Fruit Market, Port de Pollensa, a photo from Mallorca, Balearics

Photographer's Note

One of the real pleasures I enjoy of a Mediterranean holiday, especially if you're self-catering, is visiting fruit and vegetable markets because these commodities always appear fresher and more full of flavour than the ones we buy back home in our huge impersonal supermarkets.

This quick shot was taken one market day in the main square of Port de Pollensa and the fruit and vegetables looked (and were!) delicious.

ISO 400, 1/80 sec at f/8, focal length 57mm.

Please click here for a larger version of this photograph on "beta" TE.

alvaraalto, pajaran, holmertz, macjake, jhm, ourania, carlo62, delpeoples has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

snunney (130967) 2016-10-16 5:42

Hello John,
A visit to the market is always a joy, whether as a photographer or a prospective purchaser. You have captured the action very well indeed in this nicely judged composition. Ideally exposed with excellent colours and clarity. I am curious as to what the stall holder is looking at out of frame. Very agreeable daily life composition.

alvaraalto (42804) 2016-10-16 5:47

Hello John.
With all this colourful fruits we can call this a delicious picture. I love these marketplace scenes. Do you also take close-up picture of the fruit and vegetables? I certainly do.
Excellent presentation
Groet Rob

mkamionka (73500) 2016-10-16 5:57

Hi John,
you are right the fruit and vegetables are quite bad quality in the supermarkets and over there they are so full of flavour!
Fantastic market scene! I like how many people you have managed to squeeze into the frame and equally many fruit! There is so much color and feeling of action. I never manage to get a decent market photo. May be because I a shy, or I don't try frequently enough.
People are also captured in such lovely poses. The lady is reaching towards the seller while he makes an unhappy face as if he was not getting enough money :)
There are so many other people as well.
Excellent reportage,
M

Nicou (193806) 2016-10-16 7:15

Hlelo

quel de portrait et vue quelle scène de marché superbe et ce regard du vendeur qui tourne les yeux à gauches et quel bel étalage colorés superbe.
Bravo et amitié
nciou

pajaran (115025) 2016-10-16 9:03 [Comment]

Show Comment

holmertz (102066) 2016-10-16 10:10

Hello John,
Sometimes when traveling I tell myself "No, not another fruit and vegetable market, I have so many already". ;-) But I rarely listen to that inner voice, because these places are so nice for a small photo safari. But the colourful items for sale are usually less important than what is going on around them. Like in this photo there is so much to watch in the crowd, and not just the persons at the nearest stall. I like to see the little blonde girl sitting on her dad's shoulder (and she is not eating an ice-cream, as far as I can see; lucky for him). And the men in the middle, are they watching you or looking at the bananas? I note that you have resisted the temptation to saturate the colours, which I appreciate.
Kind regards,
Gert

macjake (98262) 2016-10-16 17:08

Hi John
you do really well with these types of scenes, me, not so much. I often have a difficult time composing and finding the best viewpoints, i struggle in this environment.
perhaps its my OCD, i often don't like having subjects into and out of the frame, and i'm not a big fan of chaos in my frame...I have to let that go :)

and look at the final result you got, it looks great.
so crystal clear, sharp, full of life and colors, honestly, its a very good natural scene. looks even better on the beta site, awesome job. did you buy anything?
cheers
craig

Royaldevon (85674) 2016-10-17 0:44

Hello John,

Such situations are colourful and busy and, as in this case, no-one is posing for the camera, which makes it a wonderful snapshot of daily life.

You have been lucky to get such an angle, with everyone facing the right way. I wonder if there were other English people there,as English people are perfectly happy making a queue.
You have a main character and a supporting cast, all perfectly exposed, with natural colours.
The lady's extended arm makes a good link across the frame.

I could swear that the stall holder is a local farmer, if not he has a doppelganger!

Have a lovely week,
Bev :-)

Silvio1953 (220717) 2016-10-17 6:09

Ciao caro John, nice market scene, lovely composition with a lot of people, excellent clarity, fine details, splendid light and wonderful colors, very well done, my friend, ciao Silvio

claudeD (47754) 2016-10-17 6:21

Hello John,

very interesting picture from this fruit market in Mallorca. I like markets like this one very much. Every saturday I am visiting the flower and fruit market here in the City of Luxembourg .... Very good contribution to TE. 

marabu61 (11587) 2016-10-17 7:20

Hello John
Oh yes, I agree completely with you. Markets are definitely one of the great pleasures of any voyage be it in the Mediteraen, in the orient or in Asia. They are so full of color, smells and noises that are so captivating. Lovely market scene here with gorgeous looking fruits and veggies. Love the expression of the stall holder, he seems somewhat surprised at something? Priceless indeed.
have a great day
Daniel

jhm (211734) 2016-10-17 8:42

Hello John,

Every Monday I am a visitor on the market for vegetables and fruits.
I see very nice fruits with nice buyers.
An excellent composition, also a very well presentation.
Nice done, TFS.

Best regards,
John.

ourania (51103) 2016-10-17 9:50

Hello John,
the fresh and colourful fruit and vegetables are so attractive and can keep my attention for a long time. I like how you placed them within your composition, a fine fruitscape and a busy scene with much interaction and interesting characters. From light and colours to details and reactions, everything is so natural and vivid, it feels like we've approached the stall ourselves, to choose and be helped. Congratulations and thank you!
All the best, have a great evening,
Ourania

carlo62 (81265) 2016-10-17 15:21

Ciao John
i mercati sono una fonte inesauribile per un fotografo, ricchi di persone, di colori e di situazioni interessanti.
Proprio come in questa tua foto.
Saluti
Carlo

delpeoples (60342) 2016-10-19 6:21

Ciao caro Giovanni

I'm with you on that one, markets are my favourite things to do in Mediterranean countries. There is so much colour, dynamism and character. Aswell as fantastic products and....food. A beautiful daily life scene, exquisitely composed and realised.

Un abbraccio
Lisa