The Warmth of a Smile Photo

Photographer’s Note

Back to the old market of Siem Reap, Phsar Chas. I spent a good amount of time wandering around the market in which time I think I learned alot about the Cambodian people. One of the warmest, happiest people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting in my travels. As I passed merchants by, over and over again, looking for some photo oppurtunties, they started to ask me questions. Where I was from?, Don't you have markets in America?, Do you want to try this?, Will you take my picture?, Did you go to the temples yet?, ...among many other questions. I started to have conversations with the people. I think they liked that. They were interested in other parts of the world and most of them said they would love to see it, but they did not have that oppurtunity, unfortunatly. This is Cambodia and to have enough money to travel, let alone live, is something that is very hard to come by for most, or maybe I should just say alot, of the people there. In that few couple of days I was there I saw the warmth and charm of a people.

Now, I know this isn't a "technically" good photo in the least bit but I like it just for the fact that the smile of this merchant really sums up the warmth of the Cambodian people without even a word spoken.

This also shows how dark it is in that market - glad I had an SLR for this one!!! This was taken at about 2:00 in the afternoon, a cloudless, bright day outside and this was around 20 feet from the edge of the market, yet I still had to take this shot at 1/13 sec @ ISO 1600 - glad I had a VR lens also. I missed the woman and had the focus point more on the girl in the right...hindsight is always perfect. I would have loved to get that great smile in perfect focus. I also cropped the top off a little because there was a light bulb right in the center which was a bit distracting.

For a few more shots taken in the market, my Cambodia photos are here.

Thanks for any comments or critiques.
John

bakes888, hderin, ribeiroantonio, Dpbours, Wanda1, gelor, japiey, crhieatt, delic, pboehringer, siolaw, mphotographies, designsoul, shevchenko, leo61, oanna trouve(nt) cette note utile

Critiques | Translate

bakes888 (18317) 2007-08-11 16:54

Hi John. You have captured the smile well enough to show the world. Great photo. for the high ISO you have very little noise and excellent colour. Well composed and thanks for sharing.
Cheers, Paul.

dvlazar (6488) 2007-08-11 18:05

John,
a real contradiction in this shot! The lady's face is so warm and friendly and kind, and then your eye wanders to the raw meats... and theres the suprise element!
Youve handled the light well.
Dave.

hderin (596) 2007-08-11 18:55

Beatiful exposition, beatiful photo and humanizm... :)

Great !

Haluk

abulafia (4802) 2007-08-11 19:30

Hi John
A great atmosphere you have caught here! i like the warm colors and the warm smile:) I agree with the missing focus on the woman, a smaller aperture would have taken care of that, but then you would need a longer exposure, and that isn't really handy for a stroll at a market.
I still like it.
Harry

Dpbours (220) 2007-08-11 20:27

Hi John,

I can see you had a great time at that market! In half a year we'll get lots and lots of these wonderful pictures from your side ;-).
2:00 in the afternoon! It could be a night market the way you caught it! It's a wonderful composition you got there. You're right about the technical perfection. It mainly comes down to the focus. I think you aimed at the little girl to the right, but it wandered off a bit to the meat hanging behind her. That meat and the hook it's hanging from is just so sharp! ;-)
But you were at the max of the settings; 1600 ISO and 1/13 with the VR. Or heighten the F/5.3 to F/9. Fix the speed at 1/15, but the picture would be underexposed. So shoot them in RAW. ;-)

Thanks for sharing!
Dennis

Wanda1 (11015) 2007-08-11 22:44

Hi John,
Great ambient light bringing us the atmosphere of the market. I like the expressions of the two girls and the interaction between them. A well composed and captured moment.
Regards
Wanda

jjcordier (25052) 2007-08-11 23:51

Une très belle photo,John! J'aime beaucoup ces regards et ces sourires entre les deux personnes et les couleurs magnifiques de l'image. Malgré les conditions de lumière difficiles, la forte sensibilité utilisée et la vitesse lente, je trouve que la qualité de l'image est très bonne, au format TE en tout cas.
Amicalement
JJ

gelor (3224) 2007-08-12 0:43

Bonjour John,
Une superbe image aux couleurs exceptionnelles ! Traitment technique sans reproche. Bien vu et bien fait !
Bon dimanche,
Gérard

japiey (9497) 2007-08-12 1:19

Hi John.

