streets on fire, a photo from Tungurahua, North

Photographer's Note

in ecuador, on the new year's eve, it's a popular custom to burn rag dolls made in resemblance of local politicians. it is believed, that this ceremony will bring better luck for the politicians in serving the people in the coming year. :))

what you see in the picture is representative of how the town of banos looked a few minutes after midnight. politician dolls burning out everywhere... the biggest fire you see on the left is right in front of the Basilica de la Virgen de Agua Santa.

a nice tradition, don't you find? some of my latvian friends think we should introduce it in my old country. how about you and your country, folks? ;)

Jeppo, japiey, metsankettu, Floydian, delkoo, belido, Charo, Wandering_Dan, Gerrit, fulvio52, cfreire, avene, zeca, saldeplata, azaf1, gracious, denisn72, plimrn, gunbud, JorgeCK has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

Jeppo (17623) 2008-05-10 14:32

HI Kristaps,

but...my proposal: why don't just burn politician directly???

interesting note for a pleasant pic. good light management
ciao
Silvio

giorgimer (34512) 2008-05-10 14:37

Hi Kris,

very interesting, good moment capture. I like the way you obtained this nice shot despite these hard light conditions.

TFS

Gio

japiey (10163) 2008-05-10 15:04

Hi Kristaps,

Good dociment of the custom.
Yeah, that's a nice thing to adapt this to every lands... but why to burn innocent dolls of politicians..? Here in our land, we burn old things welcoming the new dawn... and that's celebrated once a year..
Good eye to witness this and to shoot ..
All the best.

jp

Polonaise (5796) 2008-05-10 15:24

Splendid idea, Kristaps...!!!
Marvelous in every aspect of it...
But...
Yes.. There is a 'But' in it...
How the heck we are going to get those rag dolls resembling our politicians, eh ?
This is going to be a real dilemma...
!!

No...Wait... Wait a minute...!
I got an idea...
Screw the rag dolls !!! who needs them ?
The flames are high... Everything is ready...
Lets clean some stables of Augeias right now...
Yippee Yahoo...!!!
Future seems so bright...

..................

Great stuff, Kristaps buddy...
Killer photo...
g.

metsankettu (58) 2008-05-10 15:52

Wonderful shot! I am really enjoying this shot and I appreciate your note because I was unaware of this delightful tradition in Ecuador! We often burn effigies in the US during political protests, especially of the Bush administration. Luck has nought to do with it here! ;-)

CycleEyes (24) 2008-05-10 18:02

Hi Kristaps, intersting shot ! I like the atmosphere in this exposition with relaxed people.
George

delkoo (68) 2008-05-11 0:51

hi kristaps
A nice, spontaneous phot with documentary value rather that technical perfection.

a nice tradition, indeed -:)

didier

Floydian (30970) 2008-05-11 1:12

Hi Kristaps,
A great mood, catch in a fantastic atmosphere. You really captured the essence on how people live down there. I like this one a lot. Not only because it's different form the others that you've posted, but for the mood you have put in to this image...truly a great shot.
Regards, Henk

belido (19934) 2008-05-11 5:19

Hi Kristaps,

even before the great scene you have captured in here is the excellent light management. I noticed you have worked with noise reduction and this means you used a high iso...well if you did that, congratulations, it's successful! Backing to the context, nothing more opportune than this catch. Interesting note as well. Great post!
Abraço,
Carlos

ifanik (21673) 2008-05-11 9:23 [Comment]

Show Comment

Charo (51174) 2008-05-11 10:38

Hola Kristaps,
Una noche dominada por el fuego. Original composición con mucho dinamismo y estupenda atmósfera. Buen trbajo de exposición.
Cordialmente
Charo

Wandering_Dan (3449) 2008-05-11 14:08

Hi, Kristaps -

Great light management; the scene is reminiscent of Rembrandt's Night Watch. The way the people are positioned creates good diagonals as well. Well framed and well timed!

Best,
Dan

molla (7127) 2008-05-11 14:10

hej Kristaps,
this reminds me about Goya the spanish artist, like the different colors of the light here and the extra mood fires always gives especially to street scenes. i made a small WS for fun
Anders

[workshop] [compare] +

Gerrit (43743) 2008-05-11 15:50

Hi Kristaps,
great Rembrandtesc colours in this lively streetscene. Looks like fun.
Regards, gerrit

baba_flies (8829) 2008-05-12 1:06

Hello Kristaps! You could introduce this custom in every country but coming from a spoilt corner of our planet we can still lay back and open up an expensive bottle of champagne instead. This might be a mistake, hey? To me, it looks a little scary and you wonder if they keep things under control. The mood you caught is simply incredible and you feel like standing there personally and trying to help these folks finding the politicans they deserve. Nevertheless, for me New Year's is a time to celebrate and to reflect what comes next and what was behind, and sometimes I am a little sad when the church bells start to ring, and you realize that another years has gone. All my best, have a wonderful Monday, we have Pfingsten and don't work, what about the States, I forgot? Barbara.

fulvio52 (8314) 2008-05-12 7:01

Hi Kristaps,
if I were to take this shot, all you'd get would be a couple blurred yellowish glows in the middle of blurred pitch-dark, Ecuador... LOL!!!
I'm pretty amazed at your light-management and overall clarity. I know you like high ISOs, which would be anyway required for a shot of this caliber, therefore I can honestly state you did an exceptional job with noise reduction. Clean as fresh laundry.
Damn good picture, unique atmosphere too!
Cheers,
Fulvio.

