• Fun times in Phnom Penh • Photo

Photographer’s Note

Phnom Penh is a city of beauty and degradation, tranquility and violence, and tradition and transformation; a city of temples and brothels, music and gunfire, and festivals and coups. But for many, it's simply an anarchic celebration of insanity and indulgence. Whether it's the 2$ wouden-shack brothels, the ganja-pizza restaurants, or the intricate brutality of Cambodian politics. Phnom Penh never ceases to amaze and amuse.

There, in a one minute span, you can see people among the poorest in the world sitting in a corner, then a Ferrari or an Aston Martin passing in the dirty streets, a young boy trying to sell you books and postcards while he should be at school (he'll you he has school in the afternoon, but you'll see him at the exact same place in the afternoon...), an occidental man holding a young girl's hands (you know what I mean) passing in front of the Royal Palace.

But what you'll see the most, is fantastic people, smiling, waiving at you, trying to just move on and forget about that horror they lived not so long ago. Trying to cope with the corruption that's everywhere around them. The population is so young, so dynamic, it just makes you feel good to be around them.

Here's a simple scene that you'll necounter just any minute in Phnom Penh...

I know the girls are not perfectly sharp...the panning is not perfect. The light was really low...and the moment was perfect!

isabela_sor, wag, MarianneS, WelshTraveller, maglex, al-Farrob, mvdisco, robiuk, riclopes, eversmile, Wanda1, Floydian, vasilpro has marked this note useful

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isabela_sor (42078) 2008-11-18 12:34 [Comment]

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wag (648) 2008-11-18 12:36

Hello Marc, cute panning and great moment of life, it is possible to feel the funny mood from girls, tfs.

Peter

rbassin (4217) 2008-11-18 12:38

Bonsoir Marc,
C'est une superbe vue, le flou avec ses nuances est bien géré.
Bonne soirée
Roland

maglex (1560) 2008-11-18 12:39

Hi Marc, i find the lighting/exposure just right to discern the ahppy faces of the girls. the blurring adds more life into the image. Nice note... Thanks for sharing ...Alex

limule (3899) 2008-11-18 12:41

This is anyway a very dynamic shot, full of joy. the attitude of the girls is great. Each of them is different but all of them seems to share the same feelings. Geraldine

leo61 (43336) 2008-11-18 12:45

Hi Marc!
Not the perfect panning( but much better than my only posted try)but a great shot full of joy!!!I like it a lot and it shows well the traffic in this busy town.
Regards,Leo

CLODO (4132) 2008-11-18 12:47

Good panning giving the impression of speed 'but your exposition speed given is wrong...), and moreover the girls seem happy.
Well done
regards
CLODO

MarianneS (14264) 2008-11-18 12:53

Bonsoir Marc,
Excellent! Ces jeunes filles (à trois sur une motocyclette!!) expriment une telle joie de vivre, au coeur de cette compo trépidente.
J'aime beaucoup.
Le fait qu'elles ne soient pas parfaitement nettes est compensé par cette explosion de gaîeté et de couleurs.
Bien joué!
Cordialement,
Marianne

WelshTraveller (352) 2008-11-18 12:58

Hi Marc
really good shot .. nice job capturing the movement!
David

flacha (1085) 2008-11-18 13:13

Wow!
Perfect shot!
Regards
flacha

jonathan_hart (22570) 2008-11-18 16:01

the mood compensate the not perfect result of the panning, interesting scene and expressions captured
regards
jc

mvdisco (11480) 2008-11-18 16:42

Bonsoir Marc,
Superbe capture et moment magique pris sur le vif, je vois qu'elles ont capté ta présence avec ta camera avec ces beaux sourires;) et la joie de vivre se lie sur leur visage, j'aime bien le flou de mouvement capté en image de fond, belle prise de vue et composition et une belle image journalistique, beau récit sur le sujet et de l'endroit visité..compliments..
Mes saltutations
Michel..

krmpradeep (52) 2008-11-18 17:00 [Comment]

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mphotographies (1976) 2008-11-18 22:49

Bonjour Marc,

Yeah I agree capturing that moment was perfect! The warmth of their smile, the simple life they now live compared to before, just priceless to see the happy transition in Phom Penh.

Despite the blur due to excessive shake specially at telephoto just makes the result quite creative, stunning actually...I like it ;)

Best Regards,

Jom

BennyV (4642) 2008-11-19 1:07

Playful photography, and a subject full of life too. All smiles for this one, Marc. Lovely tribute to the people living in PP, a city you just gotta love/hate...well, I did :-)

Benny

ben4321 (9781) 2008-11-19 9:07

Almost a perfect panning shot Marc - I just wish it was sharper on the girls faces (ah, I see you talked about that in your note...).
I like the energy here though. Great expressions on their faces, especially the girl driving the scooter.
If anything, this shot would have worked better if you'd used an even slower shutter speed, so as to completely blur those background details, but then you'd have had to get your panning technique down pat.
These shots work best when the speed of your panning movement matches that of your subject. It takes a lot of practice and trial and error, but that's half the fun!
Good stuff though, I like this one.

