Silhouettes at Assuan, a photo from Aswan, Inland

Photographer's Note

We had just visited the Mausoleum of Agha Han at Assuan. Back to the Nile I was about to embark a felucca when I realized that there was some action around me. Some boys were chatting, one of them on a donkey. The sun was about to set, and I decided to place it right behind this group, and I took a few shots. The problem is that once they realize that you take pictures, they usually pose, and it spoils the natural. This is the only one I managed to take before they spotted me.

bantonbuju, AandK, cengiz, mlopes, don_narayan, berek, qpochet, eleparc, jafadabret, aksamgezmesi, kludwig20, bibiweb, deblink, tigra, Botany, elan2004 has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

bantonbuju (51815) 2005-11-24 3:59

merhaba izzet, a delightful image, i like these "bold" figures, looks a bit like a scene from the bible; great shot;
have a nice day, jerzy

vapours (8264) 2005-11-24 4:00

Great photo with a brilliant colour. The silhouette is good, and reminds me perhaps of a scene from biblical times.

AandK (1832) 2005-11-24 4:08

Great! The sky looks nice getting darker very quick to the top of the image(how come?)!
I like the ears of the donkey. Look how huge they are...
How far away have you been? The zoom is well done!
Andreas

ishai (4097) 2005-11-24 4:19

This is a Masterpiece, Izzet
Im sure you got many many compliments on this one
Beautiful silhouettes with amazing honey color of sunset

I wonder about the head on the bottom right

Ishai

summersun (4978) 2005-11-24 4:30

magnifique cette scene en ombres chinoises, et les couleurs sont magnifiques !! bravo , c'est tres reussi.
Vanessa

cengiz (3593) 2005-11-24 4:56

Nefis siluetler renkler elinize saglik selamlar sevgiler
cengiz

jasmis (58631) 2005-11-24 5:14

Smart idea and excelent realisation. Good DOF and colours. Fine composition.

shal (944) 2005-11-24 5:17

Hey izzet,
this is a very beautifully composed image, very good POV and the silhouettes loke awesome
Great Work,
Shal

recepyuksel (18640) 2005-11-24 5:33

Hocam yine harika siluetler ve nefis tonlar var, sağ alttaki küçük çocuk silueti ise olağanüstü bir güzellik kattığını düşünüyorum kompozisyona. Selam ve sevgiler

lollie (0) 2005-11-24 5:41

Hi Izzet,
Brilliant and a superb composition, great job.

hugolef (4913) 2005-11-24 6:44

Hello Izzet
tout simple comme image, mais quel effet ... le soleil caché par le personnage central, donne une lumiere speciale, tres agreable ... et on s'imagine plein de choses en regardant ces silhouettes.
Bien vu
Amities, hugues

mlopes (494) 2005-11-24 8:26

I think you can't go much better Izzet, perfect photo, a silhouet story. i like it much.
Mário

stefanocer (10642) 2005-11-24 8:49

Very good photo , the atmosphere and the colours are impressive . Compliments.
Stefano.

markoci (3933) 2005-11-24 9:33

beautiful, gorgeous. the tones, the colors, the silhouettes (especially the little guy on the right!)

my only observation (and not really a critique) is that the picture is quite centered. lately i have become rather preoccupied with this, and by now i can't even remember if this used to bother me or if it's just something i read about a lot, and now i'm just trying to conform. here for example it doesn't bother me at all. of course i know that it depends on the compostition and you can't generalize. anyways sorry for the rambling, i was just wondering about your take on the issue if you have time.

rosaline (0) 2005-11-24 9:41

Izzet
Good to see you got this shot quickly. The posing spoils the natural feel of the photo. The silhouette is fantastic and the colours and backlighting quite magical.
An excellent composition
Cheers
Aubrey

thaprem (2566) 2005-11-24 10:21

Wow...
What a lively one...
Silhouttes are always telling ones & this has a life in it too..
The balance is amazing.
Cheers,
Prem.

dolin (7369) 2005-11-24 11:14

Hi Izzet.
I come too late....
A superb back-light with beautiful colors in tje sky and silhouettes.
A moment of dream in this scene.
Congrats
Fred

don_narayan (2014) 2005-11-24 12:17

Hello Izzet. excellent image, the golden and dark sky is an excellent combo... fantastic sillouettes as well. great work

Curioso (9271) 2005-11-24 13:42

MAgnificient silhouettes Izzet. I love the golden tones and the contrast. I'm not sure you could avoid this central framing otherwise you would have missed the shape of the sun. I like it very much !

berek (50518) 2005-11-24 16:26

Merhaba İzzet bey.

