Tirtagangga sawah, a photo from Bali, Nusa Tenggara

Photographer's Note

In 1995 we travelled for two months through the Indonesian archipelago. After spending some wonderful weeks on Java we went to Bali. This terraced rice field (sawah) shot is taken near the old Tirtagangga water castle in the Karangasem district of East Bali. During the trip we had seen lots of rice fields and by then we were so accustomed to them, that we began to perceive them with only a casual eye. But these fields changed this again – they were so strikingly beautiful, elegantly draped around the Tirtagangga castle hill.

Rice is the staple produce of Indonesia. Due the good fertility of the Javanese and Balinese soil, rice cultivation is practiced here as settled agriculture, as opposed to the shifting cultivation (=”ladang”: burning of a patch of jungle to get nutrients into the poor soil > cultivation until the soil looses it’s fertility > and burning a new patch of jungle > etc) that is practiced in the parts of Indonesia with poor soil. The sawah settled rice cultivation gives the rural areas of Java and Bali it’s characteristically curved forms.

This Indonesian posting and the ones to come are all scanned from photos with my Epson 2450 photo scanner, at 800 dpi for decent PP-headroom. The quality isn’t flawless due my continuous battle with the malfunctioning focussing system of the Sigma and the grainy aspect of the photos. But I think they’re still agreeable & I hope you enjoy them.

PCS-tech, cropped, adjusted levels, curves & saturation, USM-ed, added a frame, saved for the web & ran Noiseware.

Rinie_Hoff, alvaraalto, jhm, jrj, Fixfocus, carper, nwoehnl, digi-mom, pamastro, Tue, cmartos, maphoto, konok trouve(nt) cette note utile

Critiques | Translate

DrorAngkor (164) 2005-02-25 3:21

Very Beautifull scene.
Good composition and interesting colors.
I think a bit of sharpening would do it good.
Still, Nicely Done !

Rinie_Hoff (9340) 2005-02-25 3:55

Hi Bert, very nice graphism. I don't understand how you can get blasé with these beautiful fields ;-). This is actually what José's daily life thread here is about, what do you see in your own environment, that is worth while sharing, and after seen many of these fields, one gets accustomed to them.
I think it is a wonderful picture, Bert, I like it that there's no sky in. The composition itself, with some bushes on the right, and that piece of grass on the left, is very good.
So, you colored your map a bit further. I will be on the look out foor the rest of your Indonesian pics

naxius (16685) 2005-02-25 4:09

Hi Bert,
Very good composition even thought the light is no so beautiful.
Always interesting to see that kind of landscape.
Alexandre

antti (0) 2005-02-25 4:21

I have never seen these rice fields in nature, not so much in TV, but in TE several times. I agree, these are splendid views as yours here. Nature graphic itself. I love these curved lines following topography - human made, but by nature rules, I mean. You have excellent capture here, Bert. Looking after your more loads :)

alvaraalto (42804) 2005-02-25 5:38

Hi Bert,
Beautiful scene. All those water area’s and small dikes.
The picture seems to me a little dark and with not so much contrast. I expected more colour. But I’ve never been there, so maybe I don’t know where I’m talking about.
Groetjes Rob

jhm (211738) 2005-02-25 7:44

Dag Bert,
Ook is de foto bijna 10 jaar oud, ik denk dat hier geen enkele waarde verlies kan genoteerd worden, voor een gescande foto is hij absoluut zeer goed, de wirwar van de lijnen die percelen moeten aaduiden zijn werkelijk zeer goed tezien, het is een ander cultuur en ook hier leren wij opnieuw iets.
Goed weekend Bert.
John.

jrj (34843) 2005-02-25 9:03

Hi Bert
Creative compo of this rice fields all well closed in by the strong frame. Good graphical effect and kind of non figurative patterns working together

Fixfocus (9385) 2005-02-25 11:01

Dag Bert!
Nice graphic structures in your shot!
The different surfaces in the fields are very interesting.Good PoV and perspective frome above.
Good job!

Zepi (22848) 2005-02-25 13:23

Magnifiques couleurs !
J’aime le relief dans cette image !
Quel beau paysage,vous avez parfaitement su le mettre en valeur !
Bravo
Superbe
Beau travail !

Amicalement – Sébastien

carper (96) 2005-02-25 13:32

Oud van goud, uitstekende grafische foto,
het lijkt me een schitterend land Indonesie, maar ik heb het niet zo op al die vreemde insekten die daar rondvliegen. erg goede compositiie, goode kleuren en uitstekende scan.
goed werk Bert

nwoehnl (122) 2005-02-25 14:31

Good find from your archives, Bert. The rice fields and the reflections inside provide an appealing graphical pattern, and the sky-less framing certainly works well on this one. Very interesting note. I might have tried just a wee bit of brightening on it, but it is actually nice as you show it here.

Rockyboy (20598) 2005-02-25 17:43

Indonesia is a country where I want to go... (maybe this year) and here I like very much the composition you made with those rice fields. Very well seen and thanks to share this old shot with us!

pamastro (7296) 2005-02-26 2:38

These stepped terraces are really amazing everytime I see them in photos. The water in the fields is almost like polished glass set in these green fields. The lines form a very nice abstract pattern on this scene, as you have done in some of your architectural shots. And you focus well by excluding the sky and showing us only the stepped fields. Excellent job. And nicely exposed.

Tue (93412) 2005-02-27 19:06

Very nice view over this area! I like all the lines! The great variety of green colours is also very good, so well done!

cmartos (242) 2005-02-28 9:22

Hi Bert! A surprising, well not that much, picture from you. I like the graphic effect fron the various field lines here. The light comes to master the whole graphic impact and makes a coherent result. very good to have no sky, we focus on the fields, with a very nice composition indeed. Yes these terraces are characteristic but always a pleasure for the eyes to my taste. You caught them very well here, thanks for sharing Bert!

RGatward (20108) 2005-02-28 17:32

Great shot clearly presenting the intricate patterns resulting form these paddies. Looks goos in the rather dull light in which you shot it too.

maphoto (8082) 2005-03-02 16:14

Interesting shapes your showing Bert, nice point of view, looks like a cloudy day, so you've managed the light well and did well in hiding the sky at the top, well done.

devimeuxbe (58557) 2005-03-03 13:38

Nice place !
I don'y know whitch swimming pool i will chose

dgusatto (52) 2005-05-31 15:05

i know very well indonesia and bali..love this places. are magic. nice pic of rise fields. see my and the brillan green. ciao
denis

DLM (6479) 2006-01-21 15:41

Hi Bert,
Great image like a patchwork quilt,
Well done.
TFS
Dave.