Introducing Sur, a photo from Ash Sharqiyah, North

Photographer's Note

The first photo of Sur on TE, taken inside 300 year old Sunaysilah Fort. I will add a photo of the mosque behind the tower to workshop. Oman is dotted with similar forts, mostly restored with disneyesque sterility. Sur itself is one of Oman's larger cities, and has a large fishing port, near the extreme southeastern edge of the Arabian peninsula.

EDIT: info on how touristy it gets, I had the fort all to myself, when I asked the gatekeeper if many people visit, he said "Yes, 2 people came yesterday."

from Wikipedia:
Şūr (Arabic: صور) is a capital city of Ash Sharqiyah, northeastern Oman, on the coast of the Gulf of Oman. It is located at around 22°34′0″N, 59°31′44″E.

siolaw, DownUnder, ChrisJ, singuanti, axiotea, abhishek, delkoo, Tue, AmiBe, bibiweb, peter1892, quetzal, anavazao, ahmetgedikli, banyanman, john_c, bazal, MarekP, emjleclercq, Didi has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

siolaw (38294) 2006-04-26 20:10

Hi Tan..Good POV and DOF,
Nice color contrast, sharpness,
and nice architecture and note
TFS
laurent

DownUnder (1177) 2006-04-26 20:40

Interesting place, good composition and details Tan..

Tfs

Alaettin

ChrisJ (171302) 2006-04-26 21:09

Hi Tan

I like the yellow vs blue color contrast, & the graphism of the cupolas against the sky. Well done!

singuanti (15250) 2006-04-26 22:52

Hi Tan. I like the simple palette of colors. This was the perfect time to use a polarizer. Because of the polarizer the saturation is great. Nice one Tan.

clickrick (385) 2006-04-26 23:14

Tan,
This is a majestic shot ! The colors complement each other perfectly. The point of view is great, you've kept just enough of the white buildings in the image to give the viewer an appreciation of the position of the fort with respect to the city. Nice contrast between the religious towers and the military tower. I like this shot a lot.
Richard

Gerrit (62042) 2006-04-27 0:58

Hi Tan, a lot of round forms beautiful placed in this great scenery with strong colours.
Thanks amd regards, Gerrit

sixTL (8596) 2006-04-27 3:58

Hello Tan, wonderful photo. I like the composition. Beautiful building - The wonderful work of human hands. Very impressive picture!

Regards Artur

sebinho342 (19329) 2006-04-27 4:44

Still fascinating by your work, by your travels, by your picture.
It's an invitation to travel and for travelers, a reference :)
:) tomorrow :)

axiotea (21651) 2006-04-27 4:45

Hi Tan, excellent compo and POV...light and sharpness are perfect..nice architecture...I saw the Mosquee which is also a great photo...well done..
TFS,
Marilyn

PixelTerror (0) 2006-04-27 4:49

Salaam Captain,
LOL love the "disneyesque sterility"...
Nice view, somehow I think what appeals to me here are the rounded tops of the walls that can be found all over the image, building perspective and lines trough their repetitions. Nice colors contrast with the white mosque too.
Have a nice day,
Jean-Yves

daddo (28748) 2006-04-27 5:22

Salaam Tan. Lovely texture to this fort. Seems to be made out of toffee. The two sunlit minarets offer an exquisite contrast against the dark blue sea and the muted colour of the sky. Nice harmony throughout. Regards Klaudio

abhishek (288) 2006-04-27 6:20

Wonderful snap and congrats for posting the first photo on Sur!!!

carper (96) 2006-04-27 6:29

very nice shot Tan,
the lines are very nice the qyality is high and I like the contrast with the sky, very nice job,
gr. jaap

delkoo (68) 2006-04-27 12:31

hi tan
amazing place, good contrast, I like minarets pointed like rockets,
well done

didier

rbcy1974 (20758) 2006-04-27 12:43

Hello Sur,
Nice to meet you,
say you are very nicely kept beyond your years. I am sure happy that our friend Tan hs introduced you in such good light and colour. I hope that I get to meet you personally in the future.
Regards
Daniel

markstaples (15670) 2006-04-27 12:50

It doesn't get much better than this Tan. An extremely strong composition and POV leading us well into the shot. An image of excellent quality, perfectly exposed with superb sharpness. Great colours and textures too.
Very nice work indeed.
Best wishes
Mark

jafadabret (56501) 2006-04-27 13:40

Tan, une photo très bien construite pour le fort et la mosquée avec ses couleurs vient poser question. J'aime les couleurs du fort en opposition avec les bleus de la mer et du ciel.
Jacques

Tue (91648) 2006-04-27 14:12

Hej Tan,
A very good and very well composed picture of this fort. Especially the combination with the mosque in the background is very good, also because of the colour contrast. Well done, good work!
Hilsen,
Lars

AmiBe (6042) 2006-04-27 15:07

Hi Tan,
interesting mix of architecture.
The fort looks not old, it's like an attraction park.Good blue and brown tones.
Well done

gilou530 (34) 2006-04-27 15:48

salut tan
une perspective des remparts avec les arrondis du mur qui donne un bon contraste avec le ciel bleu et les minarets
amitiés
gilbert

peter1892 (1681) 2006-04-27 16:23

Hi Tan - the sharpness in this shot is quite remarkable, even for digital it's really clear! Great composition & DOF. I like the contrasting colours of the fort, mosque & background sea & sky.

