Sunset On The Road Photo

Photographer’s Note

I stopped for dinner at a restaurant along the river in Siam Reip. We ate barbequed frogs from the river and drank Angkor Wat beer.

As the sun started setting, I noticed a dirt road that was between the rice fields. The road was elevated and gave an interesting silhouette against the the pale sunset.

I took a number of shots, all featuring people on bikes or on foot as they passed by the shack and tree that I used as my focal range.

peck, andante, devimeuxbe, Mizia, fireflyz, AMZINCHIA, Ejla, MLINES has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

peck (2779) 2006-02-12 5:58

Hello David,
I like this composition and POV much!! Perfect framing, great contour of people... well done
greetings
Gregory

akademik (131) 2006-02-12 6:14

Hello David
Very nice Photo. Thanks.
Akademik

ivarba (786) 2006-02-12 6:20

Hi David

I like this one. The pale light and colour is obviously the right thing for this motive. The guy on the bicycle in silhouette works good for me.

Well done.

Regards
Ivar

KiltedArab (0) 2006-02-12 6:28

When I saw the thumbnail I immediately thought "E.T." and half expected the bike to start soaring into the air...

There's maybe a bit too much sky for my personal liking but I love the crispness of the silhouette.

pietvisi (317) 2006-02-12 6:51 [Comment]

Show Comment

ALSOM (6616) 2006-02-12 6:58

Nice image, the chines shadows really stand out from the scenery. Good idea to let such large space for the sky.
TFS, Alain -

RGatward (19737) 2006-02-12 7:35

Excellent framing, and a great subject for a silhouette, could have been me if 18 months earlier, and raining.

andante (7092) 2006-02-12 7:37

David, great comp!!!! The minimalistic use of the land vs the overwhelming scale of the sunset sky above make this one one of your best presentations so far at TE,
Love the frame, are you going to use it as your signature? Well done!
Enrique

devimeuxbe (55865) 2006-02-12 7:43

Hi david
Congratulation for this very interesting picture. I like the warm color of the sky, the nice cropping on the shadows.
The frame is also nice.
Very well done
Bertrand

PeterC (2242) 2006-02-12 9:04

David,
Brilliant use of silhouettes especially the bicycle. I really like the compostion using the pale orange sky to the fullest. Great shot
Cheers
Peter

Ebbe (9571) 2006-02-12 12:33

you can always get a smiley from me with a big sky like that. Excellent silhouettes along the bottom edge, hard to think a combination like that can come up randomly, you were very lucky with that! (Many shots fired?)

lewiz (1293) 2006-02-12 16:34

Hi David,

This is truly spectacular! I absolutely love the gradient background, the silhouettes are perfect, as is the position. The frame is great too.

Thanks for sharing this one! -Lewis.

vapours (7913) 2006-02-12 21:33

Great colour here, and love the silhouette. It's a simple shot, yet also at the same time theres a lot of action happening that we can create our own story from the scene. Great work.

jinju (14265) 2006-02-13 5:59

Good shot. I again like the exaggerated expense of the sky here David. Works for me. The 2 dimensional featureless silhouettes emind me of a photo I saw in a National Geographic book today at a bookstore.

dolin (15647) 2006-02-13 7:42

Hi David.
Waouhhhh magnifique.
Le cadrage vertical et ces silhouettes posées sur le bas et tout cet espace laissé à ce ciel orangé c'est tout simplement parfait !!!
SUPERBE !
Fred

(I come back !)

Mizia (89) 2006-02-13 7:53

Hi David,
Very warm, calming and peaceful photography. I like the proportion between the sky and the ground. Very poetical.
Regards, Gosia

Angshu (33645) 2006-02-13 9:18

Hi David

I like the acres of sky in your shot. A great silhouette. Fab snap

Cheers
Angshu

cherryripe (18973) 2006-02-13 16:55

Hi David
The silhouettes in the shot are fantasic. The details are quite incredible. As the top part of the sky is rather pale, I would have chopped it off and made it a square.
Regards Nikki

fireflyz (2079) 2006-02-13 17:11

Hey Dave,
this is just LOVELY! superb color tones and silhouette. I especially like your framing here. well done!
Skye

danielswalsh (13322) 2006-02-13 20:01

Nice shot David;

I was in Angkor a couple years ago- and had a great time. Although I have to say, I wasn't quite so daring as to try the BBQ'd frogs from the river.
The composition is what really makes this shot- the amazing thing is the simplicity of it. The actual subject only takes up about a sixth of the image, but makes for a very striking shot.