Sensible composition.
Rich in life.
Great strength in managing the elements in frame.
Admirable is this sincerity.
Kudos.

jean paul

crhieatt (5145) 2007-08-12 2:46

John,
Despite your concerns I think this one's come out pretty well. It's got a lot of charm, and the quality is fine - you must have a good NR system. The colours are also particularly rich.
The one oddity - actually I quite like it - is, right of frame, the relationship between the girl's head and the hanging meat. They seem somehow conjoined. Very Dali!
Regards
Colin

delic (6735) 2007-08-12 3:25

Really good capture of the moment in the market. Her warm smile is a winner and the cropped composition works well. Missed focus is a bummer but this ain't no studio photography and technical perfection is not the top priority. You did very well, John! Regards,
Hakan

ribeiroantonio (21957) 2007-08-12 5:13

This is a perfect and very beautiful picture. Her smile is magnificent and she really looks lovely. Did she notice you? I also love markets, for they variety of things to see, good real people and lots of colour. I also have some market photos and one with meat like yours. The over all sharpness is excellent and I think the blur just adds to the beauty of the picture, giving some action to it. Well done
Antonio

pboehringer (770) 2007-08-12 9:20

John,
I like this shot a lot. So many contrast captured on this one. The warm light providing good exposure on the important elements of this picture and some shadows providing an interesting contrast. Last but not least this smile in complete contrast with all the meat of dead cows laying and hanging around.
Regards, Peter

siolaw (25800) 2007-08-13 3:16

Hi John,
Good capture in fine light of this daily life market scene! Nice diagonal placement of both subjects separated by loads of meat!
Good job
Laurent
PS just got back from Phnom Penh... Now in Bangkok.

mphotographies (1976) 2007-08-14 2:32

Hey John,

Such a strange place to have such warmth seen in their facial expressions...shall I say you capture that right moment. Sweet :)

Cheers!

Jom

***

Hmmm just in time...

I just read an article about The Simpsons Movie...Flash back, momentarily, to "Lisa the Vegetarian," the fifth episode of the show's seventh season.

Homer: Are you saying you're never going to eat any animal again? What about bacon?
Lisa: No
Homer: Ham?
Lisa: No
Homer: Pork Chops?
Lisa: Dad, those all come from the same animal.
Homer: Heh heh heh. Ooh, yeah, right, Lisa. A wonderful, magical animal.

designsoul (21394) 2007-08-14 15:30

It's a lovely shot, John. That smile above the carcasses says everything, as you say, the warm, sweet friendliness that is clearly the attribute of the Cambodian people. I would love to visit there one day. Have just read a fair bit of Bhutan, owing to the elections, and their introduction as you likely know of the Gross National Happiness. Now THAT's a measure, don't you think? Forget Dow Jones. Here there's reality, no guile, no masks, just genuine beauty. This is what your shot gives to me.
take care
sasa

Flavia (10202) 2007-08-15 8:11

Hi John,

Great picture, the light was very well managed. Their faces a re naturaly lighted and the mood here is very good. Colors came out well and the light mouvement of their hands manipulating the meat gives a especial touch to the scene.

Best Regards,

Flavia

ThomasL (417) 2007-08-15 12:27

Hi John,

Your shot reminds me of the markets in Peru; it looks very similar. Good composition. It's a pitty you didn't focus on the girl on the right, but it's not easy to capture a moment like this. You stil achieved a good result. Well done!

Greetings,
Thomas

shevchenko (10016) 2007-08-15 19:47

Hi John,
Much you had learn from the trip to Cambodia, good composition to show the daily life of meat seller, I felt funny with her un-stop questions too, thanks for sharing.
Ally

Andro (4) 2007-08-15 23:53 [Comment]

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PierreMorel (1168) 2007-08-16 0:32

Hi John,
I like how you composed this one except the little focus mistake. Anyway, the smile of the woman give a special interest to this shot. Tones, contrast, and saturation are perfectly managed.
Regards,
Pierre

leo61 (43494) 2007-08-17 23:00

Hi John!
I love markets and I`m happy to be at this one again in about 3 month.As you write ,it`s tecmnical not perfect but this smile is worth this shot and I like the composition with the customer in oposite position.Good lightmanagement and great colorcontrast.
Regards,Leo

Standa (1861) 2007-08-19 3:16

Hi John,
this shot is fantastic captured moment. Full of warm atmosphere with excellent light management. I realy appreciate your work in not so good light conditions!
Regards,
Stanislav

oanna (1196) 2007-08-20 12:25

the focus is on the meat actually :P.very warm and pleasant smile you captured here,let alone the good crop and light management,it brings out the features of the woman.

wonderful,a good `decisive moment`:)

noborders (14201) 2007-09-09 0:56

Although I'm a vegetarian since decades and the sight of what's on sale here certainly does not appeal to me, the warmth of the smile is irresistible and I'll come back to give smileys to this very friendly shot... The 2 women seem so content with life - or at least, to enjoy the moment, that it's a pleasure to see this shot, the format also is pleasant,
Bravo,
Cath.
:))