The old man and the tree, a photo from Nusa Tenggara Barat, Nusa Tenggara

Photographer's Note

An old man I saw in Lombok town on the east coast of Lombok island in 1976. He is obviously chopping off something, but I don't know what.
Scanned from a Kodachrome slide.

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Critiques | Translate

dip (21408) 2008-07-21 1:41

Hello Gert,
wonderful image,very well captured and composed,
I like the framing and the DOF,
also good quality for an scanned photo,
Greetings,
Dimitris.

rasto1893 (522) 2008-07-21 3:23

Hello Gert,
Nice and original photo, good composition and capture, nice colours of the picture,
My Best Regards
Rastislav

trekks (14348) 2008-07-21 4:18

hello Gert

The scan looks sharp and the color contrast seems retained nicely from 1976. It is clear that your journalistic photo skill is shown in this shot with good light control.

tfs, bill

Dyerco (10185) 2008-07-21 5:08

Hi Gert
An unusual shot of this man and his occupation. I like the strong diagonal here. Not bad for a 32 year old slide.
Phil

nirvana73 (0) 2008-07-21 5:11

Hi Gert
i wonder
what is he chopping
maybe banana i don't know
good observation
nice colors and compotision
tfs
regards
Ozhan

alftrek (3270) 2008-07-21 8:08

Hello Gert,
A good capture of the old man in action hanging onto a diagonal tree trunk. I believe he is chopping off those branches, one at a time. The one under his right foot is already gone. The view of the background is nice too.

Alfred

noborders (1010) 2008-07-21 8:42

Ouh, this one is fun and interesting in the same time, it seems not easy at all what he is doing and I like the way you have placed him in front of this scenery with DOF as you did not use yet your little Ixus ! BG is nonetheless clearly visible with the bulb of the mosque and a beautiful architecture emerging between the coconut trees...
I like it a lot !
Compliments and best regards,
Cath.

scalerman (26900) 2008-07-21 12:00

Gert: now I see, it's a slide scan - perhaps a little more fine tuning wold have brought down the contrast and shadows - but from a slide still respectable - and a worthy photographic topic. best, c

skippy007 (12510) 2008-07-23 16:24

Hello Gert, another good quality & well composed pic for us to look at, the old man looks in pretty good condition to be climbing that tree & I don't see a ladder. Certainly worth posting & looking at.
Thank you
Santo

Disabled_A (0) 2008-07-26 14:26

Hej Gert,
an interesting composition! Bright colours of a sunny day make the photo very attractive.

I wonder how high the tree is... looks dangerous to climb up like that.

Out of curiosity I covered the leaves in the left part of the photo and immediately felt almost dizzy at the sight and thought of the hight!:) Without the leaves (which make the necessary frame of the picture and help to see the scale and perspective better) the photo looks like a roller-coaster, with this diagonal tree and the man on the tree...

TFS and best regards!
Elena

petrecretzu (168) 2008-07-31 9:38

Hi Gert,
Thanks for your comment!
I really like this picture, with nice warm colors and an intriguing subject, well emphasized by the DOF you chose. The palms and boats on the background make it even more interesting, I wonder what the picture would look like if it showed a bit more of them (by lowering the angle of the camera).

It reminds me of a 79-year old man I met in Brazil one year ago. He had some trees charged with fruits in his property, and I was passing by and asked him if I could take some. He said yes, but apologized for not climbing the tree himself - he had fallen from one (!) the day before and his foot still hurt :) One's never too old!

Greetings from Brazil,

Pedro

saxo042 (38078) 2008-08-04 1:43

Hej Gert,
I´m glad he his not cutting the branch he is sitting on! The composition here is very fine, and the colours are great too. A very good photo!
Hälsningar
Gunnar

mafegan (8626) 2008-08-31 3:26

Hello Gert
This must be the photo you are refering to. Very sharp for a 32year old slide. Nicely composed with the branch on the diagonal. Well done, Marlene

Mazeo (211) 2008-11-02 6:36

Hi Gert,

The subject of this photograph is great! I like the composition: the sharp diagonal tree in the foreground and a blurry jungle covered mountain in the background.

The old man in semi-traditionnal clothes is intriguing and one wonders what he is cutting up that tree: the branch no doubt?

All the best,

Mathieu

pablominto (53746) 2008-11-02 6:50

Hello Gert,

I'm amazed by the colour quality, showing the advantage you have now for using positive film back than!
For the comparison you can have a look at Bill Laucps nostalgic paper print of about the same age:

http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/photo980741.htm

Besides, this is a fine composition with good details and great 3-D feeling!

Greetings,
Pablo -

serp2000 (47063) 2014-04-25 7:34

Wow! Excellent shot, Gert!
What can I say? You are very lucky, you would play at the races, for example. ;) Just a man at work! Well done!
Thanks for another masterpiece from 19070th!
Best regards,
Serghei

jmdias (116511) 2019-11-13 11:27

gert

looks like he was cutting a branch of the tree. a hard job for an old man and something dangerous too. excellent flagrant.

take care

jorge

emka (158860) 2020-01-30 23:15

Hello < a brave man climbing the tree, even if it is slant. Curious what is he doing there? Excellent quality of this old picture.

Kind regards MAlgo

COSTANTINO (117814) 2020-11-06 23:14

hello dear Gert and have a nice day
and the question here is...
what the man is doing up there????
an old man on a tree without the fear
to climb on....
an unusual photo indeed
regards
Costantino

Silvio1953 (222959) 2021-05-26 10:42

Ciao Gert, nice scene with old man in dangerous action on tree, fine details, good clarity, wonderful colors and splendid light, very well done, my friend, ciao Silvio