Living on the Edge Photo

Photographer’s Note

North Philippines is not really well set up for tourists - which gives these special places a quiet and certain 'undiscovered' feel. A bone jarring jeepney ride from Bontoc to Sagada will go past this view of a village perched precariously on the edge of a mountain, right next to the rice fields built like giant stairs leading to the sky. Our jeepney stopped at this view point on the way to Sagada, but did not on the return journey.
The long 10 hour plus bus trips to reach this part of the country are definately well worth it though!

timleahy, manatee, Greg1949, ribeiroantonio, Viera, pablominto, kiwi_explorer, noogy, Bruno40, rabani, dareco, testmaniac has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

timleahy (2189) 2007-03-31 20:22

David,

Wonderful shot! The strong green colours first catch the eye, then the pattern of the fields. The valley in background gives a real sense of depth to the image.

...tim

manatee (4299) 2007-03-31 20:22

Amazing view.
Exetnpicture and place, I would like to meet this place.

Congratulations

vagabondtravels (6115) 2007-03-31 20:27

Hi David

Nice pov. Very sharp with good detail. Great light. I did the same journey and I agree it is wortht the trip! Anyhow well done.
Ben

jmdias (20127) 2007-03-31 20:41

david

marvelous place, the light is nice and your pov is nice too. I would crop something out.

jorge

Greg1949 (8535) 2007-03-31 21:02

David,

Great shot, and with out trying to be cliche the depth of field is great, Detail and color are fantastic but what I find most impressive is that people live and work in hese conditions, almost a pre-industrialized world. Great capture.

Greg

trinko (2940) 2007-03-31 21:09

great lighting nice subject good colors i'd sharpen the village a bit.

ribeiroantonio (22054) 2007-03-31 21:31

It is really unbelievable how they can make all those terraces. The village looks quite big and the scenery is wonderful. I guess you had a good time over there. The compo is excellent and the colours very nice. Well done.
Antonio

jjcordier (25412) 2007-04-01 1:23

Ces rizières étagées sont toujours très photogéniques et quand, en plus, la lumière est si belle, le résultat photographique est vraiment magnifique.
Amicalement
JJ

Burberry1 (6041) 2007-04-01 3:17

Wonderful, perfectly framed photo David!!
Stanning light and beautiful green which is the color of HOPE.

Agnieszka

Viera (886) 2007-04-01 3:47

Hi David,
very nice photo of phillipinian country,
the light at the fields is beautiful.
Viera

pablominto (41654) 2007-04-01 3:58

Hello David,
Thanks to the excellent light this is one of the better images I have seen from this place!
Great feeling of depth, and the details in the village and rice terraces are wonderful...
Well composed presentation, with attractive colours!
Greetings,
Pablo -

partha (13677) 2007-04-01 4:00

Hi David,
The steps looks brilliant. Good use of lighting condition.Nice pov and dof.
Partha

adamchewts01 (838) 2007-04-01 4:12

Hi David,

This is better known as the famous Philippine Rice Valley and it is one place I have never been even I have been to the Philippines for 3 times now. Thank you for sharing this picture with us.

Adam

kiwi_explorer (12195) 2007-04-01 5:40

Hi David,
Beautiful landscape spoilt by modern civilization. Anyway, you have captured this very well ... good light balance. The colors and clarity is excellent. Well done... tfs.
Cheers,
Renier

noogy (1046) 2007-04-01 21:05

david,

superb perspective... almost surreal :) great colors despite what appears to be a bit overcast skies... sharpness is just right. the angle is what makes this photo, capturing the mountains on the right, the green terraces and the proliferation of modern houses on the left. thumbs up! tfs.

voyagenation (1168) 2007-04-02 1:34

Hi David, welcome to our country. The Bay-Yo rice terraces is one of the more beautiful terraces from this point of view. I have gone down there and shot the chapel of San Pedro. If you noticed the road was being widened from many parts of the road from Banaue up to Sagada. And as well as the Halsema highway if your jump off point is Baguio going to Sagada. I am excited to see more of your Sagada photos.

I was there almost one month prior to your visit when Sagada had a town fiesta. This April 7th, Bontoc the capital of the mountain Province will celebrate the Lang-Ay festival.

Hope you enjoyed your stay! And thanks for sharing.

Mabuhay!
Raul

If you wish to see more of the Mountain Province and Sagada Fiesta.

feather (50460) 2007-04-02 8:38

It certainly is worth it if you can catch that stunning light; it seems to just be illuminating the terraces and the village. The strong diagonal sweep of the terracing off-set by a similar slope on the opposite mountain makes for a dynamic composition.
Good work.
Kath

scalerman (25787) 2007-04-04 9:05

David: some really promissing work in your opening TE pages. Great detail, perspective, and light here as you well know. A fine image, overall. regards, c

guillaumejm (32) 2007-04-08 4:22

Hello david
The picture is perhaps missing a little of sharpness but not that important. The light in rice field is so great. And you're right, the point of view is really worth.
Best regards
JMarc

MmK (79) 2007-04-09 8:30

hi,
incredible shot, it seems like a dream more than real :)
great colors and light..
thanks for sharing,

regards,
mustafa

rabani (9429) 2007-04-09 21:43

10 hours bone jarring trip to see this?
Well worth it in my book. Another addition to my list of places to see before I die. Hoped my bones would still be up to it when the time come to see this. You picked the right time to stop. Just when the sun is casting its light across the terraces. I would go psychedelic just trying to get all I can of this plateau, the way you have it here David.

emercamaya (359) 2007-04-12 22:28

Great photo! The place is still a bit far off from Sagada, a place called Ba-yo. Indeed, it would make one stop for some photo ops. In my opinion, the Cordilleras is one of the most beatiful places in the world. Probably like going to Nepal. This particular place looks eerily a lot like Namche Bazaar.

Leilani (1371) 2007-04-15 19:09

wonderfully done. You were very lucky and caught great lighting. TFS!

irimi (868) 2007-04-27 6:14

Hello David,
Awesome view with beautiful light. The light from left has created shadows of the steps and that is striking. Very nice compostion and nature colors. Well done.

Greetings,
Ahmet

vichka_sun (445) 2007-06-07 14:52

Great scale!
A huge mountains and small village with all its farm. I like contrast between green plants and red roofs. It is, probably, wonderfull, to walk there. Beautifull place!
Thanks

limchenben (0) 2007-06-29 2:25

done it right!!!!!!!! wonderful shot. seems heaven to near for the stairway to green to passby.

dareco (17104) 2007-07-27 15:30

This winter when I go back there I'll have to check this area out. Soooooooo beautiful!!!! TFS

testmaniac (12334) 2008-07-07 1:58

Hi David,interesting landscape and place. Nice colors and composition.

TFS and regards,
Phil

stickbugg (48) 2008-10-07 22:02

Wow, great subject, composition and clarity. I especially love how the houses are kept to the side of the terraces, unlike in Banaue, where the view is very very messy. The viewpoint is perfect and the color is great. Are those white roofs over-exposed or reflective surfaces? Some of them seem really bright for such a distant shot of white objects.