Terraced fields in plowing season, a photo from Yen Bai, North East

Photographer's Note

Terraced fields in plowing season

For those who plan to arrive to this location: Mů Cang Chải is name of a little town on the bank of Nậm Kim River, also of one of the districts of Yęn Bái Province, at coordinates of 21° 49' North and 104° 5' East. Over an altitude of 1,208 meters, the entire district is in the mountain area where no regular mail could reach. There is no newspaper or magazine available. The whole media activity here is handled by just two people who have a computer and internet access to obtain the news, then lay out and print on 8 x 10 papers prior to distribution to local authorities.

388 km from Hanoi or 200 km from the seat of province, you should not calculate these distances by driving hours. During the monsoon, dont even think about accessing Mů Cang Chải. In dry season, local bus may take a day, through steep and dangerous road on the sheer cliff.

As in other minority communities, local Hmong people only have one crop per year, starting from the end of May and their harvest is in September. According to their tradition, upon plowing season, the rice sowing is done in the same best spot. Once ready, they remove and plant to the entire tribal area. As you can see in this picture taken from a nearby hill, the green sowing spot is about at center of the terraced fields. I was tempted to capture the farmers with their water-buffalo down there, but I failed to show you those details even though I have used the longest lens of mine. Hope this gives you a different view toward life in the Red River Delta, Vietnam.

.

Paolo, namaste_oti, RGatward, arnabchat, HOBO, Galeota, jbweasle, ChrisJ, NgocSon, KevRyan, gren4, MLINES, Albrecht, MartaW, babri, patriik, Liekje, rtome, davidkral, sbelkoski, jamie1234545, ptak, JorgeCK, humayun, Wandering_Dan, branley, nikosrio, xramm, peterpap, DukeSG, Besal oznaczył to zdjęcie jeko użyteczne

Critiques | Translate

Paolo (41258) 2005-04-06 5:18

great, great shot!
it's so unreal!
cood light and focus.
thanks also for the note.
ciao

oochappan (4880) 2005-04-06 5:20

A perfect graphical shot with this remarquable green island. excellent seen and captured.

namaste_oti (705) 2005-04-06 5:21

Hi,
Very good picture. I like this green field in the middle.
If possible a Large Post of this panorama would be great!
Regards,
olivier

kabe (2011) 2005-04-06 5:24 [Comment]

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Timmok (802) 2005-04-06 5:25

What a nice picture ! A beautiful graphical effect, and the green part in the middle looks so isolated from the rest of the picture. Congratulations !

alainh (33209) 2005-04-06 5:26

hello Nhiem
congrats for this splendid shot.
graphique, and incredible island of green.
an ice shot and a good note
in my favorites
regards
alain

RGatward (20108) 2005-04-06 5:34

Another great graphic shot of this subject today. This one nicely complemented by the perfectly placed settlement.

arnabchat (7233) 2005-04-06 5:49

absolute superb photography!
this is further enhanced by the framing.

jemaflor (146412) 2005-04-06 5:56

Oh !!! Of course it's a great photo. I like it.
Lovely green island in the midle of your photo.
Congratulations.

HOBO (5282) 2005-04-06 6:00

Great play with the light to capture the fields this way, Nhiem. The 'green spot' is a great eycatcher. Very well composed!

pascal13 (2100) 2005-04-06 6:08

Ce paysage parait irréel,superbe photo,rien ŕ redire.J'aime beaucoup.

Milos (181) 2005-04-06 6:10

Very artistic! Congrats!
Milos

puister (570) 2005-04-06 6:42

Hi Nhiem,
Like a isle in a very special ocean. Great work.
Regards,
Paul

Galeota (10352) 2005-04-06 7:10

Such a graphical landscape, and you managed to raise the interest of your composition by including that small green island slightly off centered. Seems like a tourist free location, and therefore it excites our imagination and the curiosity of our travelling minds. I'm over there with you, no doubt about it...

dolin (7369) 2005-04-06 7:56

Hi.
An incredible and original shot.
This green part in the middle is very good manmaged and framed.
Very graphic and really excellent.
Great composition.
Congratulations.
Fred

Haymotion (2761) 2005-04-06 7:59

Superbe composition !!
Trs design et graphiquement superbe !
Elle va directement se glisser dans mes favoris..
Very nice shot
Vince

jbweasle (9393) 2005-04-06 8:14

A great picture of the terraces, I love the repetition of the curves. The little island of green really makes the picture. Very good note too. Thanks.

ChrisJ (171396) 2005-04-06 8:47

Hi Nhiem

Superb graphism & repetition. I like the small green island in the middle, on the left. Great work!

longpt (947) 2005-04-06 10:46

anh Nhiem, anh dung la so mot ve anh ruong bac thang roi, cai dam co xanh xanh o giua that tuyet. Nhin ro ca nhung cho nuoc tran qua tung bac thang nua, tuyet!

ndb1958 (9289) 2005-04-06 11:43

What a beautiful picture. Wonderful. Your manipulation is very artistic. You've chosen beautiful and decent colours.

ishai (4097) 2005-04-06 12:04

What a beautiful shot, Nhiem
The lines the reflections its so artistic as well
And the green dot around all these reflections
Well seen and captured

marekrallying (397) 2005-04-06 13:48

what an amazing photo of amazing place. the green island looks unbeleiveble and the scene is so unreal. great job. thank you.

KevRyan (22956) 2005-04-06 15:09

A beautifully presented image Nheim - I have always liked good high elevation and good photography from the air that shows human impact on the landscape so this image immediately hits all the right buttons with me - having a 'clear' human presence in one of the fields would have really emphasised the scale a little more and added another form of graphic interest - as usual your notes are amazing for their detail!

toni_al (15875) 2005-04-06 15:30

Joli paysage et superbe graphisme. En un mot
:-) G E N I A L ;-)Amicalement
Toni

tontonjc (6623) 2005-04-06 16:53

Waoouuuhhhhh . Elle est splendide . le graphisme et ces magnifiques couleurs !!