Cheers,
Ben

robiuk (10763) 2008-11-19 11:19 [Comment]

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tigron (77) 2008-11-19 15:05 [Comment]

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riclopes (32971) 2008-11-20 2:38

Olá Marc, I remember well this one that I liked a lot. It seems that in TE the non-perfection is more noticeble...You resumed all in your last paragraph in the note. And "the moment was perfect!" is what makes me like so much the picture. And I also like the speed effect on the background and the ghosts from the other motorbike(s). The joy on the girls and the fact they are interplaying with you make a very enjoyable scene to look at.
Have a nice day,
ricardo

wenwen (183) 2008-11-21 4:12

Hi Marc, nice moment you captured. So dramatic and vivid smile on the girls' face. I like it. Your comment made me wondering what kind of city is Phenom Penh, I'd like to see it with me own eyes. Thank you for sharing, wonderful work!
Regards.

bwiti (402) 2008-12-05 18:34

Sympa celle-ci... Cela fait longtemps que je souhaite essayer ce procédé, mais n'y pense jamais lorsque l'occasion se présente à moi... c'est con tout de même....:)
Je ne vadrouille que très très rarement sur TE et constate qu'un certain nombre de mes favoris ne publient presque plus, j'imagine que de nouvelles pattes sont arrivées sur le marché...;)
Dans tous les cas félicitations pour ce cliché, même si tu le soulignes toi-même, il y manque un brin de netteté.

xavshot (62327) 2008-12-09 12:54

Re bonsoir,
à première vue je trouvais que c'était dommage que les trois filles ne soient pas totalement nettes et puis, plus je regarde la photo, plus je trouve que cela ajoute du mouvement à cet ensemble; J'aime bien les couleurs de cette image. Bravo.
Xavier

eversmile (6045) 2008-12-09 23:04

Salut Marc

Bien que le panning ne soit techniquement pas parfait, ce qui s'en dégage est tellement jubilatoire, plein d'énergie positive et d'humour, que le charme agit immédiatement! Il y a beaucoup d'âme dans cette scène! J'aime bien les jambes enlacées des filles et l'air aux anges de la conductrice! Bravo!
Amicalement
Marine

Wanda1 (10923) 2008-12-10 9:58

Hello Marc,
One can feel the speed in this one as they go whizzzzing by! The unsharpness on the girls does not bother me so much, there is enough to see what is going on and their expressions of joy as they spot you taking their photo. A happy moment captured at the right time. I agree with you about the people in Cambodia.
Regards
Wanda

saigon (5497) 2008-12-21 1:15

bonjour MARC.
un exellent filé sur cette image tres sympatique!
j'aime la bonne humaur de celle qui pilote la moto!
amitiés ensoleillés....aldo.

dprowannabe (52) 2008-12-27 3:36

Awesom, wonder how could you get the middle girl to do that peace sign? hehe Great shot!!!

Floydian (30970) 2009-01-07 6:40

Hi Marc,

Smiling girls on mortorbikes....this must be Cambodia ;-)
1/25 is to low with these speeds, i know that from expreience, but if i see the result here it looks nice. Not tack sharp on their faces, but at least we see the smiles and the way they sit on the bike in a relaxing way and making the V sign....just as my Cambodia girls did ;-)

A good start for serious panning, next time go to 1/40 and 1/60 depending on how fast they pass....good luck.

Take care,

Henk

tomescuc (2837) 2009-01-29 10:02

Great panning shot, the subject is perfect. Hats off!
Cristian

Luciana (2161) 2009-03-21 8:00

Muito bom momento para a foto!
Adoro o movimento, a rua passando, e o sorriso das moças na moto!!!
Cores e luz também me encantam...

Um abraço!
Luciana Serra.

teutza (10562) 2009-04-21 8:30

Hi Marc, it's been so much time since i last commented on one of your photos..but now i'm glad i saw this one..and i must say it's really wonderfull and full of positive energy:)
mannyy hugs:)
teo

azizbilgili (1714) 2009-05-08 7:57

Wow...
Again Hi,

Realy Perfect...

TFS

vasilpro (8578) 2009-10-13 14:12

Hello Marc,
I like your composition full of motion and life, the panning is not perfect but I like your attempt, a very nice shot.
Best regards, Vasilis.