Well done David!
- Dan

triptych2003 (1398) 2006-02-13 20:53

That's a nice shot there. I remember this day quite well. The girl at the restaurant thought I was better looking than you and the frogs were great. I also remember riding out on a rickety old bike that the restaurant owner had so I could stand in that exact spot so you could take pictures. that's not me tho... lol! I like the colour scaling...

skomy (124) 2006-02-19 7:23

David,

Perfect Shot! i like the way u dealt with the silhouettes...and the large area u dedicated to the pale colors of the sky..
Ur framing is also very nice..
a shot welldone!
Sherif

alego (277) 2006-02-21 18:20

Hi David,
I really like this photo. Composition and color tones are simple and it is this simplicity that makes photo effective and beautifull.
Compliments,
Goran

ydarias (657) 2006-02-28 6:32

Hola David. Una gran composición. Me agrada la gran cantidad de cielo que has mostrado en la foto en comparación con el paisaje y las personas que muestras debajo. Creo que esta bien porque produce un gran contraste en la foto. Además la exposición es genial y el marco que has añadido a la foto mejora mucho el aspecto general. Un gran trabajo.

Yeray.

vagabondtravels (6107) 2006-03-09 6:49

Great capture. The colors are brilliant. Really nice silhouettes.

Luko (13894) 2006-03-10 7:08

BRILLIANT!!!! this is the essence of rural Cambodia and your exposure is absilutely spot on. If I were to nitpick a bit, perhaps you went a bit over on sharpness (see the white edges surrounding the silhouettes).

Furachan (0) 2006-03-13 5:54

I'm a little to the feast, David, just to add my 2 cents and say that this is a quintessential Cambodian pic, like a poster from that extraordinary movie "The Killing Fields" even though you are depicting peace of course... Rarely does one image capture so much of the soul of a place.
Congrats,
Francis

pastadog (12821) 2006-03-13 10:00

Hi David, superb shot, I like the vertical orientation that takes thru all the tones of the marvelous sunset, all the way down to the silhouettes, and you even have a nice compo down there. Artwork. In my favorites. Cheers :) Daniel

AMZINCHIA (1082) 2006-03-13 10:07

Hello David.
What a wonderful idea to look at the world the way you do here. Actually, as the world should be looked at: under a ++ H U G E + + sky, with no limits into the universe, small human pass by, so small indeed, but so busy!
What a wonderful idea to look at the world the way you do here. So aesthetically penetrating, so fascinating. I usually HATE sunsets photographs. With this one, you make me change my mind.
The sharpness is great, the contrast more than perfect. And the overall picture is a quite a master-piece. You do not mind if I pin it up my favorites' collection, do you? Bravo, --amz

Ejla (429) 2006-04-23 3:18

Beautifull silhouttes . I feel like in a Shadows theatre. A whole story could be said!
I love the colours, too.

crettaz (2685) 2006-06-21 7:21

Super compo et le cadre est joli aussi !

A bientôt

iGirl (1223) 2006-08-07 16:24

Hi David, nice composition, I like the silhouettes and also the big golden sky with its soft rippling textures.

Thanks for sharing!

Erin

MLINES (10884) 2006-08-29 2:19

Hi David, One of the best silhouettes i have seen to date. Cropping to include the sky like this is very effective indeed. Murray.

agnieszqa (954) 2009-03-03 10:52 [Comment]

Show Comment

Photo Information

Copyright: David Smeaton (david) (3972)
Genre: Places
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2006-01-06
Categories: Daily Life
Camera: Nikon D50
Exposure: f/5.3, 1/1600 seconds
More Photo Info: view
Photo Version: Original Version
Travelogue: The Trip To Angkor Wat
Theme(s): Gul791's Favourit, Your Favorites, Best Of The Best, Favourites 3 [view contributor(s)]
Date Submitted: 2006-02-12 5:54
Favorites: 4 [view]