it is raining again - Angkor Wat Photo

Photographer’s Note

Angkor Wat, another rainy day

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Critiques | Translate

faubry (32419) 2006-09-13 15:43

bonsoir Maciedk, très bonne photo avec cet enfant qui court, les fmmes sous le parapluie et cet homme au premier plan, un peu songeur, une scène de vie simple
bonne soirée
francine

flydragon (0) 2006-09-13 15:46

hello Maciej
beautifull and great timing
i found in this pics all of you
compo, timing
this is great i am happy to see this picture from you
regards
••simon••

hope u are fine
have you some project for a next trip

nwoehnl (120) 2006-09-13 15:54

Hi Maciek. This one is nice, an original way to include the iconic building in a photo, yet make it a secondary piece of interest compared to the moment of daily life going on in front. Good ensemble with the head-scratching guy at the left, the two umbrella-holding ladies and the boy speeding in from the right. Nice color contrasts illustrating the rainy day, yet showing a quite vivid tonal range of the colors.

tcht (7298) 2006-09-13 17:09

Hi Maciej
Beautiful composition with this amazing place. I especially like the motion blurred child. The atmosphere is nice and somewhat sad and I think the rain actually helped a lot. Great original shot from this place.
Regards
Cheuk Hin

Luko (13896) 2006-09-13 17:22

Next shot I want the guy standing on his hands while three elephants are swimming in the damp (hear me : three elephants, not two...). Oh... if you can add some tits too that would be nice also.

This is where I don't follow you : ok, there's a timing and you got the "codes" of photo... the cropped guy in the left handside, check code 1, the boy running, frozen in his jump, tick code 2, exotic background, check code 3. Haaaa... you missed code 4 which says "fill up the foreground", missed code 4...

So what. Try to tell a story with this situation. Sorry doesn't work, you're looking too much for performance. This is getting simply clinical. How about a little a sense?

Light green for the "performance".

PS : I didn't know you had a 5D in 2005 ;)... aaaaah, the advantages of leaving EXIF data.

[3] +

nanauhauer (761) 2006-09-13 17:45

I think it's a diferent and interesting view of Angkor.
Not usual but good.
Nanau

Furachan (0) 2006-09-13 18:17

I've read Luko's crit, Maciej and althouh it fits in strangely with my latest intro buletin ;o), I must say I am personally seduced by this compo which I find beautiful. Does a rainy day scene nee more of a "story"? I'm not sure it does. Perhaps Luko is applying very high standards to you my friend, reflecting his epectation for someone with your gifts... From where I'm sitting this looks pretty good.
Cheers,
Francis

Homerhomer (4005) 2006-09-13 18:49

obviously Luko is applying higher standards to Maciej, and so he should, and we all should, because the photographic eye Maciej has is rare talent, we all wish him well in the career and don't want him to became stagnant. Most likely if this image was posted by just about anybody else it would receive raving critiques (well perhaps not from Luko), but since it's posted by Maciej it's judged differently because of his potential.
I like the photo, like the body of it, now show me the soul of it.

Peter

s10001in (1485) 2006-09-13 20:30

Maciej,
I like your shot..
When I see lukos comments..yeah I felt he is right but that will be webb Photography.

Well done in situation.
keep it up.
I am sure you will add 1 more code soon. ;)
-Shailendra

CliffW (2310) 2006-09-13 23:31

I probably missed the point regarding the empty space references, (facetious?) but personally, I think empty space is entirely useful, if it's honest. This is a vast area, so to allow some space is an honest interpretation to anyone who's experiencing it through a photo. I agree it's hard not to get the rain references... umbrellas, wet shirt. Not so hard to extend the story mentally to a boy dashing for cover, even if it is or isn't what was really going on. What's kinda strange for me on this is that, because it's a familiar spot, I can't see it as much as a slice of life kind of shot. The kind of spot you go to, rather than through. So it doesn't give off the same kind of "peeking through the keyhole" feel that a rainy street scene might, where people are out by necessity. That might not be a bad thing, but it does slant the interpretation for me.