Wonderful . BRAVO

gren4 (603) 2005-04-07 13:09

I think that less is more in so far as this photo has a contrast between the curving forms of the water and the strong lushious green from the smal island.I think that the inclusion of the farmers detail would have detracted from the reason for liking this photo.

jsouris (180) 2005-04-10 14:17 [Comment]

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gordan (229) 2005-04-24 8:48

Very well...

erguvan (773) 2005-05-21 23:48

That photos is lovely Nhiem. well done.

TRASH (0) 2005-08-27 19:14

I simply save this photo as my favorite. All other words from me are surplus. You've got the best admiration from both novices and professionals.

Congratulations!

MLINES (12516) 2006-04-06 4:25

Superb composition. The reflected light makes this very special. The patterns are interesting. Excellent note. Congratulations.

Albrecht (11283) 2006-04-06 4:25

Hi Nhiem
This scene doesn't look real almost. That green oasis in all that grey is a wonderful compo. Well seen and captured place.
~ greetings Albrecht ~

MartaW (703) 2006-04-12 11:26

Beautiful photo and very interesting note.
Good work.
Regards, Marta

pracas (511) 2006-04-12 11:35

This is just WONDERFUL... nice graphical touch!

sesalter2000 (112) 2006-04-12 11:47

Beautiful!!

Yuanclarkson (38) 2006-04-12 11:51

Too good to believe my own eyes.
Thank you, mister photographer!

YC

umbrellaphotos (1901) 2006-04-17 12:31

That's a pretty cool shot! I've never seen anything like it! Thanks for sharing with us,

Brian

patriik (1935) 2006-05-24 14:12

This is awesom shot!
I`ve never seen such a view!
It`s fantastic!
Wonderful compo, light, textures...
I love it! (points tommorrow :-))
Thanks for the interesting note!
Very well done!

Patryk

JoeyNO (362) 2006-06-15 1:46 [Comment]

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Andre-H (1271) 2006-06-15 1:52

Hi Nhiem,

What can I say? Another fabulous shot. The patterns, the brigh reflection of the terraces, the tiny green patch and hut in the middle... it's magic! Thanks for putting this out there.

André

arnoud1976 (1191) 2006-06-15 1:54

superb shot, well captured. really like the lines/contrast/comp/pov/dof! truly amazing view. congratulations and tfs arnoud

patrickb (76) 2006-06-26 6:59

Hi, fantastic shot, the way the dams are shaped in the middle draw ones eye to the outstanding green island.
Well done
Regards
Patrick

rui_seabra (205) 2006-11-23 16:05

Perfect compo with a very good color/subject contrast...

TFS
Rui Seabra
Portugal

jirivrobel (542) 2007-04-23 3:56

Wonderful shot. Excellent format used.

rajhema (1873) 2007-07-02 3:32

SImply superb capture Nhiem. The man in the picture gives a good POV. the layers of land cascading down the mountain slope is awesome. Well seen
TFS
Rajesh

jalab_temen (2193) 2007-07-02 4:01

Hi Nhiem
Exraordenary, amazing. Really good composition,beautiful contrast of the green island on man-made see. Thank you,
Jalab from Hungary

pally3100 (3413) 2007-07-04 12:34

hello hoang
i like your picture for its very good graphism
, the pov, the color and the high contrast cut in a weel done green dash , a perfect image.
J aime cette image pour son excellent graphime
une parfaite composition au haut contraste ,ainsi que des couleurs bien assorties , la tache de verdure relevant cette image de bonne maničre , Henri Belgique Ličge

rhamza (118) 2007-07-31 1:13

Dear Nhiem,
I liked the photo very much. The small green field in the centre nicely enhances the color combination of the picture.
Cheers!
Rashid

lelson (0) 2007-08-06 10:54

Impressive shot. The terraced rice fields are amazing and your composition gives an impressive image. Colors are a little darker and not very lively but just only a minor thing in the hole picture.
Thx for share Nhiem.

KKar (486) 2007-08-06 12:17

Excelent composition dear Nhiem
My congratulations
Kostas

Beholder (12) 2007-08-13 4:11

Great flowing lines across the pictures and the green island contributes to these lines.

CDez (1415) 2007-08-21 11:33

Fantastique, le choc.
La vague de gauche ŕ droite avec la tache de couleur verte dans un tel graphisme.
Un grand bravo.
Merci de nous faire ręver.
Christian

Wandering_Dan (3449) 2007-08-21 12:01

Fabulous photo as a work of abstract art!

branley (3681) 2008-02-16 2:34

Hi Nhiem,

I saw this on the home page and what a great shot. The green 'island is perfectly placed in the frame, the people give it scale and the light is cool. I would give you more points but alas the system doesn't allow it but I hope this nudges you towards a deserved three figures. A superb capture, a great note and one for my theme TE Moments.

Regards

Stephen

pushpinder (201) 2008-04-14 22:19

phenomenal shot!!

nikosrio (1158) 2008-04-27 22:24

Incredible shot.The green is amazing and also positioned in the right place.Great photo.
Regards
Nikos.

Modos (968) 2008-11-21 1:08

Incredible and different shot!

bernardec (2241) 2009-08-22 10:12

an other fantastic pov.
the draw of the rice terrasses is very well done!
great composition , indeed
bernard

Simon_Rumford (136) 2010-04-25 12:54 [Comment]

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DukeSG (88) 2011-12-22 2:39 [Comment]

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