Bu inanılmaz güzel bir kompozisyon. Sizin bilmenizi isterimki her yayınladığınız resimde bakış açım değişiyor ve hayal gücüm artıyor. umarım gelişmeyi sizde farediyorsunuzdur. artık sokakda bile yürürken küçük detaylar dikkatimi çekmeye herşeyi o sihirli kareye koymaya başladım. bunun için çok teşekkürler.
Paylaşımınız için teşekkürler.
Saygılarımla.
B.Erek

qpochet (1412) 2005-11-24 16:48

Hi Izzet,
Really good shot here! I love it! Nothing more to say, all has been said already. Perfect.
Nice job.
Quentin.

coco (30439) 2005-11-24 17:35

Hi Izzet.
Nice composition with that siluettes against the Sun. Is simple, but many times the simple works are really good. And this one is good.

Regards.

eleparc (24063) 2005-11-24 18:53

it could well have been a perfect shot izzet except for the lone head at the bottom and the slightly too centered shot... This is only my opinion, mind you;-)) still an excellent shot!
Eric

alekpet (4663) 2005-11-25 3:14

Hi Izzet,

I won't write a lot, but a donkey in Egypt reminds me so much of a Bible. I don't think you realised that when taking the photo, as you went for a good photo. I can say that it is not good, it's fantastic!

Aleks

jafadabret (56501) 2005-11-25 3:30

Izzet, cette photo est originale et toute en ombre chinoise. C'est ce qu'on appelle un instantanné. Bien vu !

aksamgezmesi (133) 2005-11-25 9:43

Izzet Bey,
inanilmaz guzel bir fotograf. Ellerinize ve emeginize saglik.
Ben de benzer fotograflar cekmeyi cok istiyorum. Insanin bakis acisini degistirmesinde yarar var. Size yaklasmak cok zor ama, kiyisindan kosesinden birseyler yapmaya calisiyorum. Tam yayinlayacagim sizin baska guzel bir fotografinizla irkilip yayinlamaktan vazgeciyorum. :) Inanin cesaretimi toplayip yayinlayacagim. Su andaki fotograflarim burda varligimi devam ettirmek icin.
Ogretileriniz icin tesekkurler.
Fatih Cagiran

sebautourdumond (3108) 2005-11-25 14:41

Hi Keribar,
nice shot with amazing lighting and colors. Ilike your composition
Well done,
Seb

nwoehnl (122) 2005-11-25 15:51

Beautiful shot, Izzet. Like a still photo from an epic David Lean movie, only better. Great idea to show the interaction between the guy on the donkey and the other person as a silhouetted play against the setting sun. I also like how the third silhouette is just appearing at the bottom right.

nerve (10231) 2005-11-26 13:11

Ustam nefis bir siluet bu, eleparca katılmıyorum, bence cocugun bası daha dengeli yapmıs fotoğrafı.
merkezi kompozisyonunuz harikulade..
elinize sağlık
selam ve hürmetler.

bibiweb (8) 2005-11-27 3:24

Bonjour Izzet,
Tu n'as pu faire qu'une seule photo, mais pour moi elle set parfaite. Le cadrage centré n'est du tout dérangeant ici, bien au contraire! Il fallait oser prendre cette image en plein contre-jour, mais le résultat est remarquable. J'aime beaucoup l'effet doré sur la crinière de l'âne ainsi que la tête de la troisième personne qui pointe en de la photo.
Bon dimanche.
Brigitte

KevRyan (22956) 2005-11-27 7:11

i think Jerzy's 'biblical' comment might hold for many western viewers of this image but a beautifully seen and rendered shot of everyday life here Izzet - very nice indeed!Really fantastic gradiation in the sky.

best wishes KEv

selman (371) 2005-11-27 17:50

Nefis ki ne nefis İzzet Bey;
yalnız sizce de sag alt kösedeki cocugun kafası olmasa fotograf daha iyi olmaz mıydı? (önemli bir not: sadece soruyorum, henüz fotograf hususunda sizi bilgilendirebilmek seviyesinde degilim :)

