Temple snake peeling!, a photo from Yangon, South

Photographer's Note

A rainy day in Yangon... Went to a temple with a huge marble Buddha statue, behind a glass panel, making it difficult to photograph (forgot the temple's name!)... In front of the main temple was a small place with this guy peeling a huge python's slough... I was then told that this snake was in fact a lady... she now is this python and lives there. People come to feed her and she is well taken care of!

Un jour de pluie a Rangoun... Dans ce temple (dont j'ai oubli� le nom!), il y a une statue de Bouddha en marbre d'une vingtaine de m鑼res de hauteur, mais derri鑽e un 馗ran de verre, ce qui la rendait difficile a photographier... Devant le temple principal se trouve une chapelle avec cet homme 駱luchant et d饕arrassant un 駭orme python de sa mue... On m'a dit que ce reptile 騁ait en fait une femme dans une vie ant駻ieure...maintenant elle vit la, les gens viennent la nourrir, en plus des petits rongeurs qu'elle doit capturer dans les parages... Elle est v駭駻馥 et on s'occupe bien d'elle!

japiey, axiotea, ribeiroantonio, delic, robertosalguero, delkoo, rushfan2112, jcdurka1, maltese, Photo65Net, atus, abulafia, tehanu_f, Wanda1, bostankorkulugu, bibiweb, danos, saylan-cb, kiwi_explorer, AiresSantos, jlbrthnn, Gerrit, Emile, evanrizo, Cricri, JCG, Angshu, Atousa, keribar, InasiaJones, paura has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

japiey (10163) 2007-10-14 22:40

Hi Laurent.

What a shot !!
The care and love in him...and the gentle touch... makes this lovely.
Beautifull.
Salutes.

jean paul

axiotea (21651) 2007-10-14 22:46

Hi
Je me souviens bien de la femme transform馥 en un joli python qui se faisait gentiment enlever la peau, sans broncher, par son gardien, sauf que je n'ai pas os� le toucher comme tu l'as fait. C'est tr鑚 original comme prise de vue avec l'homme flout� qui donne plus d'impact � sa prot馮馥.
ATDS
Marilyn

ribeiroantonio (22730) 2007-10-14 22:52

Is this Budha statue you are referring to? The temple痴 name is Kyauktawgyi Pagoda and is also known as Lawka Chanthar Arbayar Labamuni, meaning World Peace and Prosperity.
Your photo looks quite strange for me because the way you choose the focus. I personally would go to have the focus on the man and on his work. The snake is good but it is quite lost. Otherwise, the colours are very nice. Also, that focused thing in the top left corner is distracting me.
Antonio

delic (6735) 2007-10-14 22:57

Hello Laurent,
At first I thought the snake was dead. Very interesting photograph and note. I guess that's one lucky lady. Composition is good, and I particularly like the depth of field here, which may be somewhat forced because of light conditions. Regards,
Hakan

robertosalguero (292) 2007-10-14 23:11

Hello Laurent,

I see no fear in the guy's face as he helps the snake peel off some skin. Excellent compo with the snake's head being well in focus. The colours are nice and the blurred background give more emphasis to the snake. Thanks.

Roberto

alagarcia (252) 2007-10-15 0:20

I like this picture but the title and the focusing do not match.I would focused on the man and his work.what I love about is such close framing.a viewer IS next to the snake.
regards
Alicja

barrufeto_77 (28888) 2007-10-15 0:36

Hi Laurent.

What a scary picture... :P

It's great how you focused on the snake with the man in the background.

Well done!