arnabchat (7058) 2006-09-14 7:37

Maciek, an interesting frame you chose here. like the umbrellas and the static and dynamic elements in the frame. superb.
Greetings from Beijing.
Arnab

ndb1958 (9249) 2006-09-14 11:14

Hi Maciej,
a beautiful shot from Angkor Wat. I like the composition with the guy on the left in the forground and I really love the running kid. Even the ladies with their umbrellas are nice. A lot to see.
Great shot,
Nino

kevinos (6927) 2006-09-14 11:22

I usually sigh when I see another picture of Angkor Wat. What, I ask myself, could we show that has not been shown a hundred times before? And you come up with the answer; a totally fresh, personal and dynamic take on an old scene. Every part of the picture is a delight, the local guy drenched with rain; the motion blurred kid ; the two girls -must be tourists with that top and those umbrellas- and, behind it all, almost mocked by the intimacy of the daily life scene, is the ageless and majestic triple prasart. It’s the kind of record I always wished that I could make, but never have. Regards Kevin

kinginexile (2440) 2006-09-16 13:21

Hello Maciej,

With your pictures, I am way far from trying to think like or not like. I even think those who care for you should go beyond that too, or it's meaningless, like talking about flowers.

So, the question is, what was he trying to do? Does it touch me beyond liking? The last answer is a clear no, the pix does not touch me. I think here you try too much (it's 2005 anyway, eons ago on your memory card and experience), I can see the photographer's fingerprints, all over, and given a choice of names, I would not know which one, well maybe Maciej, ahaha, because sometimes you let your ambition (not for success, Ok? I mean plain photographic one) get ahead of your intuition.

Here, however it took 2/10th of a sec, it is a thought shot, I feel a control, a self-consciousness (maybe not the case, but it does not matter) I feel you saw it coming before it jumped at you, you anticipated it for "getting" the shot, not the fleeting instant that says more than its sums, and its quicksilverness becomes an artefact, it lost its spontaneity, just freewheeling with a camera. The one element that you were able to feel, include, realize in your Earthquake shots is missing here. Something felt, not cognitive. It is more graphic than life-grabbing.
Not so decisive or momentous, unless the idea is to catch a moment like we catch a fish;-)

If that guy/guard had been looking at us, a cambodian "giving" us a postcard of botched, indifferent, mixed up Cambodia (here, I dig the gloominess that defeats the purpose of a touristy card snapshot, you were close Maciej, you were close...) by inviting us into the pix, the dynamic could have taken a multi-dimensionality, as well as giving us a story (hey, that's what I really mean, just takes me 25 lines to say it). Just a thought really, there is no point in bettering a shot that sins from showing too much of the photographer's intent (1).

(1) intent seen all over can be important though, depending on the type of photography. Like Avedon vs HCB.

IMO.

PeterC (2242) 2006-09-18 0:19

Maciej,
This has stirred up quite a few opinions. I have to agree with Francis about the lack of words to accompnay this. There is a story in this picture but you havent told it. Yes it is a good photogrpah there are some good elements but i do agree there is something lacking the emotion you were trying to capture is a little unclear. Is it the depression the man feels about the stae of the country the Khymer rouge coming back in the north. The amount of westerns who are slowly but surely eroding the Angkor Wat away. Is it the overall darkness that surrounds Cambodia and its people. A little note as to what you were trying to achieve would have really made this work.
Cheers
Peter

rbcy1974 (20746) 2006-09-18 18:13

Hello MAciej
Excellent framing allowing us to see thre parallel scenes
I like the way the man is used to frame the photo
well composed
Regards
Daniel

AnimeshRay (8886) 2006-09-19 0:38

Quite a brilliant take, Maciej. Rich color and the depth is stunning. So is the boy caught running.