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Bali 2008 (Manda)

mandamanda Registered Users Posts: 88 Big grins
edited August 12, 2008 in Journeys
I managed to get away for a few days by myself - perfect!

On my first day I got up early to take in the surroundings, got lost immediately and chanced upon some kids playing with their kites.

#1 Kuta
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After walking back home I found the best driver, I can heartily recommend Wayan Mudiana wayan4bali@mymail.ro as the perfect photographer's driver. He was the one who suggested stopping to meet these people in the rice fields.

#2 Planting the Rice
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Quite literally, back breaking work

#3 Rice Padi
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In the evening I visited Tanah Lot. My tripod broke again (just like it did last year) but at least it was at the end of the evening.

#4 Tanah Lot
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After a couple of days I moved onto Ubud, it was a complete fluke that I chose the day of the Royal Cremation and was staying at the hotel right next to the celebrations. This is actually the day after when the funeral pyer was dust and ashes. The gentleman is collecting scrap metal, the heat was amazing. There won't be another festival like this for another 20 years.

# 5 Ngaben
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It's a huge honour to participate in the celebration, so I enjoyed chatting to all the people preparing their floats. In the background is a richly docorated 'bull'. Later it will be added to the fire.

#6 Portrait
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My final picture is part of a collection (you can see them in flickr; no one likes over kill). My biggest love is to take portraits as it makes the holiday so much more fun. I drove past a community meeting and thought 'wish I could take some photos of those guys'. I dared to stop and approach the large group men. Before you know it there are smiles all round and they line up for their turn. This guy actually wore a bright red wooly hat and had a lovely smile. He really knew how to play up to the camera, I think he rather fancied himself as James Dean.

#7 Bapak
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Thanks for viewing, comments welcome. I'll try and add more as I get through the processing.

See my Japanese series here.

Comments

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    Darren Troy CDarren Troy C Registered Users Posts: 1,927 Major grins
    edited August 6, 2008
    Fantastic Fotojournalism! The last one is amazing!
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    Awais YaqubAwais Yaqub Registered Users Posts: 10,572 Major grins
    edited August 7, 2008
    Great stuff !
    Thine is the beauty of light; mine is the song of fire. Thy beauty exalts the heart; my song inspires the soul. Allama Iqbal

    My Gallery
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    mandamanda Registered Users Posts: 88 Big grins
    edited August 7, 2008
    Thanks guys, I'm aspiring to take photographs like these. He's my new hero.
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    dadwtwinsdadwtwins Registered Users Posts: 804 Major grins
    edited August 7, 2008
    wonderful captures, I especially like the last onebowdown.gif
    My Homepage :thumb-->http://dthorp.smugmug.com
    My Photo Blog -->http://dthorpphoto.blogspot.com/
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    mountainhousemountainhouse Registered Users Posts: 91 Big grins
    edited August 7, 2008
    Wow! Very impressive. All very nice! I would love to hear any comments about how you approach people to photograph. Any common approach, so always varied? Thanks for sharing!
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    mandamanda Registered Users Posts: 88 Big grins
    edited August 7, 2008
    Cheers me dears - I think I am very lucky to be living in Singapore (I'm a Derbyshire lass by birth, England). I'm also a teacher - so I get the time to travel a lot.

    Lots of people are friendly in Asia so its not hard to take their photos. The only time I tried in Europe was a complete disaster as people are so much more cautious of random strangers walking up to them to take a photo.

    My only tips are to set the camera settings first (aperture mode, f2.8 / 3.2 or 5.6, ISO 200 or 400).

    Walk up straight away with a confident / open approach (hesitation or sneaking the shot will make ppl uncomfortable).

    Give a explanation for your request "Hi, can I take your photo as your blue shirt really looks good against the a paint" or "Hi, I'm learning to take photos and there is a competition in my class, can I take your photo, it might help me win".

    Hang around and chat, show them the screen, exchange emails - then walk away with glee.

    thanks Mandy
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    BadMonkeyBadMonkey Registered Users Posts: 11 Big grins
    edited August 8, 2008
    Great work, rich colors, excellent cropping, composition.

    Cheers
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    mandamanda Registered Users Posts: 88 Big grins
    edited August 8, 2008
    Thanks for all the postive feedback, another mug shot.

    This was processed with my new hero's ebook on portrait processing.

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    mandamanda Registered Users Posts: 88 Big grins
    edited August 11, 2008
    This one is a real cutie, unfortunately the eyes are soft and what ever I did I couldn't reduce the over exposed catch lights with losing the integrity of the original image.

    2753353348_36c590d9b9.jpg
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    mandamanda Registered Users Posts: 88 Big grins
    edited August 12, 2008
    I've not been happy with this photo so I asked for some critique
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