Road to Mandalay Photo

Photographer’s Note

The Ayeyarwady River (formerly known as the Irrawaddy River) flows through the centre of Myanmar (formerly Burma).
It is Myanmar's most important commercial waterway. Its total drainage area is about 158,700 square miles (411,000 square km). It is about 1,350 miles (2,170 km) long.

The Ayeyarwaddy River starts in Kachin State, at the confluence of the Mali Hka and N'Mai Hka rivers. The western Mali Hka branch arises from the end of the southern Himalayas, north of Putao, and (like the main river) is called Nam Kiu in the Shan language.

The Ayeyarwaddy River dissects the country from north to south and empties through a nine armed delta into the Indian Ocean. In colonial times, before railways and automobiles, the river was known as the "Road to Mandalay".

Although navigable by large vessels to Myitkyina for a distance over 1600 km from the ocean, the river is also full of sandbanks and islands, making such navigation difficult. For many years, the only bridge built to cross the Ayeyarwady River was the Inwa Bridge.

The name "Ayeyarwady" is believed to have derived from the Sanskrit term "airavati", meaning "elephant river".

The Irrawaddy gives its name to a dolphin, the Irrawaddy Dolphin (Orcaella brevistosus), which is found in the river. Though sometimes called the Irrawaddy River Dolphin, it is not a true river dolphin, since it is also found at sea.

From Wikipedia

*Scanned image*

Galeota, Manu_b, efigesta, alon, eco, Emile, HNIK, waysai, devimeuxbe, huynt, pitai, thaprem, igorw has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

Furachan (0) 2005-10-20 3:31

Another of your stunning analog shots form the '90s...Beautiful delineation of the frame in two with basically two colors, golden water and silvery grey sky with a dash of orange in the sail of the boat.
Fantastic seen extremely well captured.
Ciao,
Francis

Galeota (10329) 2005-10-20 3:32

Hello Paolo. The sky seems a bit artificial to me, like if you had made an "abusive" use of a noise reduction tool such as Neat Image or something like it. Otherwise, I like the contrast of colours, that golden hue on the water and the moody atmosphere. Well done.

bantonbuju (48334) 2005-10-20 3:43

buongiorno paolo, as francis says - nice limited tonal range makes this picture being full of nostalgy, being a kind of dream about that place... very nice work;
besr wishes, j.

gbarto (1273) 2005-10-20 4:00

Bonjour Paolo
Magnifique image.
Le ciel donne une magnifique et étrange couleur à l'eau.
La voile apporte une pointe de couleur très chaude dans cette composition.
La ligne du rivage est placée comme il faut.
Beau travail.

Splendid image.
The sky gives splendid and strange watercolour.
The sail brings a point of very hot color in this composition.
The line of the shore is placed as it is necessary.
Beautiful work.

Manu_b (97) 2005-10-20 4:58

Nice composition, so much details in the sky.

The photo looks like a mix of B&W, Sepia (lower half) and a light touch of color on the boat.

Very nice shot.

efigesta (12181) 2005-10-20 5:20

Hi Paolo, nice composition, i like the POV and color, the contraste of sky and sea are esplendid, good note, regards, manuel

alon (1281) 2005-10-20 5:45

Paolo, I really like the atmosphere in this photo. The dark colors and the high contrast is so dramatic that I'm not sure if I would go on this boat. :-)
I like that the boat is the only colored object, and its positioning in the frame is just perfect.
Cheers,
Alon

rbcy1974 (20742) 2005-10-20 6:25

Hi Paolo,
beautiful colour given by this small boat, the sky is really dramatic,
Well done,
A domani..
A+
Daniel

starbug (6924) 2005-10-20 6:46

Wonderful tonation Paolo, the water looks really curious in this colour...I can see that the sky plays a very important role in many of your photos- and here as well, I feel opressed with its heavy atmosphere, the sky falling down on your head, lowering your pressure like bad weather...Wonderful composition as always- with this single boat, so small against the opressing, threatening sky...
greetings!
A.

AmiBe (6042) 2005-10-20 8:59

Ciao Paolo,
the bad weather gives a very special light here... I like it...
This small boat seems lost on this big river.
Excellent sky !
Well done

dolin (15647) 2005-10-20 10:29

Salut Paolo.
Cette grande place laissé à ce ciel chargé est très bien pensé.
J'aime bien ce peu de couleur, cela accentue cette étrange atmosphère.
Belle compo, joli
Fred

Emile (19785) 2005-10-20 10:58

Hola Paolo.
Very well captured in a stormy day, the color of the water tells me that have been raining for sometime. the clouds are impressive and the boat give your photo a good perspective.
Well done.

recepyuksel (17786) 2005-10-20 12:11

very nice compo and it is very tranquil for me. Congrats

gaby (19793) 2005-10-20 13:12

Paolo bonsoir - une image très forte - j'aime beaucoup la composition et les tons, notamment l'eau et le ciel -
Merci et bonne soirée
Gaby

HNIK (1104) 2005-10-20 13:59

Hi Paolo,
Great and fantastic shot,
with nic colors and nice sky.
well composed and worked with well details.
I like the composition of the boat.
Well done
Thanks for sharing
Regards

Amirsun (2114) 2005-10-20 17:13

Hi Paolo!
Very nice shot and great composition with the boat in the golden spot. Also very nice atmosphere. Tanks for posting.
Regards
Amir

waysai (607) 2005-10-20 21:37

Good compo and wide angle shot. The mudding river color and the monsoon clouds are so real. But vignetting at all corners is a setback. Very good note too.

greg64g (11193) 2005-10-21 3:37

hello Paolo

Strnage mood and colors here, especially on the water. the green and grey give a nice athmosphere here. I post just a wksop to maybe be helpful, i tried to give more "peps" on the image. i hope the tip could be helpful.
cheers
greg

[workshop] [compare]

jinju (14265) 2005-10-21 5:41

Hi Paolo,

you were doing great stuff way back in the 90s. I realy like the style you had then, sort of a National Geographic type of photo that wows us with exoticism and great compositions.

devimeuxbe (55665) 2005-10-21 6:13

Hi Paolo.
Very nice sky of clouds. The boat is nice too. All is vwell composed.
Congratulation, it's well done.
Bertrand

huynt (5077) 2005-10-22 6:39

Hi Paolo
wow very beautiful shot. Excellent composition. Well done

pitai (3925) 2005-10-22 9:50

Hello Paolo!!!

Let´s talk about contrast!!! The cloudy day provided a an impressive B&W background. I like this composition for that contrast and unique colors. I think the DOF could had been betther, thought.

Ciao!!!
Gabriel

eco (84) 2005-10-23 3:48

Hi Paolo

I like this scene, fantastic composition and beautiful place, good colors, this boat is very nice, very nice sky, good work, best regards, rafal - I will

thaprem (2456) 2005-10-24 0:39

A truely stunning shot Paolo...
THe colours complement each other & your tones as usal are amazing!!
I like your note...
Just to add, the sanskrit word "airavati" is also a white elephant of the Demi-God Indra, as per Hindu scriptures. That is the missing connection I Guess.

Thanks,
Prem.

everlasting (10894) 2005-10-25 9:24

Beautiful light you have here, the water resembles the gold leaf of the pagodas. I love the bright sail of the little boat for the touch of normal colour.