F R I E N D S, a photo from Lop Buri, Central

Photographer's Note

Friends..playing and working.

Friends to the buffalo. Friends to each other.

I am a friend to you too.

A picture taken in Lopburi, Thailand.

I will be active here in TE again pretty soon.

eleparc, ChrisJ, aimiliospet oznaczył to zdjęcie jeko użyteczne

Critiques | Translate

Darren (6823) 2005-09-07 10:37

Hi Manny. Not your best here I am afraid. First of all, I really don't like how you have cropped through the head of the buffalo, it just does not work for me at all. Secondly, the whole thing looks overexposed to me, the skin should be darker and the boy (?) on the right has a big blow out on his back. Finally, you are the usual master of really great light. So many of your shots, and all your best ones are taken in beautiful, soft golden light. Nobody finds better light than you typically, yet this looks like midday light to me, certainly not golden hour light anyways. Finally, I believe your focus has been missed here. The base of the horns is sharper than the kids. You usually post such consistently high quality stuff, I can't help but wonder what made you choose this one.

[14]

thaprem (2566) 2005-09-07 10:48

Hi Maual,
Great Subject & compo..I would love to take one...
But then I agree with Darren on the focus...
Anyhow I love this shot with the mischievious looks of teh kids captured will...
TFS
Prem.

thebig_d81 (777) 2005-09-07 11:03

Great shot Manuel. I disagree with Darren. If the buffalos head was in the shot it would take the attention off the kids who are the main subject. The focus is off a little, but does not really affect the shot that badly. Well done

Paolo (41258) 2005-09-07 11:13

Hi Manny, what a great shot!
wonderful and colorful compositio, with a perfect quality, POV and light!
the green background is fantastic and have a great and beautiful contrast with the dark buffalo!
thanks, ciao

faubry (35447) 2005-09-07 11:34

wouahhhhh..... bravo, i like this composition, thes two boy on the top bufle, very interesting expression from children, no problem with the bufle head, i prefer see the heads childrens!
thanks
francine

donluicu (24741) 2005-09-07 12:21

Manuel
this is a fantastic picture, very sharp and colored. I like the expression on the facs of the kids..
well done.

loic

alimo3 (6854) 2005-09-07 14:00

Hello manuel,
a beautiful and funny pictutre,
i like the deap colors and the graphic composition.
nice attitude of those two friends.
well done.

Tom

Albrecht (11283) 2005-09-07 14:32

Hi Manuel
Great compo and wonderful picture;great use of DOF and well cropped.
Take care, -Albrecht-

Graal (103040) 2005-09-07 15:00

Hi Manuel,
good pose and unusual place to two childrens. Good capture. Nice colours and composition. I like it.
Rgs, Aleksander

eleparc (24063) 2005-09-08 7:12

i remember having seen this one on your pbase gallery... It is a very nice shot, with a nice combination of the green and the red touches of colors.
you seem to have focused on the horns rather than the children, which is fine, and would probably be my choice as well. Still, a wider aperture might have gotten a better focus on the kids? what do you reckon? just a thought...

TAke care
Eric

dsidwell (9783) 2005-09-08 21:55

I like this one a lot, Manny. I do agree with Darren about the cropping of the horns, though it puts the kids in a strong position. I like the light here, though, and the depth of field, and the moment. She is a bit soft, but still a lovely photo.

ChrisJ (172372) 2005-09-09 4:41

Hi Manuel

It takes a little getting used to the missing buffalo head, but I like the symmetry, between the 2 horns, & 2 boys. Good work!

Clairedelune (4923) 2005-09-11 13:33

Hi Manuel,
I read the critiques and for me, to not see the head of the buffalo doesn't bother me at all. In fact, I think I prefer it that way. We understand what is it and the focus (not the photographic one but the "center of interest") is on the children. I like the postures of those kids, the repetition of it. I agree with Darren on two points: the light on the back of the front child is burnt and the focus (the photographic one this time) should have been on the children. All in all, I like it. Thank you!
Claire

sayzey (2358) 2005-09-13 7:17

Hey Manny, funny photo its not everyday we see two children riding a buffalo! I like the expressions on their faces too, the front child looks inquizitive and the back child looks bored!