Rgs, Oscar

MarcT (20964) 2007-10-15 0:41

Salut Laurent,
y a pas � dire, moi je trouve le cardrage et la mise au point ad駲uats. Finalement, c'est de toute fa輟n le serpent qui attire l'attention.
Amicalement
Marc

delkoo (68) 2007-10-15 1:41

bonjour laurent,

elle a l'air de bien apprecier cette attention port馥 avec beaucoup de d駘icatesse par gardien, le focus met en evidence ce demi-dieu vivant.

didier

rushfan2112 (2965) 2007-10-15 2:46

Well seen and executed shot, Laurent. The bananas are a slight distraction but of no major consequence. Focusing on the hands might have improved the shot slightly but great photojournalistic photo. Best wishes, Paul.

jcdurka1 (1950) 2007-10-15 4:24

L'image surprend mais elle se pass de mot. Tr駸 bien fait.
Jean-Claude

maltese (22909) 2007-10-15 9:28

Salut laurent
Une belle gestion de la DOF pour cr馥r une peu de myst鑽e autour de cette photo et fixer l'attention sur cet inqui騁ant animal.
C'est tr鑚 bien vu et j'aime beaucoup ton choix!!
Amicalement
Herv�

Photo65Net (43144) 2007-10-15 9:47

Salut Laurent,
Une image choc.
La nettet� sur la t黎e de l'animal est un tr鑚 tr鑚 bon choix, bien vu.
Ca fait froid dans le dos :o)
Bonne soir馥,
JB.

atus (15878) 2007-10-15 10:08

Hello Laurent,
very well captured double portrait here, with the impressive snake in the fg. as the main subject. The dof is very good and the result of the blurred man is interesting and in good contrast with the fg. Well done! Tfs and best wishes.
Attila

abulafia (4900) 2007-10-15 10:46

That is amazing Laurent, they just seem to have more interesting lives in that part of the world, than what we have in europe:) I don't believe i've ever heard of a lady transformed to a Python before.
A good depth in the shot.
Harry

dvlazar (6662) 2007-10-15 19:19

An interesting activity youve captured here - with the focus being a real drawcard for why this shot works. Attention is rightly brought down to the snake with this photo.
Very nice work,

Dave

Wanda1 (15142) 2007-10-15 20:41

Hi Laurent,
Nice use of depth of field to focus our attention on the snake in the foreground. I love the textures and patterns on her skin. A great moment well captured.
Regards
Wanda

bostankorkulugu (42866) 2007-10-15 20:43

this one is giving me shivers...but an amazing shot... well composed ans excecuted... are they bananas up on the corner?...

cheers laurent

korkut

bibiweb (8) 2007-10-15 23:08

Salut Laurent,
Eplucheur de serpents, voil� un m騁ier pour le moins original! J'aime beaucoup la faible PDC qui permet de faire ressortir le reptile tout en laissant entre apercevoir les gestes de l'homme dans le fond. Le seul petit reproche que je puisse faire c'est que la MAP n'est exactement sur la t黎e et l'oeil du serpent... mais c'est un petit d騁ail.
Amicalement, Brigitte

vincz (19113) 2007-10-16 0:41

Personellement j'aime bien ce choix de focus sur le serpen avec une ouverture telle que le personnage se retrouve floute dans l'environnement vert.

tehanu_f (6896) 2007-10-16 1:06

Snake peeling?! Why on earth do they do that? Anyway, this is simply fascinating, but I'm afraid I agree with rushfan2112. It would have been a better idea to focus on the hands as what they are doing is the main subject here rather than the lady snake herself. I guess because of the difficulty photographing behind the panel you didn't have much chance to exclude the bananas.
Regards from Turkey,
Fusun

danos (110407) 2007-10-16 4:46

Hello laurent,
nice your story about the huge python,but the shot of the man that riddle the slough is even better.The zoom on the slough and the blur background bring out the details in the capture.Informative your note too.Well done my friend.

Regards,Danos

leo61 (0) 2007-10-16 10:27

Hi Laurent!
Thanks to the rain you had the chance to manage this good shot.Well done with the focus on the foreground.It`s a nice blurr effect at this man and the part of the bowl with the green bananas works very well for the composition.
REgards,leo

saylan-cb (12738) 2007-10-17 0:38

Bonjour Laurent
What a scary photo...
İnteresting composition and note...
Great colours...
Excellent work...
TFS/Regards

kiwi_explorer (12209) 2007-10-17 0:41

Hi Laurent,
Fantastic capture ... great POV and DOF. Well composed ... very good placement of the snake in the background. Excellent image sharpness and clarity... very interesting scene. Well done! tfs
Cheers,
Renier

AiresSantos (56155) 2007-10-17 1:12

Hi Laurent
Excellent macro with the snake and the boy in backgroung. I like the blur effect and colours with this very difficult ligh conditions.
TFS and greetings
Aires

sined (4523) 2007-10-17 1:14

une image insolite et fascinante !

