Banua

thanks anyway for comment and criticism :)

I like the composition, that has many details of every day life on the boats.It looks nice action of the women.I do think that it is a bit over saturated( especially green/blue in the BG) and a bit grey surrounding probably was while PP. I think that the strong colors there takes too much attention and needed some gradation of colors from FG to BG. But as a composition of a place it is a nice one., and the elemennts were nicely placed on the frame.

A masterpiece by an artist from Borneo, Indonesia....long live Randy!...A great mix of colours.
Happy Valentine !...maaf lahir bathin!

As a documentary or PJ shot I like it. I like the low angle used when taking it; the look of urgency on the woman's face as well. The composition is nicely done. Though busy, the elements are placed very well in the frame

One of the things I first noticed here was that I think the post processing in this image, which was recently posted, actually shows a lot of improvement over Randy's image that was a POW back in 2009--of maybe the same market.

I didn't read the comments there again, but I think we may have discussed the same concerns about the atmospheric conditions back then as well. For me, I find what we see here to be what I would expect in such humid climes as opposed to drier northern climates or what one would experience in the western US. I actually find this area of the image, the sky and atmosphere, to be very much improved as to how the light was handled over the 2009 image--much more natural, especially in the highlight areas.

There does seem to be a lot of "extra" saturation in the clothing, most notable for me in that darker green and blue on the women in the background, but I think that is an individual preference. I think a lot of color makes sense for this image because it was there. But I do think it might read a bit more natural if those areas were toned down just a bit--I certainly can understand Fred's comment in this regard. Oddly, I personally don't think the women in the foreground are over saturated at all but very naturalistic. That sort of begs the question as to how or why the background colors got to where they are, which may be simply that the foreground colors are more saturated than they actually were and that pulled up the more saturated colors, and those more susceptible in that regard to post processing changes just went a bit wild.

The yellow based colors of the women up front really helps accentuate them against the bluish scene and pulls our eyes right to them. I think this is a nice insight into daily life in this market but I don't think the scene is overly compelling, but it is informative. Very exotic to us Westerners. I actually find the star of this image to be the woman over the shoulder of the woman with the paddle and child in her lap. I just keep finding that my eye keeps wandering over to her and it may be just that we have full access to her face and her ambiguous expression. For me it at first read as pleasant/content but then has a more apprehensive overlay to it.

It is unfortunate that the child seems to be looking at the camera--or just over it. In any case, that sort of breaks the sense of looking in on and makes us a bit more like intruders on this moment. I think I preferred looking at this in a more voyeuristic way due to the nature of the image.

Overall, I do find the image interesting and enjoyed seeing the progress in Randy's photography almost 3 years later.

One day spectacle that it can demonstrate the full sense of life.

There's a look of unreality here for me, a sense of being just overdone to beautify a scene that doesn't look this way in real life. It doesn't work for me. At all.

This photograph is a depiction of real life and yet feels artificial. The people who are the center of interest are not interesting. There is a lot of static, wasted space, the low right area in particular. In fact, much of the right side could be cropped with no damage to the image.

This is a floating market and yet we do not see it. The market is background glop. This is one image where everything should have been kept as sharp as possible.

The colors and tones feel strained through Photoshop until they feel unreal. There is also way to much sky, which is distracting. A lot of that could be cropped.

This photograph reminds me of paintings that are especially made for the dark interiors of expensive bars and restaurants. Illuminated by localized overhead lights they seem to glow. But when the whole interior is illuminated they are dead.

The image suffers from cross purposes. It wants to highlight the people in the boat and the floating market. I fails to make either interesting.

I'm having difficulty figuring out which direction the light is coming from.
It appears on the shoulders of the woman in the left indicating it is coming from the left, but it's also on the elbow of the woman holding the paddle suggesting it was coming from the right. My first guess would be from the immediate left, but that doesn't jibe with the shadows of the boats and on the ripples, particularly those in the foreground. Perhaps the sun was high but obscured by patches of clouds letting light in at various angles?
Maybe they sell light in the floating market; part of the magic of the place. It's this kind of confusion that draws me into an image.

I would like a more natural and straight-forward presentation. I think that the composition is pretty sound, and I really like the photo in general. Even so, it could be improved, and I believe that reworking the original file would be worth the trouble.

