A quick game before the storm, a photo from Hovsgol, West

Photographer's Note

Yes, this sums up Mongolia! The happy cheerful smile on the face of the man about to take a shot. The pool table in the middle of absolutely nowhere, beside the road running through a remote village. No cover in sight and a menacing storm cloud threatening a horrendous downpour any moment. The main road a mere dirt track. A ger (felt tent) sits comfortably next to wooden buildings in the centre of the village. The boy dressed in colourful modern western clothes.

quetzal, don_narayan, kensimage, Michael, natc, benkrut, drewkaya, JasPahal, rtome, manub, yesyuvraj, Emiel_Skyfreak, Iuli, quelquepart, danos, Djipi has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

rbcy1974 (20758) 2005-05-20 5:11

Hi Paul,
I reammy like this athmospheric shot. Very good composition with dark ominous sky, I like the position of the characters and the depth of the photo.
A+
Daniel

quetzal (3665) 2005-05-20 5:20

Exellent translated atmosphere, Paul. I like the quiet players playing in spite of imminence of a storm.
Moreover the picture shows a original composition and point of view, with the billiard table as foreground.
Well done photo.
Jean-Louis

don_narayan (2014) 2005-05-20 5:39

great composition and colors. I like the mood of the photo a lot. it has a rather desolate feel, with the pool table outside and just a few buildings and vehicles. nicely done.

kozerog (1288) 2005-05-20 6:52

Great shot. Very interesting to see mongolian jurt next to normal (for us) houses.

Haymotion (2761) 2005-05-20 7:44

Excellent !!
Trop fort ce billard perdu dans la nature et ce ceil noir menacant fait bien ressortir les couleurs du billard !!
Vince

kevinos (7517) 2005-05-21 1:03

This is a realty surreal and fascinating shot, Paul. Its strangeness is both unnerving and delightful. I like the spontaneous movement of the boy in a world that seems frozen. The whole thing creates a haunting image. I wonder what post processing work you did, if any. Regards, Kevin

aros (0) 2005-05-22 7:31

Now this is the kind of thing you will ONLY see on TE - I love it! Brilliant capture.

gringofil (0) 2005-05-22 8:18

This is so cool. I really like your compo with the kid and guy playing pool balancing each other quite nicely here. The storm clouds are a great addition and make the shot much more dramatic. The cherry on top is the fact that the kid's overalls match that of the pool table itself. Great work, mate.

mlopes (494) 2005-06-11 4:37

Hi Paul, here i am :))

You're totally right in your note... a pool table in the middle of nowhere, now i won't be amazed with nothing else (and nothing else matters eheh)

Nice POV, caught a good smiley moment.

Cheers,
Mario

maciekda (19895) 2005-06-11 5:37

great light and colors here, the scene is great as well - this table in the middle of the street, those houses around and mountains in the background, those white smiling teeth... really nice photo Paul

kensimage (8563) 2005-06-11 21:05

Wow, Paul, this is a lot of culture to pack into one image! And it's very well composed, too, I really like this one.

I've always wanted to go to Mongolia, though I've worried I'd end up seeing drab Soviet-era buildings rather than a good sample of daily life. What was your experience?

fiedziu (1764) 2005-06-14 4:27

great POV, light, colors
and it is a picture from my favourite country
thanks for sharing
regards

vapours (8264) 2005-06-15 0:27

Very amusing shot and I think I would have great difficulty playing against these guys as I'm sure they would be well adjusted to any tilts in the table!

banyanman (7797) 2005-06-18 9:17

You are so right Paul, this shot does sum up so well what daily life in Mongolia is like these days. And those approaching storm clouds really do make this shot impressive. Cheers . . . David

Michael (277) 2005-06-18 15:51

Hello Paul,

what a great picture, it's really unusual to play the 8 pool in such a place ! I like the expression on their face, they seems so quiet like they don't care about the changing weather. The sky is interesting and contrasts with the hapyness of the players.
Great shot, funny and well composed.
Michael

rabani (9645) 2005-06-20 3:40

Almost surreal with the main subject and with that skywork and quality of light. This is one public pool table. It must have been here for a long while what with the grass under it while around the table, the ground is well trodden and dusty.

danby1 (3697) 2005-06-22 7:36

nice shot really interesting, its really nice to see them so happy when they are almost certainly going to get rained on any moment! you captured a nice moment here, well done!

alekpet (4663) 2005-07-15 7:55

Great shot. Mongolia between old and new.

natc (315) 2005-10-13 7:00

very interesting note. your photo indeed includes many unusual details! nice colours.

