Pyrethrum Field Photo

Photographer’s Note

On our way to the Volcano National Park in Rwanda to see the mountain gorillas, we walked through this pyrethrum filed at the edge of the park, and I spotted this woman, probably a farmer, in the middle of the flowers.

Pyrethrum is a plant in the crysanthemum family which produces a natural insecticide. It may or may not be safer than any of the others, but it is Rwanda's third major export crop, after tea and coffee (the coffee is excellent, by the way). Rwanda is such a crowded country that every available hectare of land is used, such as here, where the pyrethrum field goes right up to the border of the national park.

Technical: Some cropping, then I sharpened the image with Noiseware. I used levels to adjust the brightness of the flowers and the woman's clothes.

Side note for anyone planning to photograph the gorillas: Don't use AF; it gets fooled by the black fur and focuses incorrectly.

elmec, sevy, rigoletto, joscel1975 trouve(nt) cette note utile

Critiques | Translate

elmec (12194) 2007-09-12 9:23

Hello Daniel!
Very interesting place, great composed with hard point of colourfull women between white flowers!
Best regards!

sothy81 (8536) 2007-09-12 10:07

Ver yinteresting picture. You have that nice color contrast in the picture. And the person appears alone in the middle of beautiful nature is such a great eye sight. Well done. Sothy

vivekrb (240) 2007-09-12 11:19

Hi Dan

Nice well composed picture with good colors and contrast. The colors of the fabrics of the woman and the flowers provide for just that right bit of color in the otherwise green canvas. A good capture of an everyday moment at the right instant.

Cheers
Vivek

sevy (13698) 2007-09-13 2:09

Hello Daniel,

I like the play on the colors on this shot. The saturated colors of the woman lost in this green place provide a nice contrast to the scene.

Yves.

batalay (21086) 2007-09-14 19:42

Hello Daniel,

A very beautifully framed image, with the person (farmer) in brilliant reds and oranges cast in a field of greens and whites. Your note is interesting about the AF-feature being foiled by the view of gorillas. About the green and red, red and green color blindness is evidently an affliction of about 7% of males, and an inconsequentially small fraction of females. But at Oxford I knew a theoretical nuclear physicist, actually a very famous one, who discovered that he was red-green color blind when he was around 42-43. Going out on strawberry picking excursions with his family, it was discovered that he went after shapes and did not discern the colors. For a red-green color blind viewer of this image, this photo would be virtually b&w with variations of gray.

Warm regards,
Bulent

rigoletto (26468) 2007-09-17 0:27

Hi Daniel,
You have colorful and different gems in your gallery! I like how you try very different kinds of photography with different subjects and lights. This one looks so romantic and charming, thanks to the beautiful green BG with lots of pyrethrums. And here, the gem is hidden amongst the flowers, the lady with bright colors adds particular charm to the compo. Congrats,
Deniz

Angshu (33891) 2007-09-19 0:41

Hello Dan
Reading your note I remembered having read in some place that Pyrethrum is an ancient discovery passed down through the ages...I think it's a kind of daisy. Very nice picture of the woman in bright colourful dress amidst field filled with flowers. A little gem & I love it.
Regards
Angshu

joscel1975 (489) 2009-08-22 4:39

Hi Daniel:

It's like in a dream. The colorful dress of the lady creates a very important contrast of the entire composition. Good job my friend!

Josh