Even so, it is a very good pick for Photo of the Week. I wish that I had taken it.

--Lannie

I love the wonderful jumble of pastel colours in this most interesting of settings for a photo.  The worrisome expression on the foreground child's expression is priceless.  This picture is a true beauty to look at and let the eyes roam across its geography of patterns and shades.  Magnificent work.

I looked at Randy's portfolio with the POW in mind, and it struck me that he has a particular style that seems to link the POW with a number of his other photographs. Initially I thought it might just be the amount of what appears to be enhanced saturation, but that single factor seemed to be inadequate in describing the common thread that my eyes were seeing. But the comment from Alex brought it home, and I was reminded of a phrase that is sometimes given by viewers when critiquing a photograph, and for me it fits very well with the POW: "It's like a painting."

I like it, and yet, I only like it to a certain extend... Mostly because it feels artificial, as some others commented before me. Too much color in front for such a greyish and dull background, etc. The light feels artificial as well : with backlighting (sun is at back left, you get a much more contrasted image than this, and foreground is here bright - almost as if lit with a softbox in a studio... I like the action and the subject matter a lot nevertheless, so I wish we could see the original image,before all the Photoshop tweakening on the contrast that I suspect must have been done to this... Possible...?

...

it may be a cultural thing but to my eyes the excessive saturated color is loud garish and lays a cheap veneer, an artifice, to what is really an usual lovely scene. My apologies for uploading a PS file version of your picture above.

Excellent work, over the top for the PS treatment, regards. Sergio

The foreground is very lively and well-captured, but it doesn't go with the distant background especially in terms of lighting. Unlike the foreground the sky looks like it was shot at low sun. The reflections of the sky are brighter than the sky itself.
To me it looks like a composite.

Color and mood is fantastic.

There were a few comments about over saturation. If you look at George Caleb Binghams work you notice that he used a bit of oversaturation in his paintings for great effect. In my mind you have a great picture. If I had taken it there would be a matted, framed, 16x20 hanging on my wall and I am sure that my my very critical friends, when they saw it, would just say, "Wow"!

David, I think it just goes to show you that people have a wide range of hopes and expectations regarding photographs.

If I had taken this photo I would have two versions printed that I would like equally; this one with high saturation, and another with slightly lower saturation in the foreground.  I think the misty background and sky is perfect; I have seen many real-life scenes like this myself.  The shadow details in the foreground are perfect.

Interesting that one person commented that the sky and right side should be cropped, when they contain many of the diagonal lines which define the focal point of the shot.
I agree about the over saturation.
When you combine the two, it's rather disconcerting, as the focus of the picture is actually the bright spot in the sky above the woman's bandana. Trying to refocus that in the front in competition with the very strong lines in the picture simply doesn't work. Despite the fact that the original scene was probably very colorful, the strong lines in the picture make me wonder if it might actually show better in B&W.

If I would have been there, and had seen what the photo shows me (both unlikely), then my impression of the scene would most prominently include the colours of the clothing. Therefore, I can really appreciate Randy's choice for bright and saturated colours, for that's what should be told. Who needs reality?
But the photo should be credible too, and there I am experiencing trouble because of, as Mike put it, 'the general "dirty grey" look of the sky and the trees in the background'. The sky seems near clear despite the general diffuse lighting, yet it is dark as if a too strong exposure gradient has been applied. The background trees are too subdued compared to the foreground, even if it would be a natural phenomenon (which I do not think it is). Seen with the foreground covered it is a beautiful pastel background, though.
I cannot see the child looking into the camera, as someone said above. But the central woman is, and this little sign of contact makes me feel more present into the scene.

Stands out compared to most of the other photographs in the Lokbaintan series. Color is a characteristic of the place and in Banua, Randy seems to me to have found a valid placement for those colors. When I look at his Colour of Lokbaintan: doesn't work for me though the color is more realistic: the composition isn't as strong, but suggests the difficulty for the photographer of deciding how to interpret color in this place. I'm wondering if the weather is typically dreary there where color brings a festival feel as compensation.

What a beautiful photograph - I absolutely love your work, thanks for sharing.