Newbie shots: Egypt

[joteo]

Early this year in January, I took a tour of Egypt. Majority of the shots were taken as High Quality jpegs. No colour correction / cropping / etc has been done on them.

As it was a tour, I didn't really have time to spend on thinking about shots and so on. A lot of them were taken from a tour bus.

My album is here.

But specifically, I liked these pictures and hope I can have your comments on them.


Thanks
joanne

[joteo]

More:

[barracuda]

i like the 4th shot. if the tourist is not there, it would be even better.

[meepokman]

hi joanne,

like #4.

Hope you enjoyed Eygpt

Its a fantastic place aint it!

I am already missing the place. hehe

[joteo]

Thanks for your comments.

Yes, Egypt was great. The weather was great too. Hot, sunny, yet cool. But as with all tours, it's hard to really get into the country when you're being dragged along with 10 others. But I was lucky. Very small group.

Two votes for #4. Why did you choose this over the rest? What is about it that makes it a good shot, in your opinion?

I'm surprised that the shot came out at all. I didn't have a tripod or monopod with me. I supported the camera on my knees, stopped breathing and just snapped.

I find that any good shots I take are by chance only and I would like to get a bit more technical with why some pictures work better than others.

thank you
joanne

[ndroo]

Nice travel series. Love the last one most.

[~Arcanic~]

i guess a good shot is dependant on e person who sees it. =)
not that much about technicalities imho, technicals helps in achieving e effect u want to create, but not neccessary a good shot.

personally, i like #2 and #3 actually... hehe, #2 shows the simplicity of their lives and how carefree they are though their environment isn't very good, #3 really gives me an idea of what their living conditions are like. kinda links back to #2, if i were to live there, i'm not sure whether i could still smile like the guys in #2... makes me appreciate our little country more...

[joteo]

Thanks very much for your comments.

I guess it's true. It depends on who's looking at it. And the emotional bond that a person discovers with what he's looking at a picture.

But I think travel pictures are really only worth something when there's a story behind it to give it relevance.

The first picture actually was from a series of over a hundred photos. Too many turned out blur.

This is because the guy was actually about 5 storeys down from where I was. If you go to the complete album of photos in the first link given above, there's a picture of one such little boat next to the cruise ships we were in.

These traders throw up their items at you from their level, all the way up to the top deck. Can you imagine the energy they need to do this? And the buyer and seller engages in a shouting match of bargaining. Sometimes you throw back the items at them to reject it. Most of the time they catch it, but sometimes items end up in the water and they have to fish it up. But what's amazing is that none of them lose their patience or their temper when this happens.

What made taking the photos even harder was that the traders were throwing up their items at me while I was taking the photos. I had to snap and catch. It was quite an experience.

Picture #4 that meepokman and barracuda like, I personally found something compelling, yet disengaging about it.

I liked it because it conveyed size and power. At the same time, I found some of the light and dark to contrasting that it was almost cold.

The last one with the blurred horse and in focus guy was one of the few that I really liked. But I wished I got the guy's full head in it. I took it from the bus. And his horse suddenly surged toward the bus.

The one thing that I really liked about the boy on the donkey photo is the colours that jump out at you in a sea of dust and sand.

This is one thing I noticed about Egypt. Dusty, sandy, murky and dirty. But in all that, these colours would stick out. At the side of the road, by the banks of the nile...

I wish I could travel more...

[SniperD]

Originally Posted by joteo Early this year in January, I took a tour of Egypt. Majority of the shots were taken as High Quality jpegs. No colour correction / cropping / etc has been done on them. As it was a tour, I didn't really have time to spend on thinking about shots and so on. A lot of them were taken from a tour bus. My album is here. But specifically, I liked these pictures and hope I can have your comments on them. Thanks joanne

These 2 gets my vote!

[kitkat]

Goovy .... great pics... really inspire me to go...

My fav is #2 .. it will looks better if the tourist is not there.

btw. i can see 2 speck of dust...

[joteo]

Originally Posted by kitkat Goovy .... great pics... really inspire me to go... My fav is #2 .. it will looks better if the tourist is not there. btw. i can see 2 speck of dust...

It was a damn dustry place. Can't be helped. But I can't see it on these pictures. Are you referring to #2 that has dust? There are some photos with much more specs of dust...

[Ally]

So you enjoyed yourself much, habibi? hehehe..

Was on tour with friends in Dec last year..
Alexandria, Kom Ombo, Karnak, Valley of the Kings..
places you come across in documentaries, now kinda make sense, dun they..?
Took the flight to Abu Simbel too (but very crowded)..

Oh, and it rained when we were there...

"Yellah! Yellah!"

[meepokman]

Originally Posted by Ally So you enjoyed yourself much, habibi? hehehe.. Was on tour with friends in Dec last year.. Alexandria, Kom Ombo, Karnak, Valley of the Kings.. places you come across in documentaries, now kinda make sense, dun they..? Took the flight to Abu Simbel too (but very crowded).. Oh, and it rained when we were there... "Yellah! Yellah!"

Ally you were there too last dec?!?!?!

hmm...do I know you?

[Kavana]

I like the first and the last, the first pic I like the guy's expression (looks very serious)

[i_yagami2]

I think the final pic is nice

[Lifehalo]

I like the camel ones
May I know what camera you were using?

[zanef2.8]

Great travel photos.

I like

#3 (donkey);

I agree so much about a pic should tell a story, especially if you are taking pic of an exotic place like Egypt. This photo has good composition and allows viewer to imagine a story behind this scene. When I travel, I love to take pic of local houses, people and street scenes. It would be a little nicer if the person in the background is further away from the middle of the frame, say towards the top right corner of the pic.

#5 (boy with bread on head);

Nice simple composition, slightly (really slightly) underexposed IMO. Another strong story telling pic. Well done

#7 (man riding a horse)

First class photojournalistic style pic - cannot praise more

Congratulations!!

[zanef2.8]

This is also a nice one - would benefit from a tighter crop

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y10...t/DSC_2612.jpg

[Ling Nightsky]

wow! nice shots! very photo-journalistic

[Ally]

Originally Posted by meepokman Ally you were there too last dec?!?!?! hmm...do I know you?

eh... If you in same tour group, then maybe...
we were singing in the bus when we were getting to hargeda (sp?)..
were u singing too?