Kids from Lavena Photo

Photographer’s Note

I will never forget that morning of October, 1998. I was enjoying Taveuni and diving some of the best dives I've ever had, but the night before I had some health problems and unfortunately I couldn´t dive in the morning. I was in Fiji and I couldn´t dive! I saw my buddies going to the boat and the boat going to the reefs, and I envy that guys. So, the friendly hotel hostess had invited us to visit Lavena, as a compensation for the dives we miss. We went to the other side of the island of Taveuni, to the little village of Lavena, a tiny place that a few years before was just the set to the movie "Return to the blue lagoon", so you can imagine how we feel when we saw that place. We immediatly forgot the scuba diving and said thanks to the opportunity to be there, where the paradise was ours. We enjoyed the beach, just me and my wife, alone at most of the time. But, suddenly we saw some kid's faces between the bush looking us with a little bit of shame and curiosity. Since we use to have some chocolates with us for this occasions, we had the key to have new friends, first these three little kids and after some other with a few more age. Since that village is so far from everything, chocolates are not really commom, and we saw the kids soaking it in the sea water before they ate it! We spent one of the happiest mornings of our lifes, and the diving boat just gone to another diving. So, if you are going to dive in Taveuni, don´t hesitate to exchange one morning diving to enjoy the most beautiful paradise of Lavena.
Cheers!
Zeca
This is another old slide scanned. I am happy to have made a couple of slides, and to have it well preserved in a good slide storage. Its a pity I didn´t made just slides in my life, because it results much better scans.

trekks, mark_mk, carper, Isabelle, jhm, belido, lucasgalodoido, AiresSantos, Philippe, Kielia, josepmarin, jusninasirun, Cretense, danos, Clementi, shevchenko, mydrjoe, Flavia, npecanhuk, avene, Jonas_Schmitt, jlbrthnn, Scharan has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

trekks (14260) 2008-09-11 22:04

hi Jose

Amazing quality of this slide scan of this wonderful beach scenery. The clarity and sharpness is very much preserved in your shot of this color slide. A fine TE post.

tfs, bill

PJE (19322) 2008-09-11 22:46

Hello Jose. I think the slide was preserved very well to say the least. And the three playing in the shoreline waters is an excellent shot. Thanks for sharing.

mark_mk (246) 2008-09-12 3:22

Hi Jose,
another old one, really nice. Great quality of the scan and of course the shot is wonderfully composed. Great scene you captured here, the colros are also wodnerful and the water looks so clear. A very ncie shot Jose, thanks for sharing!

Take care
Mark

carper (63859) 2008-09-12 3:28

very nice shot of those children in the sea, good pov,
with the shadow in thed faces you could use a highlight tool, farher good photojob, have anice day Jose.
regard jaap

jhm (81561) 2008-09-12 4:57

Hello José,

I have a lot respect for this scanned picture, almost if good as a digital picture.
Also the three innocent children make this picture attractive.
Very well done, TFS.

Have a nice weekend,
John.

belido (15955) 2008-09-12 6:16

Olá Zeca,

às vezes há males que vêm para o bem. Fico imaginando sua frustação, mas houve recompensa. A imagem do slide foi muito bem resgatada. Gosto particularmente do brilho que vem da água e do azul que se perde entre a água e o céu. As crianças ficaram com o tema da foto. Belo trabalho!
Abraço,
Carlos

lucasgalodoido (16525) 2008-09-12 6:40

Olá Zeca,
muito bonito mesmo o mar nessa região, e gostei de ver as crianças brincando na ãgua. esse reflexo do sol ficou sensacional.
Parabéns e Abraço

zmey (7242) 2008-09-12 7:49

ola, zeca

interesting. i guess, you shot almost against the sun: the kids almost seem desaturated, while the sand under the water is not. almost can feel that heat 'zing!' sound in the air. nice!

regards,
kristaps

Philippe (11645) 2008-09-12 9:18

Hi, Jose. Your picture shows how amazed the children look when eating their chocolates. On the other hand, they look fully at ease in the water of the lagoon. I like the patch of sunshine that seems to surround the three children and of course the beautiful colour of the water.
Have a nice weekend,
Philippe

Kielia (8111) 2008-09-12 11:34

Hi Jose,
thanks for sharing this high quality scan! The image and your note are really soul touching and you have captured such a peaceful and pleasant atmosphere of the three happy children (soaking the chocolate!). My compliments!
Warm regards
Harriet

josepmarin (33547) 2008-09-12 12:27

Olá José,
el escaneado de esta antigua diapositiva ha quedado perfecto, la imagen mantiene una gran calidad de luz y de colores, y además, estos niños jugando en un agua limpia y transparente dan un toque muy simpático a la composición.
Me gusta su sencillez y su gran belleza.
Un abrazo,
Josep

polpo56 (7748) 2008-09-12 14:37

Ciao Jose,
great quality and great composition. Amazing colours in the bleu tones, but over all a nicely daily life from the world of children.
Bravo
Un abbraccio
Ludo

siamesa (12281) 2008-09-12 16:40

Oi Zeca,
Já devem ser adolescentes agora.Belíssimas cores do mar que se tornam douradas no primeiro plano.Gostei da linha branca no horizonte fazendo a divisão entre o céu e o mar .
Abraços
Maria

jusninasirun (9980) 2008-09-12 20:56

Hello Jose. Beautiful framing of these three kids against the distant horizon under warm lighting. Well placed subject and well done. Regards. Jusni

AiresSantos (41142) 2008-09-13 1:03

Ola Zeca
Esta foto faz lembrar os dias quentes de verao, que ja nao temos. Agora ja esta bastante frio e com muito vento.
Magnifico o efeito dos reflexos na agua. Bonitas cores saturadas.
Um abraço e bom fim de semana
Aires

Cretense (54554) 2008-09-13 7:41

Hi Zeca!

