the mosque of Sidi Bou Makhlouf, a photo from El Kef, North

Photographer's Note

El Kef is a small and laidback city in northwest Tunisia, not far from the Algerian border.

We spent a couple of days here around New Year and found the city and its inhabitants very enjoyable. It is well off the tourist track and there are not much sights to see, though the mosque of Sidi Bou Makhlouf is pretty impressive. The tiny mosque is neither old nor religiously very important, but is an usually successful piece of mosque architecture and the alleys around it are great for an relaxed evening walk.

El Kef can also be an excellent base to visit the ancient Roman city of Dougga. On New Year's Eve a taxi driver offered us a free ride from Dougga back to El Kef, no strings attached (though we ended up buying him a drink, of course). Yes, genuine hospitality is alive in Tunisia!

Notice the boy in the street below, bottom right corner of the picture.

Wandering_Dan, rigoletto, Morac, Filipeteixeira, holmertz, xavshot, tomescuc, i9l2y1m8a8t3, flory, patshoo, Elaine_Blath, albertz, mphotographies, alftrek, fotka has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

mariposa (916) 2008-06-22 10:19

Benny, you've chosen a perfect time of the day. the light is so beautiful here. the only thing i would change would be adding more background or cropping it totally. cheers!

Wandering_Dan (3449) 2008-06-22 10:19

Hi, Benny -

Nice composition, though I would not have spotted the boy without the note. The image is not washed out, but it feels like it ought to be. Just for fun, I copied it over and tried lowering the brightness a bit, but it didn't improve anything, and in fact it lost the feeling of the hot sun that is classic for Maghreb. A touchy light situation, then, that you managed to capture.

Regards,
Dan

rigoletto (34279) 2008-06-22 10:20

Hi Benny,
Thank you for pointing to the tiny figure at the right bottom, i would have missed it otherwise :))
I see that you like visiting exotic places, and i envy your trips. One day i will certainly be visiting those lands, and your photo in my mind, i will be looking for this marvellous piece of architecture. How the light gives 3D here, is perfect.
Cheers,
Deniz

Morac (27725) 2008-06-22 10:24

Bonsoir Benny,

Tout d'abord cette architecture est belle,
Ensuite elle est très bien mise en évidence par la composition et la netteté de la photo.
Merci d'avoir attiré mon attention sur le garçon en bas à gauche.
Bonne soirée

Marc

leo61 (0) 2008-06-22 10:26

Hi Benny!
Excellent quality for a scan.Colors and contrast are great in this strong light.Sharpness is good too and your POV is well chosen.Ah,the little boy is a fine detail.
Regards,leo

Filipeteixeira (46) 2008-06-22 10:28

Good perspective of the beautiful roofs of the mosque, with a great taken care framing.
Good photo.
Good afternoon,
Filipe teixeira

poocha (606) 2008-06-22 10:30

outstanding picture in different form of towers as well as great light create excellent shade and shadow to the tower.nice color of sky and building,nice detail.
TFS.

xavshot (69835) 2008-06-22 12:04

Bonsoir Benny
très belle utilisation de la lumière ce jour-là : le graphisme de cette architecture ressort superbement et les détails sont nombreux. Très belle photo.
Xavier

Bartleby (13552) 2008-06-22 14:04

Hi Benny,
beautifully captured light that brings out the details in this tight crop of the mosque you made. Well done.

Philippe

tomescuc (3291) 2008-06-22 19:13

The architectural shapes are indeed enhanced by the low light and shadowing. The image is well balanced, and thanks for pointing out the tiny figure in the alley.
cheers,
CT

i9l2y1m8a8t3 (4814) 2008-06-22 19:14

CHeers!!

simply astonishing mosque, a very nice photo!! great POV and nice framing indeed. Beautiful COlors, love the whites!! well captured!!!

all the best!

flory (4848) 2008-06-22 21:48

hi Benny,
a well chosen angle to put in value this impressive architecture.looking after boy by a while:)
nice day,
Flori:)

patshoo (952) 2008-06-22 22:42

Attractive architecture scenery,Good quality from negative scanned,Creative composition and well arrangement POV,Beautiful shadow and well prepare story.Good work,TFS.

testmaniac (13508) 2008-06-22 23:39

Hi Benny,great architecture photo with perfect composition,POV and colors. Nice mosque!

TFS and regards,
Phil

Elaine_Blath (8471) 2008-06-23 5:02

Hi Benny,

very nice architectural shot, very well composed, and I like very much the combination of brownish roof colours and blue of the sky...well done!

Take care, Ivana

albertz (2468) 2008-06-23 6:45

I like the placement of the tower on the right side and the two domes to the left to balance the composition, the natural color conveys a pleasing atmosphere, congrats to your timing taking this shot. Well done.

mphotographies (1976) 2008-06-25 13:37

Hey Benny,

There is something in your images that exudes warmth, perhaps the timing you had the shot must have captured the amazing atmosphere. Wonderful control of natural light, some parts may appear too highlighted but the way the shadows plays it just balances the entire scene.

Cheers!

Jom

alftrek (3270) 2008-06-25 22:13

Hi Benny,
A good composition with the 2 domes and minaret both at at about 1/3. I think what makes this an exceedingly good photo is also the direction of warm sunlight from the right, giving you a variations of shades on the minaret and the ribbed domes.

TFS a wonderful shot
Regards
Alfred

kschanna (6) 2008-06-30 14:32

Hello Benny,

Excellent detail in this composition. I tend to think that sometimes taking photos using digital gives the image a bit of a cartoonish look, This shot re-inforces that notion of mine.

The composition is excellent and the slight grainy look lends such authenticity to the image. Nice little quirk to add the boy to the frame. was that intentional?

Thanks for sharing

Regards
Kamran

scalerman (26900) 2008-09-06 12:59

Benny: a simple tripartite compo - nicely balanced DOF too here. I like it. regards, c

jmdias (87878) 2008-09-25 16:48

benny

wonderful the shapes of these domes. I liked the minaret too. Very nice light, pov and framing. nice architecture

hugs

jorge

foozi (7101) 2008-10-11 22:45

Hello Benny,
I really love this one.
Nice texture, love play of light and great composition of domes and minerates.
Soft blue sky makes the intricate design could be seen.
excellent composition that balances the building perfectly.

regards,
Foozi

mirarer (4751) 2008-10-20 9:37

Hola Benny,
Me gusta la suave luz que ilumina la escena y la composición con las líneas curvas de las dos cúpulas a la izquierda y como contrapunto las líneas rectas de la torre a la derecha. Una imagen muy bonita.
Regards,
Mirari

Isa-M (4026) 2008-10-24 10:19

Hi Benny!
very good photo...composition, light, beautiful architecture...
Well done!
Isabela

Ps. Thank you for visiting my gallery...

fotka (6239) 2010-09-14 9:39

Hello Benny,
I just was after reading travel guide about Tunisia when I went through your gallery. When I checked your visited countries I had found Tunisia which still was on my mind. The mosque of Sidi Bou Makhlouf was my eye catcher. There is a great pov on the mosque's architecture, superb colors and shadows. Very interesting note.
Tfs and best regards,
Zbigniew

Santiano (2869) 2012-02-27 7:56

Hi Benny!

I was there!
Dziekuje za przypomnienie miejsca!
All the best

Jerzy