Bir de sanırım ben bu fotografınızı Atlas dergisinde görmüstüm. Yahut bir baska fotografla karıstırıyorum :)

AmiBe (6042) 2005-11-28 8:17

Hello Izzet,
très belle image que tu nous offres ici, le contre-jour est parfaitement maitrisé et les silhouettes se détachent très bien du fond.
La gauche et le haut de l'image sont un peu vide, à mon avis un recadrage s'impose !

kludwig20 (437) 2005-11-28 15:40

Beautiful image! At this point I can't really offer anything new after all these critiques. I must say the centered composition works wonderful here, as it creates amazing uniform lighting. I also think the warming filter was a good choice here. Thanks for sharing.

anesugur (18789) 2005-11-28 16:02

İzzet bey yine harika bir fotoğraf.
Eski Mısırlıların duvar fotoğraflarının canlı halini sunmuşsunuz bize.
Tebrik ederim. Uğur

ayobami (1353) 2005-11-29 8:30

Wow! Fantastic image!! The lighting and colours here are amazing and the silhouettes just perfect, especially as they are natural as you mentioned. The only thing I find distracting is the other person on the right lower corner - perhaps you could clone it out? Beautiful scene!

Nicola2004 (104) 2005-12-01 16:50

another fantastic picture out of your camera :)

glasiye (1085) 2006-01-30 3:51

hocam merhaba müthiş bir kompozisyon ve ışık kullanımı buradaki fotograflarınız bana bir okul gibi tüm fotografalrını uzun uzn inceliyorum diyafram obtürator değerlerini tek tek yazıyorum ışın kullanımını inceliyorum iyiki burada fotografalrınızı paylaşıyorsunuz selmalr tolga

sined (4523) 2006-02-28 8:24

Un bijou d'image sorti des milles et une nuit !
encore merci Izzet pour nous eduquer l'oeil
avec autant de talent
Amicalement
Denis

deblink (2548) 2006-07-10 19:22

Hi Izzet, This is a glorious shot. Yes it is a shame that people tend to pose when they see a camera pointed at them. You were lucky to capture this moment. Well done I too believe it is a masterpiece. Thank you for sharing.
Cheers, Debbie

Dis_Account (0) 2006-07-10 19:50

Izzet,

This is a wonderful shot, it evokes images from early Christianity for me, Christmas etc. The exposure level is perfect, and the range of colour tone in the sky is beautiful.

,,,tim

hoorge (1434) 2006-07-10 20:01

Excellent picture, Izzet. Nice silhouette, perfect two tone color.
Great job!

Theana (623) 2006-08-01 12:13

Unbelievable, this is definitely my favourite of the day. Everything is perfect: the scene, lighting, sharpness.... Very very beautiful!

msanaei (131) 2006-08-15 23:37 [Comment]

Show Comment

Tibo (1906) 2006-08-16 0:03

Wonderful! Very clear silhouette. Project us in another time, Thanks. Tibo

picus (914) 2006-09-07 17:07

hello izzet,
I am in deep admiration about this picture. The scene looks natural, and that makes the big difference with all the maybe other shots you have. Congrats! Technically perfect, of course, and the explanation is very interresting. I experienced the same issue about taking 'natural' poses...
tfs, -picus

jrleborgne (1554) 2006-09-08 9:09

Hello Izzet,

Great photograph ! Wonderful light. I agree with Bantonbuju : this shot refers to biblical times.
Cheers

elan2004 (437) 2007-04-02 4:38 [Comment]

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presidente (1122) 2007-04-02 4:45

Very good silouhette, with excelllent sunset color anc contrast, regards, Andrea

donluicu (24741) 2007-12-22 9:00

hi Izzet
l'image est superbe, j'adore ces forts contre jours, ici un bon degradè de marrons, la tete du gamin a droite nous distrait mais l'image est superbe

ciao

bachatera (63) 2008-01-23 13:37

Hi izzet,
your picture is amazing, the graduation of the color and the thin line of light around the silouets is really impressive! I would prefere the subject not in the center of the frame but this is only a detail...
Really nice shot!!!

Eleni

sta (170) 2009-07-02 5:41

Very GREAT SILHOUETTE...right man on the right place...
regards -sulistyo-

SANROW (6) 2012-05-27 7:17

Very nice photo. taking the snap in natural mode is quire tricky. photo becomes un natural, if the subject becomes aware, great keep up and share good photos.

nagraj