Thai Beauties, a photo from Ayutthaya, Central

Photographer's Note

Ayutthaya Trip

I asked my student this question this morning: "How does a real Thai look?"

She looked at me for almost 30 seconds and gave me this indirect answer: "Most fo the Thais that we have here in school are Thai-Chinese." I pressed on: "Come over here and tell me if any of these two girls look Thai-Thai (I showed her this picture). Without any hesitation she said that the one in blue is.

Thais are of mixed blood. Most of the people in Bangkok are Thai-Chinese (the lady in green certainly is). The authentic Thais are in Isan in the northeastern part of Thailand. There are other mixed races such as Thai-Cambodian, Thai-Lao, Thai-Burmese, etc.

These two girls were hired by the Bangkok Photographic Society to be our models during our whole day trip to Ayutthaya this weekend. Get use to their faces as you'll get to see more of them these coming days. This picture was outside of the formal photo session. While the setting was being set-up,I requested them to pose for me. Their beauty and radiance was registered amidst the rich green foliage. Symbolically, this is what Thailand is now: United in diversity amidst the backdrop of good economy and governance.

(auto-adjustments, slight unsharpo-maskin, brightness and contrast increased)

cool_s15, CVTJan, eleparc, maciekda, mortijo, freddd, nwoehnl, AdrianW, zto, jrj, papagolf21, Jeppe, sunny, carper, avigur_11, Rinie_Hoff, scalerman, Intruder, strangiato, joergen115, blah, rdans59, erthmuffin, danbachmann, rozy975, Ah_Thong, peter1892, partha, roteague, MLINES, Liekje, h_sedghi, uranium, sheepyak, Newair, jbreeves, acevherli, acevherli has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

cool_s15 (4050) 2004-03-23 1:31

Beautiful portrait with a really great note for others, indeed. I'm also a Thai-Chinese :D
Did you also captured 2 girls when she's looking at your camera? I supposed they're posing for others. Anyway a great shot as usual.

bgladman (1153) 2004-03-23 1:34

What a striking portrait Manny. Rich colours, lovely expression and well composed with the girls to the left. I can't wait to see more!

CVTJan (1244) 2004-03-23 1:34

Hi Manny, I didn't know that you are shooting for fashion catalogs now :) Wonderful picture. Composition is good, colours very harmonic and the DOF also very nice. Good work and note. Yours, Jan

eleparc (24063) 2004-03-23 2:15

this is a good magazine shot manny! are you becoming a pro now? very well done, nice compo as usual, i wonder if the focus is optimum though? nice soft light and blurred foliage

Reading other comments, i can see that we all have the same questions about your becoming a fashion pohotographer,-))

maciekda (19895) 2004-03-23 2:16

yes, it is a beautiful picture, i love those deep colors and the way you composed the picture, very nice

PechePassion (483) 2004-03-23 2:36

La qualité de la photo est bonne rien à reprocher sur ce point.
En revanche ce que j'aime moins, c'est l'expression de ces jeunes femmes qui ont une pose type "studio", très loin de leur naturelle.
Tu fais de très beau portrait mais celui ci est loin d'être le meilleur à mes yeux.

olli (2091) 2004-03-23 2:52

Beautiful models and poses. I also like the composition and the direction of their looks.
Nice soft light and tones. Background works well. Great work.

clodreno (0) 2004-03-23 4:00

Beautiful image Manuel. I love and the pictures and the girls. They are really attracticve. You succeeded in making them beautiful Good work.

cmartos (242) 2004-03-23 4:51

Really a beautiful portrait. I like the attractive colors and the nice composition. May be the girls could be a bit more natural but this is a nice shot anyway.

nwoehnl (122) 2004-03-23 4:54

A very fine shot of these beauties, Manny. A good way to capture them from the side, and the handling of light is striking as is the perfect manner in which the background fits in so well without disturbing the scene. While I very much enjoy their pose and looks you have managed to capture here, I'd love to see another shot with one or both of them looking into your camera ;-) Very well done.

jhonny_blue (4956) 2004-03-23 5:01

Beautiful picture Manny... It´s so soft colours...
The models are pretty and the exposition perfect !
Congratulations !

Midnight_sun (1941) 2004-03-23 5:05

A great portrait, its a good angle to shot from and the background is well chosen. Its as unposed as possible given the circumstances, and it does have natural feel to it. The forehead of one seems too white, and after a while thats noticable, but its very minor- but compared to your other work (which i measure it against) it does stand out.
Great shot. Nice work if you can get it!!

zto (268) 2004-03-23 5:41

Beautifull picture Manuel. An absolute wonderfull potrait. The look like really good friends as well.

jrj (34843) 2004-03-23 5:58

Great posing from the two young ladies here Manny. Very good, delicate, strong colours, and a top light setting.

papagolf21 (152607) 2004-03-23 6:25

Est-ce une préparation (casting) à un concours de beauté ? ;-)) Merci Manuel de nous présenter ces belles jeunes filles. Les couleurs sont très réussies. Très bon cadrage.
Très bien fait.
Is this a preparation (casting) with a beauty contest? ; -)) Thank you Manuel to introduce these beautiful girls to us. The colors very are successful. Very good framing. Very well done. Thank you!