Wonderful daily life scene in this exotic beach! Simple but effective composition, beautiful colors! I wonder do these kids know that they live in paradise? Congratulations and TFS!

Hercules

danos (31520) 2008-09-13 9:17

Ola Jose,
nice the snapshot of the three children that playing in the clear sea, carefree.I like the brightness and the clarity of the foreground.The quality of the scanning is perfect.Well done.

Have a nice weekend,Danos

Clementi (42703) 2008-09-13 10:28

Ciao Jose',
una bellissima scena di questi bambini che giocano in una meravigliosa acqua dai colori eccezionali.
ottimo lavoro
Giorgio

fanni (8675) 2008-09-13 14:08

Hello Jose,
very good scan (technically speaking). The photo is full of sunshine, energy and joy :) I like the composition! the thin white line at the horizon looks very nice, separating the sky and the water. Excellent clarity of water!
best regards,
Elena

emilbo (9063) 2008-09-14 17:55

Bonsoir Zeca!
Belle réussite pour une diapo scannée. La photo est intéressante et le travail en valait la peine. Bonne composition et bon rendu des couleurs.
Coediales salutations,
Emilius

shevchenko (9694) 2008-09-14 21:32

Hello Jose,
Interesting composition to show simply life of pure children on the beach, I like clear and clean water here, nice color of blue sky and sea in a sunny day, distinct scanned image, thanks for sharing.
Ally

mydrjoe (1240) 2008-09-15 3:03

Olá Jose,

Very nice image of this kind of paradise. I like the blue that, in a gradual manner and from the foreground to the background, pervades the entire image. The quality of this scanned image is very good and the moving note completes a really good work. Congrats!

Best regards,
JR

Flavia (10202) 2008-09-15 8:11

Oi Zeca,

Legal voce estar nos mostrando suas fotos antigas. Esta e tao natural, voce capturou um momento tao lindo destas criancas.

Abracos,

Flavia

avene (10810) 2008-09-15 17:28

hi Zeca,
I guess this is one of those situations where you can say that every cloud has a silver lining :) love the photo, especially the amazing clarity of the water, and how comfortable and relaxed the kids look. the colours are crisp and clear, the white of the waves on the horizon is pure, but not overexposed - I'm very impressed with the quality of the scan. great shot, my compliments.

best,
Kristine

npecanhuk (12919) 2008-09-16 2:53

Bom dia Zeca!
Já nesta foto, mostra-nos um momento peculiar da vida dos nativos e, novamente, de uma forma extraordinariamente profissional, com simplicidade e muita riqueza de detalhes ao mesmo tempo!
Magnífica!
Parabéns!
Neyvan

Volto depois!

Jonas_Schmitt (3074) 2008-09-17 12:30

Hello Jose!
Fidji is a place I´d really really like to go, I´ve heard and read so many nice stories about it and I´m glad of every picture (and note) I can find about it. You´re story is really interesting, it´s always nice to read about experiences with local people. Oh yes, the diving there should be brilliant, Lavena is very famous for the beautiful beaches, the different birds and - diving. A pity you couldn´t go in this morning (would it have been with diving mask and snorkel or with real equipment? - I´ve only dived one time with diving mask and snorkel, that was on an island near Malaysia), but your experience with the kids and the chocolate also sounds really interesting.
Anyway, your photo is great....the water looks so clear and really invites you to go swimming, and the kids really bring life into the composition. Also no bad quality, especially for a scanned film, looks really good !
So, have a nice day and best regards,
Jonas

jlbrthnn (36702) 2008-09-17 14:09

Bom-dia José,
Gosto da inocência e a alegria de viver destas crianças tanto postas bem em imagem. As cores são magníficas. Excelente realização.
A nota é fascinante.
Passa uma boa noite
Cordialmente
Joël

Scharan (13951) 2008-09-17 15:10

Olá Zeca

Quem não gostaria de ser criança agora e estar aí brincando nesta água calma e transparente. Lindo lugar, linda foto!
Parbéns
GA
Vera

angela926 (1882) 2008-09-18 13:15

Hello Jose,
Great capture of these lovely children having fun in the sun, good sharpness, depth of field and light, beautiful colors and good clarity.
TFS
Angela

albertz (2310) 2008-09-19 18:43

This is a paradise, the water is so clear and i like how the kids stimulate some life in the overall image. Nice compo, i like it.