lokbaintan Floating Market scene

Randy - Excellent shot on the fly, I would say. The detail color look very good, especially considering the challenging lighting that you must have faced. The upper left sky looks a tad burned out, maybe cropping a liitle of it out would keep my eye more in the image. Otherwise, a fine shot.

Harry

Wonderful shot...very nicely composed...beautiful colours...

Best wishes

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Magnificent! However, in my normal way, I look to crop it somehow. In this picture, the very bright sun attracts my eye so much that I find it difficult to see the picture as it should be viewed. I am too attracted to that sun, so I would crop the brightest portion of the sky away. But of course, that's just me.

I love the colored water and all of the color of the boats and people. You have really captured the essence of an Asian Market. I, ve seen similar scenes in Bangkok and in Vietnam.

In reviewing the image once again, I see you have captured two pictures. Just make two verticals -- Left half and right half. Neither of which is as good as your original, however. Just block out that ultra white blown out sun...at least most of it.

Willie the Cropper

I think this is one of those images that gives us a nice view into a culture that might not be our own. It is a nice colorful and active scene, while who is selling and who is buying isn't quite clear we still know that this is where it is happening.

What I find to be an issue here is just that the post processing in the sky and the foreground is so heavy handed that the image becomes a bit garish and loses much of its beauty and reality. The sky is the biggest issue for me. The market scene recedes into a nice smokey(hazy) atmosphere that starts to climb up into the sky, but then it is like bang and the subtleties are lost to an oversaturated blend of yellow, brown and orange. This treatment bears no relation to the atmosphere of the image nor does it blend with it in a believable or natural way. I am not sure the reason for wanting to lose the atmosphere that so nicely set the stage for this market scene. Maybe a little increase in density feathered softly from the top to the horizon would be in order, but here it is just too much for my tastes and lays like a blanket over the image.

Similarly, the foreground burn just seems to be a bit too heavy and abrupt and could have been more softly feathered in so that we can't see the line where it stopped. I even wonder if the hulls of these foreground boats could not have been masked off (or lightened) to allow us to see a bit more detail in them.

Overall, I like the image for what it portrays and understand what the intent might have been with the post processing. I just believe that a little more finesse with the alterations as well as attention to how the image and post work blend would make this a much stronger image.

great achievement mas Randy...

I like the composition and the intent. I only find the processing a bit on the heavy side. The net result is a nice picture where the processing gets in the way of participating to it, but instead it creates a feeling for distracting colors.

Mostly, I like the photo. The sun, however, has got to go. It's so overpowering in it's brightness the eye keeps going right to it

I like the shot and it is strong according to the composition and tones...The little playing with colours,makes it very impressive...And the title fit perfect too.
The camera angle was very nice...Totally,beautiful!!

Regards(Bobby).

Strictly speaking, I would not call it overprocessed, in the sense this seems to me the result of a clear choice: the photographer looked for a pictorial look, rather than a documentary feeling. Despite the fact that, as personal taste, I still prefer a more natural atmosphere, I do like this photo, since the heavy processing is cleverly mastered, motivated by a clear aesthetic goal, and perfectly suited for that purpose. Thus, this is not a boring picture like those resulting by trivial and dumb HDR approach.
Sure, with this approach we are losing the subtleties (as John put it) of the sky nuances , but the photographer simply was not attempting to capture them: he was looking for a different subject.

I’m gonna disagree with a bunch of the criticisms above.

First, I think the pictorial post-processing is perfectly suited to the image. The tonality, color palette, and contrast are all strongly reminiscent of Renaissance masterworks, and the scene itself could have been lifted right out of the 17^th century. It’s a perfect fit.

Next, the cropping, especially of the sun: it’s set in the middle of the Southeast Asian jungle on a hot day. Umbrellas and scarves abound, and they’re the type to ward away the sun, not the cold. Yes, the sun is a powerful presence in the scene that grabs your attention and is, frankly, a bit distracting. But that’s exactly what the sun was doing in the real world. The sun is as much a member of the cast as the people and the boats. Cropping it out would be like cutting Desdemona from Othello.

In short, I think this is one of those rare works of art where the artist intentionally and with great care ignored some rules that would otherwise have hindered him — and the result is exactly what the artist intended.

Though I’m sure that I, just as everybody else, would have created a much different image had I been in Randy’s shoes, I find nothing whatsoever to criticize or suggest improving in Randy’s work. His vision is marvelous, and his execution of that vision is technically excellent.

Cheers,

b&

this is not realy like an image its like an painting ! ...in overall , composition and aesthetic veiw are good ...but there is a exaggeration in colours especially in clouds that looks ureal ! theres an over exposure area on sky that burned out the clouds too which not looks very nice .
best regards <<<<amir49>>>>

This is a beautiful scene, full of detail...which I like. Love the colours. Great d.o.f., too. That said, it just has a bit too much of the digitally shot-digitally processed look for my taste. I don't know if this was shot early morning or late afternoon, but the sun and sky sort of intrude in the overall photograph for me. This might have worked better for me if the sun had been behind the photographer, throwing more light on the faces of the people. It does look a bit overprocessed to me, too.

Very good, interesting photo and has an aesthetic appeal. But technically I have to agree with some of the other comments in that maybe a little cropping would be in order. It seems like the Sun is just to distracting for me. Of course it was probably an on the fly shot and therefore you do the best you can. Still a very likeable image. MHO.

I don't have a problem with the technical aspects of the photo (well, the sun area is a bit bright for my tastes). What bothers me is that without the title I'd have trouble understanding what the photo is all about. I can see some boats carrying loads and only a few people; I can't see the activities that would tell me this is a "market scene." I really think the photographer needed a different perspective (perhaps in the middle and not on the outside periphery) and needed to be closer to the market action. I say this partly in response to having lived in a third-world country for two years and experienced active market scenes -- this photo just doesn't capture it for me.

I love floating markets and they have so many of them in Thailand, I am waiting for my friend the owner of foto-ku station to take me to one of them, the nearst is around 5 hours drive from where I am.
I like this image but I would have prefered been more selective and concentrated on one or two boats and shown them in more details with their contants.
I would have experimented with number of camera setting to get the best exposure value and also the composition.
Other wise, I did enjoy viewing this image and congastiolation for the photographer to have his image as the photo of the week.

I love floating markets and they have so many of them in Thailand, I am waiting for my friend the owner of foto-ku station to take me to one of them, the nearst is around 5 hours drive from where I am.
I like this image but I would have prefered been more selective and concentrated on one or two boats and shown them in more details with their contants.
I would have experimented with number of camera setting to get the best exposure value and also the composition.
Other wise, I did enjoy viewing this image and congastiolation for the photographer to have his image as the photo of the week.

that's a strictly tremendous picture! looks a bit like a painting but still preserves photo appearance. I'm really impressed by your idea of postprocessing, which gives much more bite to the scene.

I too would say that the sky is too bright and is losing detail in some parts. I also think that there is too much water in the foreground. It doesn't add anything to the picture and it makes the composition feel a bit unbalanced. In my opinion this other picture in the same portfolio solves both the sky and the water "problems" and the composition is a lot more pleasing.