All the elements go together well.

quetzal (3665) 2006-04-27 16:37

Hi Tan,
Nice picture of a interesting architecture. The composition hightlightes very well the building with a so blue backgound.
Regards
Jean-Louis

smash2707 (3320) 2006-04-27 20:34

Beautiful color contrast and great sharpness. I like teh composition showing these two contrasting buildings. It's always to learn about new places. Thanks for introducing this place to us. Yvonne

bibiweb (8) 2006-04-28 3:31

Hi Tan,
This is really a splendid architecture and your POV is excellent. I especially appreciate the way you've managed to align two windows on the tower to that the sea is visible. Your WS picture is also beautiful and your note very instructive. Especially the part about the huge crowds of tourist that come here!
Regards, Brigitte

rosaline (0) 2006-04-28 5:20

Hi Tan
A nice clean shot with excellent sharpness and colour. I guess that in five years time it will be covered with Western tourists seeking new destinations. Great to get a shot with no one in it. Try doing that at Ephesus in Turkey. I had a terrible time with the 10 million tourists in my photos!!!
Cheers
Aubrey

anavazao (5592) 2006-04-28 5:58

Hi,
Great place with goos perspective, colours, composition and details!
Good note!
Thanks Ana:)

Paolo (41258) 2006-04-28 10:09

Hi Tan, excellent shot. the contrast between the white/blue tower and the castle colours is fantastic.
excellent focus, light and POV.
thanks, ciao

ahmetgedikli (25609) 2006-04-28 15:46

Merhaba Tan,
Yine harika bir fotoğraf ve not daha sunmuşsun bizlere... Selamlar, saygılar. Ahmet

banyanman (7797) 2006-04-29 3:01

This is just great, Tan. Fabulous contrast, saturation and sharpness, and no evidence of anything being overdone in PP. Your POV makes for a very striking composition. There are only three colours in this - blue, beige and white, but many variations of tone and luminosity. Cheers . . . David

john_c (24666) 2006-04-30 16:00

Hi Tan,
Superb tones, hues and clarity. I like the way the brown and beige hues blend here, and the view of the tower in the background with the conrasting blue and white is, well, indeed a little disneyesque...Everything seems so incredibly clean here. Your note on tourism helps explain why. The lines and graphism enhance this high quality shot. Well done.
John

bazal (7900) 2006-05-01 16:46

Hi Tan.
Thanks for making us discovering this not so well known place of Oman. I like the answer the keeper made while you asked him about the visitors of the fort! The comparison of the mosque and the Kyklades traditional architecture is well seen!
Thanks for sharing!

Kirych (2716) 2006-05-04 1:02

Hi, Tan!
Beautiful blue domes and white city on the background contrast with classic architecture on the foreground. Excellent colors and light.
TFS. Tanya.

MarekP (4750) 2006-05-04 15:25

Hi Tan,
This is a nice place. I like contrast between the wide tower in foreground and two slim ones further. Well seen and done.

Thanks,
Marek

drewkaya (86) 2006-05-06 23:53

Hi Tan, great architecture shot, your lighting is always pretty much impeccable. The walls look like velvet. I want to pet them :) Desert sand hues: form of fort! Sky to ocean horizon: form of minaret domes! Wonder twin power.

emjleclercq (15778) 2006-06-06 17:44

A very nice composition of this tower in the corner, joining with the crenelled walls. The twin blue towers of the mosque in the background make an nice secondary point of interest.

All the best,

Emmanuel

Hanssie (11022) 2006-06-29 15:22

Like paper instead of stone, is it real ?
Nice put together this one, strong composed !

Becky (334) 2006-08-16 17:44

Dear Tan,

Gorgeous shot, perfect contrast. I was also at this fortress, but I'm sure the sun was SO bright that my blues didn't come out as well as yours. It looks like we missed each other by just a few weeks in Sur, and I guess I posted the 2nd picture of Sur to TE. I'm surprised - with all the people who go to see the turtles just outside Sur, you'd think there would be more tourists there.

Leonie (8809) 2006-12-19 17:09

Hi Tan, just discovered this nice photo of yours....love it very much...the textures and shapes are great- looks nearly like a giant sand castle! Well done and interesting note!

Léonie

Didi (61589) 2007-04-01 5:06

Salam Tan
Alf leila wa leila (Thousand and One Nights) composition, a very good decor for the thief of Bagdad film.
Well done
Cheers.