Two more images for your comments...

http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder.tcl?folder_id=196292

Tks,

-- Tim Tan (kctan18@yahoo.com), April 03, 2002

Answers

tim.

these to me look like "pictures of angkor" and nothing else. don't know what your trying to achieve, my pursuit is fine art in photography so maybe we're after different things. the pictures are interesting because they are angkor but i am wondering what tim tan brought to the table to make these "his" and making them different from anyone elses pictures of angkor. if documenting angkor was what you were trying to achieve then you did that (and i am not trying to be sarcastic).

i would gladly look at more.

good luck

-- john molloy (ballyscanlon@hotmail.com), April 03, 2002.

Tim, Thanks for sharing your photos. Now I know why you suggested I bring wide angles to my trip to Angkor next week. First of all I would have selected more suitable lighting conditions before taking scenic shots, either very early morning or very late in the afternoon. I would have used a tripod and an aperture that gave me more depth of field especially for your shot of the door way, else an ultrawide with the statue in the foreground if you need to handheld. Maybe you were traveling on a group tour and didn't have control over time and place. Under these conditions I would have skipped the scenics to avoid too much sky and concentrate on the monks perhaps with a tele or a super wide environmental portrait.

-- ray tai (razerx@netvigator.com), April 03, 2002.

I love the color--saffron against stone. I wouldn't mind seeing the photographer a lot closer, with that wide angle, to really fill out the frame.

-- Preston Merchant (merchant@speakeasy.org), April 03, 2002.

Tim:

Really good photos.

I have an almost exact duplicate of the saffron cloaked statue - a real great setup, Fine Art or not.

I also have one of the Lake but with kids instead of the monks.

I do not know what John Molloy's point is. What else would he have done?

I have seen much "Art" photography in the last week-ICP, Leica Gallery, MOMA in NYC and would love to hear a definition of "Art Photography" from Mr. Molloy.

I also bought books by John Sexton, W. Eugene Smith, HCB, Kertez & Man Ray while there: again what is "Art Photography"?? Is Weegee's stuff art?

To me it is an image that makes you look and say WOW, because of the content, composition, lighting, etc.

On the seated statue, I would crop out the headless(likely stolen by poachers-I Hate Those Guys!!) seated figure to emphasize the subject and the vertical.

The safforn colour itself against a stone background makes just about any photo "art" .

I will be going there again this year and will try improving on what I did 2 yrs ago. Thanks for the Pix.

Cheers

-- richard ilomaki (richard.ilomaki@hotmail.com), April 03, 2002.

richard ilomaki wrote: **john molloy’s reply** I do not know what John Molloy's point is. What else would he have done? **composed it better, got closer, everything that would make this picture better. everything that you do to make sure it works. or comes damn close. i cannot tell you how to take a good picture on the internet anymore than i can tell you in person.**

I have seen much "Art" photography in the last week-ICP, Leica Gallery, MOMA in NYC and would love to hear a definition of "Art Photography" from Mr. Molloy. **mr. molloy is not going to get into a debate about what he considers fine art photography because it will come down to semantics. my point is this, tim’s images did not work for me. he was in Angkor and in my opinion he did not get close enough to a powerful shot. something that makes me say “wow”, “beautiful” or “shit i wish i could say that was mine” and i can tell you i hold myself up to a very, very high standard. do i get good photographs? yes i do. do i take a lot of shit? you bet. but if i put these pictures in for this forum to critique i would expect some people to not be very impressed. sorry tim, to be dragging this on. you here reading all this and thinking “shut up already“ .**

I also bought books by John Sexton, W. Eugene Smith, HCB, Kertez & Man Ray while there: again what is "Art Photography"?? Is Weegee's stuff art? **who’s weegee? i would consider it art, wouldn’t you? don’t like any of those photographers (is that ok?).**

To me it is an image that makes you look and say WOW, because of the content, composition, lighting, etc. **like i said, doesn’t make me go wow. depends how high you raise the bar. i will always be honest. and i don’ t think i was harsh.**

**tim i would like to see more of your images.**

**cheers**

-- john molloy (ballyscanlon@hotmail.com), April 03, 2002.

May be Ray Tai could share some of his pics when he returns from his forthcoming trip to Angkor Wat. I would love to see how others approach the subject matter. Would it be a travelogue? usual postcard pics? message to convey? fine art? human/sacred element to protray? other themes??

That's why I posted these pics to try find out whether others share the same feeling as I took the pics .

Thanks for your valuable comments.

-- Tim Tan (kctan18@yahoo.com), April 03, 2002.

Tim and Ray:

I spent one morning in Angkor Wat about two years ago - and it was way too short. I have included a few of my photos in my Cambodian folder (I took about 6 rolls so there are a lot more Angkor shots that I can upload if you are interested). I have just started photography then - some of the photos were taken with a Voigt 15mm on a IIIf. In retrospect, the photos were not bad for a rank beginner (although it's more likely due to the magic of the place) but I should have done a better job on the scanning part. The actual photos and chromes are much better.

What is interesting is that the shot in the Royal Palace. I was reading through the Nat Geo archives and they have a b&w photo taken in 1901 which look remarkably similar.

Ray: Wide angles (even ultra-wides) are indispensible.

http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=117096

Johnson

-- Johnson Cheung (jsbc1@yahoo.com), April 03, 2002.

Johnson, Nice photos. I have a total of 3.5 days in Cambodia and will need to spend 2 days in Phnom Penh on company business so I don't even know if I have time to get to Angkor this time around. I would appreciate any tips on photographing Phnom Penh. I am more interested in people and how they interact with their culture/environment and less on scenics.

-- ray tai (razerx@netvigator.com), April 03, 2002.

Ray:

I don't know about the weather at this time of the year, but I founnd the people in Phnom Pheng very friendly. The city is a gold mine for street photography if you are into that vein. When I took the photos, I was just starting out and did not have the photo techniques nor the people skills. A more experienced person would have gotten lots of interesting shots.

Johnson

-- Johnson Cheung (jsbc1@yahoo.com), April 04, 2002.

johnson

i like the one of the topless girl(?). that's what i like the most.

-- john molloy (ballyscanlon@hotmail.com), April 04, 2002.

AHA!!!!

Now I know what Mr Molloy calls "Art": Boobs. LOL:>:>:>

Cheers

-- RICHRRD ILOMAKI (richard.ilomaki@fmglobal.com), April 05, 2002.