A-la-N (2025) 2005-11-11 8:04 [Comment]

Show Comment

markosm (2) 2005-11-28 11:26

This photo is absolutely surreal! :)
Sometimes it is hard to believe your digital eyes.
Imagine the photo with no houses, just a tent and a truck! That would be ever harder to belive...
Good job.

knmart (106) 2005-12-03 2:25

great shot
it looks like the young lad is muttering something like hurry up and get rid of the black cos there is a bigger black behind you
great colouring and great awareness of whats around the focus of the shot
well done

krakowiak (4762) 2005-12-16 7:03

Great place to play billard ;)
For me, Your photo is an essence of TE

Best regards,
Pawel

mrbialy (2568) 2006-01-11 21:33

Hello. I'm really impresive of this picture. Amaizing, soooo "mood", beautiful athmosphere, great sky, great moment, but the composition is just .....????....????, this is one of the best photos so far here..... like not real, like from not this world, :::first house on the right side????, amaizing, rest of the houses, sky???!!!, truck, snooker table???, player, walking boy, colours, quality, I olmost feel like I'm be there. JUST GREAT PICTURE, what can I say more.......????????,,, good luck

fohoizey (1130) 2006-03-12 11:47

Une image extraordinaire !
La composition très dynamisée par la largeur de l'angle de vue est très plaisante.

bombilla (3406) 2006-03-12 13:17

Fabulous coordination of colors. The white of the cueball and the pocket bumpers reflects the walls of the house, the ger, and the bright teeth of the man. The blue ball reflects the sky, the door and trim of the buildings and the van in the distance. The overalls of the boy, the felt of the pool table, the grass and the roof of the building. Great shot.

drewkaya (86) 2006-04-27 0:17

What a great scene. And you sum it up well in your note. This was fun to come across!

F064564 (66) 2006-06-02 15:57

Des superbes couleurs pour cette scène SUREALISTE !!!!
Faire un billard dehors, en plein milieu de nul part !! J'en souris autant que le joueur !!!

Superbe cliché !

Bravo et merci de le partager.

hajle (1087) 2006-06-21 14:51

great shot, beautiful colours, and great atmosphere of emptyness;
greetings!
slawek

Javid (1262) 2006-07-30 17:12

very nice
all of it is perfect
thanks.
yourfriend, JAVID

iGirl (1223) 2006-09-05 1:50

Hi Paul, thanks for capturing a most interesting scene! Great choice to include lots of background. This is definitely a scene unlike any I've ever seen before. Thanks for sharing!
Erin

photilus (5550) 2006-10-19 4:49

Bonjour Paul,
Cette lumière me fait étrangement penser à celle de l'altiplano bolivien.
J'aurais voulu en voir un peu plus à droite (billard et yourte coupés) mais cette image n'en demeure pas moins belle !

fabEarth (283) 2006-11-14 19:00

Great picture !

Incredible scenes, in the middle of that dust !

Emiel_Skyfreak (3002) 2006-11-30 11:45

Hi Paul,

Very nice catch, I think I saw this one before on TE, but probably not when I was member yet. The scene is great, indeed a threatening sky in the distance, white and grey tones reign there. On the foreground there is more colour, I love the strong green tone of the pooltable, aswell as the colours of the city. Good timing, this laughing man is an important element I think. I can't place the boy tough, what is he doing? And with who is the man playing his game..with the boy? Not clear for me.
Good sharpness.
Just wanted you'd catch the full pooltable, especially the cut off right side I would like to see in the frame, the bottom doesn't bother me.

Iuli (838) 2006-11-30 22:57

What a strange shot, Paul! Everything seems out of place:
- a pool table outdoors with a storm aproaching in the background...
- a kid who may be the partner of the smiling pool player but who seems anything but interested in that game...
- a couple of mongol huts which I always imagined standing alone in the middle of some endless grassy steppe, right next to brigtly colored western style houses
- a heavily loaded truck parked in a residential area
- a few strong colored objects in a grey and dusty world

I'm sure most of these aspects I just pointed out, if not all of them, may be common or usual or I don't know... not out of place but that's how they look to me through my ignorant western eyes. Nevertheless, this makes me see your shot as something great.

TFS
Iulian

danos (110407) 2007-01-13 4:00

Hi Paul,
very nice shot from the gay who wants to play the last game before the storm is coming.The happy cheerful smile on the face of the man about to take a shot is the most marvellous in your photo.Nice colours and lighting with good contrast are the strogest points for this excellent photo.
Friendly,Danos

gmg (4202) 2009-12-15 15:04

Beautiful picture. Great framing and balancing, good colors and I like a lot the smile of the man!
TFS
gmg

yiannisscheidt (206) 2013-12-11 4:28

Good afternoon. An extraordinary scene, surely one of the last things expected to see in that place. Great colors contrast, the table, the sky. Well done.