Amphitheater, a photo from Ifugao, Cagayan Valley

Photographer's Note

The Igorots of the cordillera carved these mountains into ricefileds more than 500 years ago. Above 3,500 ft, flatlands are a rarity, so these peole have to make do with the little land thay have. Each step of this virtual stairway to heaven is about 15 feet high (see visual reference with the houses below). This is particularly tricky, since each step has to hold water, irrigated from streams above. Simply amazing!

orme, pamastro, alford, arbroathscott, Eagle, berseph, banyanman, cjcampbell, cunejo200, danos trouve(nt) cette note utile

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orme (7219) 2004-12-15 22:59

An excellent shot, Emer. The rice field 'stairway' is very impressive, especially with the houses and the mountains behind adding a great sense of scale. Well framed with the vegetation in the foreground. Well done.

alford (4063) 2004-12-16 1:41

I remember how tired I was from hiking/trekking when I saw your pic, Emer! I trekked to this place a few years ago, and the mountain stairs really are a wonderful sight! Nice angle here, and your sharpness is great, too! rgds!

cgrindahl (6113) 2004-12-16 2:44

This is a spectacular photo Emer with an excellent point of view that could be made even better with a bit of post processing work. At least on my monitor the image appears a little washed out. I did a workshop to see if I could bring a bit more life to the colors. See what you think.

[workshop] [compare]

bend1k (934) 2005-01-09 18:36

Is this shot taken from Batad or Hapao?

arbroathscott (52) 2005-03-21 20:18

wow,thats really interesting,thanks for the informative photo and caption.Perhaps a little colour saturation would make the shot a bit more dramatic.

banyanman (7797) 2005-11-07 9:47

This is a very good composition of an amazing landscape, Emer. Excellent sharpness, DOF, everything. Cheers . . . David

MLINES (12516) 2006-01-08 4:26

Emer, Excellent perspective of these famous teraces. Your note is very descriptive which is most useful. They must be very hard workers here to maintain them for so long in good condition like this.

rdiaz80 (319) 2006-03-06 23:43

Here's something I picked up from www.tommackie.co.uk:

I would have used my smallest opening here to give a very sharp look of this landscape. I also agree giving the pic a color sat.

cjcampbell (143) 2006-06-04 21:25

An excellent view of the amphitheater. We hiked about half way down from the Saddle but some of our party were wearing only sandals and we had to turn back, so we never saw it. I would like to do the loop around to Bangaan sometime.

voyagenation (1180) 2006-07-10 12:13

i have to visit Batad one day. this is inspiring!

cunejo200 (7281) 2006-09-24 7:40

Hi Emer,
Spectacular. I wonder whether I could hike this area again. Really good photo. Best wishes. Danilo

danos (110407) 2007-04-13 13:57

Hello Emer,
an impressive shot of these carved mountains and the little vilage in the roots of the mountain.I can see and the against Mt, the same terrace cultivations.Very good work.
Regards,Danos