce bois et ce petit bonhomme sur la droite et l'animation au loin, très belles couleurs chaudes, j'aime réellement
à +++ francine

hugolef (4909) 2005-09-23 6:04

Hello Luko
tres belle lumiere sur l'Irrawaddy, les tonalités sont douces. La DOF est impeccable et on se demande jusqu'où va ce fleuve ...
Et le boy perdu au milieu de toute cette immensité.
Une belle composition
Amicalement, hugues

jcandeli (40) 2005-09-23 8:17

beautiful photo. Very warm colors and light. Needless to say the boy/girl in the composition is the key here. Otherwise the photo would not be nearly as strong. Very nice. JP

gringofil (0) 2005-09-23 8:50

Well, Luko, you know I dig your stuff and I'm always into people trying new things and all that, but this one just does not work for me as much as your other shots. Sure, as a landscape it is pretty good, but overall there is nothing much here for the eye to settle on. Yeah, you've got the little kid in the bottom right hand corner, but apart from that there is not much else. Exposure, colors and all that seem to be right on the mark, but the image simply lacks drama which is what ALL of your shots seem to have. Anyway, I prefer your "normal" style of photography where you show the human interest as well as the scenery around him.

naxius (16679) 2005-09-23 14:00

Salut Luko,
Une photo qui marche bien pour moi!
C'est grand, très grand cette vue..
Belles couleurs, belle lumière et cette petite fille sur la droite..
Bref, j'adore.
Alex

waysai (607) 2005-09-23 22:42

Is this the warm sunlight or color cast all over the sky, the river and the messy poles? And a bit over sharpen? But the composition and the angle were very interesting indeed.

cyril (2748) 2005-09-24 4:35

Salut Luko,
J'adore cette photo et c'est vrai que ca change des photos N&B que tu as l'habitude de poster.
J'adore les teintes de cette photo et tout simplement son impact sur la vision du monde.
Heuresement qu'il y a l'enfant sans lequel la photo n'aurait pas la meme dimension.

A+
Cyril

tongapup (1574) 2005-09-24 22:10

Verrry nice. I find that I am drawn into this photo; it's like a miniature that one can pore over at length. It does remind me of an old European landscape, especially with the tranquil sight of tiny silhouetted people doing their silent labour. Bucolic is the word. Not my usual cup of tea but I find it has a kind of potency.

maciekda (19599) 2005-09-25 16:35

this is very nice, very nice scene - interesting place, great light, kid in the corner, this picture makes me wanna go there, very nice image Luko, no complaints here