Jeppe (18654) 2004-03-23 8:44

Oh very beautiful - both the models and your capture - The "reflections" at the right ones ear, what catch my eye - but also the nice profiles of course - well choosen background and DOF - very fine work Manuel.

sunny (3069) 2004-03-23 10:32

They both have a personal charm and fit perfectly together on the green background. The vibrant blue dress adds more impact to the composition and I find the light just perfect Manny. I like the way they do not look stright at the camera - this way their poses seem to be more natural. Excellent again!

carper (96) 2004-03-23 12:23

Very nice again Manuel,

Not guilty, beautiful composition, with nice colours too, a good note. Everthing is good, Thanks

avigur_11 (22553) 2004-03-23 17:19

Wow. Beuatiful, both of them and this great shot. Sharp, interesting subjects and poses, and good colors. I have no more words..

gmsanchez (0) 2004-03-23 18:07

Very nice the composition of your photo. Colors and sharp (hair detail, skin, light) are very good. I like as well the relaxed and natural expresion of the girls. Congratulations !!.

Benedetto (437) 2004-03-24 9:59

Beautiful double portrait, great expression and capture.
Very well done.
Regards.

scalerman (26900) 2004-03-24 15:43

Great Manny. The notes clarified my earlier question. Looking forward to the rest.

strangiato (10) 2004-03-25 15:06

OK, I'll try not to read the other critiques (yet), but I am sure my comments will sound familiar. What stroke me first was the clarity of the faces, surrounded by darker colours. I like the soft light, the contrast between the background and their clothes and the contrast between the clothes and their faces. A very good mixture of colours. And oh, did I mention the good DOF and the nice expression of the girls already?
You're on my list now!

joergen115 (2246) 2004-05-12 13:45 [Comment]

Show Comment

yesterday (9833) 2004-05-16 4:36

The nature look, good capture, beautiful girls.

Good sharp photo, excellent light and contrast, vell compoced.

rdans59 (263) 2004-06-12 12:42

Incredibly beautiful composition. Maybe cropped a bit too close on the top. The slightly off-centre beauties with the green background add a very pleasant depth to the image. Wonderful!

geertmoyaert (82) 2004-11-28 16:03

Beautiful, the girls, the technique, you are a very good people photographer, there is emotion in all of your pictures.

Geert

benny (631) 2004-12-10 23:27

Belles filles , beau cadrage, belles couleurs, plus rien à dire, si non, bravo!

Ah_Thong (466) 2005-01-13 0:51

great photo.. the lighting is good..the natural feeling of this photo is very very nice.!

kclai (2267) 2005-03-29 23:59

a free and natural portrait with sharp focusing centerstage the green background.
i love this portrait.
eric lai

Ulises (1026) 2005-07-01 14:11

manuel,
indeed a beautiful pic... i love the colors., composition and the great DOF
rgrds
ulises

peter1892 (1681) 2005-09-01 18:23

A very nice image - beautiful girls, but also the composition is nice & the DOF is good too, with the background blurred out but good sharpness on the two models.

huynt (5081) 2005-10-16 6:24

Hi . Bravo for a very nice portrait shot. It is very impressive. well done. Huy

partha (14023) 2005-11-18 8:44

Very nice girls.The colours are vibrant and the pic is very sharp.
Good work.

Albrecht (11283) 2006-01-19 3:08

Hi Manuel
What an excelent picture; wonderful ladies and great use of the natural light. Good compo and POV. Beautiful....
greetings Albrecht

uranium (28) 2006-09-13 19:29

Hi Manuel,

GREAT SHOT,
Very nice croping,
colors are great,
contrast and softness are great,too
Very nice,
Goes into my favorites!

Ali...

banyanman (7797) 2006-09-17 21:17

Excellent double portrait, Manny. There's not much I can add to all the accolades you have received above other than to reinforce what has been said about the superb colours and composition (your out-of-the-ordinary POV is what really makes this stand out). Cheers . . . David

OidipousTyranos (148) 2006-11-05 18:11 [Comment]

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jrmejias (247) 2006-11-05 18:23

Manuel, thanks for this publication, It has goos composition and contrast too, I like the models and I enjoy the actitud to his models. JR

Photo Information

Copyright: Manuel Librodo (manny) (22032)
Genre: People
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2004-03-21
Photo Version: Original Version
Theme(s): Beautyful people, Colors of Asia, A Tribute to the Pretty Woman [view contributor(s)]
Date Submitted: 2004-03-23 0:51
Favorites: 8 [view]