Nice blurring of the background too, I like it. The only thing I woudl say is that for us westerners who dont usually get to see buffalo it would be good if we coudl see its head, that said though I think it is an interesting crop, using jus the horns in shot!

well done

pitai (3985) 2005-09-13 9:00

Hola Manuel,
Una imagen muy tierna dos nińos sobre un animal tan grande. La escala me parece fantastica. Que el enfoque no esta muy bueno? no importa... la composicion ultrapasa ese pequeńo detalle.
Buen trabajo!
Gabriel

dvlazar (6662) 2005-09-14 5:32

An absolutely amazing photo... this is great. Very original - and the chilrens' poses are lovely. Top shot!!

PJE (20758) 2005-09-15 17:24

Well no matter if Darren does not like the buffalo's head cropped or not I think this is a gorgous shot showing the trememdous contrast between size and strenght between the children and the beast. You did well in this one Manuel. Great shot.

fkk (2039) 2005-10-03 2:38

Merhaba Manuel;
wooow ? like photo, Great shot Manuel, very sharp and colored, this is a fantastic picture...

Muhtesem bir fotograf arka planda mükemmel. Güzel bir kompozisyonla bu kareyi muhsetem yapmissin tebrikler...

GOOD JOB.

catman

Furachan (0) 2005-10-04 14:47

Hi Manny,
This is just such an extraordinary view, such a filmic scene, don't see how anybody could resist it. You have managed to do "what you do", that is to say a beautiful vibrant double portrait of two kids, but while riding a water buffalo! It is one heck of an chievement techically and otherwise. I thin k many of us are green with envy, you know...
Take care,
Francis

banyanman (7797) 2005-10-07 8:48

After reading the 'great debate' about whether you should have cropped the buffalo's head out, Manny, my opinion is that you have cropped it perfectly from a composition perspective. It just wouldn't be the same if you had showed more of the buffalo. Your cropping provides a good balance between the children and the horns - if the head had been there as well, it wuld be competing for attention. The focus doesn't worry me too much - in fact I hadn't noticed it until I read the critiques. Yes, there is a blown out patch on the back of the right hand child (looks more like a girl to me than a boy!) but sometimes these photo opportunties don't come along when the light is perfect, so you have to make the best of what you have. Thanks for posting it. Cheers . . . David

[2]

kclai (2267) 2005-10-11 4:22

Manny pal,
This post was posted a month ago but was not noticed until recently. Yeah, the HOT debate makes the notification, pal.
So, why all the debates about the bufallo's head. Put it the point here. Every photographer have his/her way of present their individual work of art through the lense. Worst to say, one man's meat is another man's poison. That's all.
For me this is a well presented shot. Maybe you need to put in another shot that have the WHOLE bufallo head appearing in the shot.
What I like most about this is the very fine and good DOF. Whereas the lighting effect is nothing to concern about.
We have to put it the way that this shot was taken with natural lighting. And natural lighting tends to varied from a second to a minutes. So, capturing such exquisite shot like this is very difficult, unless this bufallo and kids could stick there without making a single movement. That's not RIGHT, isn't it.
Natural lighting poses a very good challenge to photographer to learn the correct speed and aperture required to produce good shot. And the best way of learning this is through natural shot like THIS.
I have to reallly agreeded with this shot, just a minor demerit on the focus only.
Eric Lai
** apologies being late * *

[2]

iGirl (1223) 2006-01-31 14:04

Hi, I really like the composition here; I think cropping out the buffalo's head makes the shot more interesting and draws more attention to the children. I love the looks on the kids' faces, too!

mingchiu (266) 2006-09-11 1:31

I think the buffalo's head ought to have been included in the photo. Without the buffalo's head his picture is off balance. You are close to a perfect shot ....only if the head was shot.Thanks for sharing.

rfnicolasora (145) 2006-12-11 6:16

Wow!

This picture reminds me of my carabao-riding days. hehe

Manong manny, idol ko na gid ikaw. Saludo ko sa imo.

lelson (0) 2007-08-04 11:30

Nice capture with pure face expressions with great colors. I just can say I wanna be like you Manuel. Bravo!