Symbol of Bangkok, a photo from Bangkok, Central

Photographer's Note

I just got back from a bit over a week in Bangkok, where I hardly took any shots. This is one I did take.

I was thinking about this shot of Lukos when I was taking this one. Actually, I have thought about this one for a while now. If a Singapore sling is representative of Singapore (it would stand to reason after all), street food is representative of Bangkok, at least for me. Here is a Pad Thai vendor, waiting to do business.

Just as an aside, looking at the critiques and ratings on Luko's photo really does show how TE has changed in the past three years. I make no judgements, just an observation.

Burnham, Izobretenik, AnimeshRay has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

siolaw (38294) 2006-06-04 8:47

Hi Darren,
A typical Bangkok scene(i m there too right now!)with nice DOF and good bokeh. Good colors and compo.
Cheers
Laurent

Burnham (2428) 2006-06-04 8:50

Hi Darren. Very nice idea even if you did steal it from Luko :o) Overall i think this is a reallyb good shot, my only nit is the light nudles being just that, ligth. The texture in the darker ones is really perfect, but the left side is very undefined. That being said the blurry vendor is blurred just right it seems he would diasappear in the background, but his colours make him stand out perfectly.
Cheers
Line

BTW You said your little sidestep about the critiques is just an observation, only thing is I don't know what the observation is, less green smileys? Shorter critiques? I know there has been alot of talk about the critiqing being better in the beginning of TE (i know you are not judging) but apart from the last two very long ones to Lukos shot the only difference I see is a different use of the smileys, which holds very little value anyway.

Furachan (0) 2006-06-04 8:51

Know that Singapore sling shot very well, nice to see you shoot a street stall version of same, Darren ;o) I have no porblem with this one (maybe a touch of blown highlights in the near cabbage...). Cool, nice to see you posting.
Cheers,
Francis

markoci (3933) 2006-06-04 10:11

mmmmm pad thai! i like the pyramid compo and the incorporated thai colours (the red blue and white)

i also wish though that we could see more details on the cabbage, looks too washed out, thus the single smiley this time :-)..

MKING (3054) 2006-06-04 10:22

Before I clicked the Luko link I was thinking of one of this

For the same reason that either of our two Luko comparisons work, so to does this one.

As for the aside; I don't think you can present to us a trend and not make some sort of implied qualitative judgement of that change :)

Izobretenik (1268) 2006-06-04 10:32

Hi Darren,

For I will soon go in Thailand, I must confess that I really intend to take such pictures. I don't think someone could get nervous about this idea. As you said in your note Street Food is so famous in Bangkok, every foreigner would like to take it, I guess. And I'll do !

I love the focus on this very colored food (is it something like yaki soba ?) and even if the cabagge is a bit too enlightened to me, the guy behing in the blur just show a great face.

Izo

Homerhomer (4080) 2006-06-04 10:39

cabbage is a bit burnt out, wish the exposure was better. I like the layers and shapes of the image, the play of dof and colours is quite nice, traditional composition that works quite well. Dark background accentuates the food, however perhaps makes the cabbage looks brighter than it really is.

TE 3 years ago? hmm, judging by those critiques under Luko's photo, nothing has changed, mostly short sentence or two praising an image. OK I don't see the colour of the smiley's since I can't be bothered with points and have the function turned off, still can't grasp their importance, but as far as written word is concerned are you implying that TE has changed for the better or for the worse?
Peter

Luko (14000) 2006-06-04 11:55

I appreciate the thirds division in there, as well as the out of focus Padthai attendant. I would have liked seeing him move his hands or at the least in a more meaningful posture, like stirring up his wok.
Perhaps that yes, there's too much contrast between the foreground cabbage and the background cook. I'm also amazed when I look at the specs : 28mm!!! That should be pretty close from the cabbage... your lens might have been eating Pad Thai too then.. ;D ..

Now a cultural question is rising : is it a symbol of greater Bangkok or Khao San road only? I suppose you have already noticed the KSR Tshirt where the ten commandments of the KSR traveler is written. #1 is "I will eat Pad Thai and banana pancakes everyday" and it carries on with such commandments as "I will bargain to death until I pay my PadThai even less than the locals"...

Anyway your image gave me the idea to post another typical streetfood shot, yet more aimed to local tastes. Stay tuned.

dolin (7369) 2006-06-04 15:03

Hi Darren.
Une compo bien pensée et ce deux plans sont superbes, une idée de cadrage excellente une bonne dof.
Le plan inférieur divisé en 1 parties et avec un départ de diagonal me plait vraiment bien.
Bien vu
Fred

AnimeshRay (9089) 2006-06-05 10:35