cfreire (11739) 2008-05-12 14:21

Hi Kristaps,
Wonderful night shot very well captured! I've appreciated a lot of the golden colors and excellents contrasts. Great sharpness and good adjustments levels for taken it. Well done. Best regards, Consuelo

danyy (0) 2008-05-12 14:47

Bonjour Kristaps,
on manifeste partout dans le monde, des gestes contre les politiciens. Ils le méritent sans doute car pour la plupart, ce sont des mégalomanes.
Voici unephoto avec une ambiance nocturne parfaitement capturée, j'aime la fumée que l'on voit bien devant les éclairages.
Regards.
Daniel.

avene (12671) 2008-05-12 18:14

hi there :)
the smoke creates spooky mood, makes me think about Medieval witch trials :) not sure you meant that when you were composing this, but you're standing in the middle of the street winding into the photo, but the two fires look like gates you have to pass to get into the New Year and bright future :) I definitely like it, and your d300 has done a great job in reducing the noise. a bit scary shot, but very powerful.

hugs,
K.

p.s. there's a cute rag doll in WS now. hope you don't mind ;)

[workshop] [compare] +

pboehringer (770) 2008-05-12 18:27

Kristaps,
burning rag dolls? What a waste of material and polution. Why not going back to the time of inquisition and burning the politicians personally? :-) It would be a never ending business ...
What about the technical stuff of this shot? What ISO did you use here to freeze all the characters so well? I don't see any noise, but that doesn't suprise me at all with the D300. At least from all the critiques that I read so far this little machine does wonders at high ISO's. Why not including part of your EXIF data in your note?
The image itself? Wonderful! The atmosphere is perfectly catched. I have the impression to be there.
Peter

zeca (19762) 2008-05-12 22:27

Hi Kristaps!
It looks like any movie of gangs from NY! Very well taken! Perfect exposition!
Regards,
Zeca

Merline (0) 2008-05-13 3:45

Hi dear friend,
this could be applied to all countries, with a few exceptions maybe (:-))).
Very good mood and colors, I like the festive yet a bit dramatic atmosphere, that light playing all over the image, painting like yes, documentary style, I wonder if you have used some neatimage ? How much ISO ?

Have a great day!
KR
Michèle

Greg1949 (9011) 2008-05-13 5:56

Kristaps, love this one, a real night shot and I think you were right in using the darker one as the top shot. Real life i thikn is what these shots show us, very well seen and captured.

Greg

saldeplata (194) 2008-05-13 11:44

Spectacular and very beautiful picture, Kristaps. Missing points and words.
Congratulations.
Greetings.
Angel

crckt (7216) 2008-05-14 8:20

Hi Kristaps,
This is a documentary like shot. I love the mood that you've captured here, the light is excellent too.
Regards,
Shaeri

gracious (20025) 2008-05-14 18:54

Hello Kristaps,
Many thanks for sharing this unique tradition from Ecuador! and a nice image that comes with it
the image is well exposure and focus in good sharpness, colour and details
thanks for the notes too
cheers
Tony

azaf1 (15929) 2008-05-15 1:21

Hi Kristaps
A very dramatic night capture and I'm glad there's no flash light. The feect is tremedouns and the details clear. I like your note, too
Compliments
Argiris

denisn72 (8300) 2008-05-15 16:41

Hello Kristaps
It is an original tradition you present us here. That night capture is well done with a perfect light and point of view. The atmosphere seems really pleasant there isn't it?
Best regards
Denis!

PixelTerror (0) 2008-05-16 0:28

Hi Kristaps,
Good LATW image showing the scene, dark at places but I for sure wouldn't do any better with these extreme contrasts. I like the idea a lot and would gladly invite all our political personel to take place in the fire, not just dolls ;-)
Have a nice day JY

aadilj (18080) 2008-05-19 5:50

I always get captivated by these well taken and controlled night shots with glowing colours and lights. This one has an impact and is done well

nirvana73 (0) 2008-05-19 7:55

Hello Kristaps
great moment
good composition
nice fire light
tfs
regards
Ozhan

Bluejeans (64231) 2008-05-19 9:37

Ola Kristaps,
Bonita foto nocturna deste acontecimento a passagem de ano no Equador e as suas tradições , ficou bem dramática a foto com o fumo no ar, bom enquadramento da foto , parabéns!!!
Um abraço Gonçalo

plimrn (21344) 2008-05-20 11:59

Can't we just burn the politicians themselves??? Oops, I see I'm not alone in my thinkiong.

Anyway, I love the way you used the light to capture the feeling of the moment, great work!!

HLj, Pat

gunbud (34052) 2008-05-20 19:01

Hi Kristaps,
Maybe we should adopt this custom it seem our pols could use some help. Wonderful night exposure with great clarity details and sharpness to this wonderful festive occasion.
Regards, Tom

Waylim (22355) 2008-05-21 8:41

Kristaps,
Very good image consider it's very dark and not idea for photo without flash. It turned out really great, you capture the fun atmosphere. I like the ambiance of the lights and the smokey haze, yet you can see through it to the back of the street. Incredable detail for the night shot. First it remind me of the riot in LA 15 or so year ago, but this is a really fun image. Thanks for sharing.
Way

JorgeCK (2614) 2008-06-04 12:34

Hola amigo,
Another excellent night picture from you wonderful collection. Beautiful warm golden colors and sharp. Excellent light management.
Thank you for sharing the picture and the note.
saludos
joRge

noborders (1010) 2008-09-21 2:56

I like your night shots (the other, Latvian fire too), the smoke and the whole atmosphere envelopes me and I like to dream in front of such scenes... Yes, a fun tradition to burn (in ideas at least) their politicians ; we have forgotten most of these traditions in Belgium but look at how the Chinese people celebrate their new year (in Jan-Feb according to the moon), it takes a whole week and they burn a lot of old things, the fireworks are there to scare the bad spirits, the wear new clothes, start afresh...

An interesting event about a not so often represented country !
Best,
Cath.