PixelTerror (0) 2007-10-17 2:51

Salut Laurent,
La large ouverture est un choix qui se justifie pour attirer l'oeil sur un element, ici le serpent, mais dans ce cas on ne peut plus vraiment parler de snake peeling puisque cette action se titue dans le flou. A part cela j'aurais bien vu un cadrage un poil plus large. Et sinon les photos de 'pets' ne sont pas les bienvenues sur TE ;-)
Bonne journee,
Jean-Yves

jlbrthnn (76043) 2007-10-17 4:45

Bonjour Laurent,
Il faut 黎re un familier des reptiles pour ne pas avoir comme moi un ridicule r馭lexe de r駱ulsion. Heureusement la curiosit� prend le dessus, et voir cette magnifique b黎e entretenue comme un chat est surprenant. C'est une image peu commune et tr鑚 int駻essante.
Passe une bonne journ馥
Amicalement
Jo�l

Gerrit (62042) 2007-10-17 9:31

Hi Laurent,
great shot. Fine story.
Regards, Gerrit

Emile (20352) 2007-10-17 22:45

Wow....very scary shot.
Very well captured with the snake in perfect sharpness and very good colors and DOF.
Well done Laurent.
Thank you for sharing.
Best regards.

evanrizo (462) 2007-10-18 2:11

Whattt!!! So close to a snake! it is for me unbelievable and looks great!-:)
The focus works very nice here.
Salut

Cricri (176) 2007-10-18 10:48

Salut Laurent,
Toujours int駻essante tes notes comme tes images..on apprend beaucoup de choses sur ces pays Asie, inconnu pour moi....
Belle sc駭e et nettet� sur le serpent, tr駸 belle image
Bonne soir馥 a toi
cricri

JCG (35153) 2007-10-20 8:07

Bonsoir Laurent,

Ca s'appelle mener une vraie vie de pacha en somme. Joli focus qui laisse tout de m麥e entrevoir la concentration de son "soigneur". Une belle et int駻essante image Laurent.

Avec toutes mes amiti駸 et un tr鑚 bon WE,

Jean-Charles

Atousa (7131) 2007-10-23 5:35

Salam again,
Wow..Its really interesting !..a revealing shot of care(man ) and pride (lady snake! ) with great framing and colors.
Regards,
@

keribar (43841) 2007-10-23 21:59

Salut Laurent
Je trouve cette photo superbe. C'est son cadrage courageux et le point de nettet� sur le serpent qui en fait la beaut�. Bravo - Izzet

Angshu (56760) 2007-10-24 21:00

Hi Laurent
A queer and interesting picture. I'm not sure about the DOF used for this shot, maybe I would have liked the man to be in focus too. Amazing photograph, for which I thank you for sharing such an uncommon view. What's he peeling the skin for?
Regards
Angshu

InasiaJones (31566) 2007-11-04 14:16

Salut Laurent,

Excellent pointage qui t駑oigne de la qualit� de cette photo. C'est intelligement ex馗ut� Laurent, avec une parfaite s駘ection d'ouverture, une mise au point s駘ective sur l'animal, avec juste ce qu'il faut de nettet� sur le "peeler", o� l'on distingue parfaitement son expression de concentration, de m麥e que la minutie de son travail manuel... M麥e le chapeau donne un petit c� encore plus exotique � l'image qui, avec les bananes, vient cadrer le visage.

Je trouve 軋 vraiment bien cette image. ﾇa d駭ote une d駑arche pour obtenir un bon cadrage, et le bon timing pour le geste que pose le sujet. Et on ne voit pas que c'est derri鑽e une vitre.

Bravo!

Andr�

paura (25802) 2008-05-30 14:32

Laurent,
Eu odeio cobras, amigo. Cobras n縊 deveriam existir ... Mas sua fotografia est� muito boa, mostrando essa conviv麩cia pac凬ica.

Abra輟

Paulo