The fishermen of Phu Quoc Island

[gary]

Earlier today, Mike posted a link to some absolutely beautiful
shots he took at Avoca Beach, north of Sydney, with his new camera.

Go check them out!
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=41163

A couple of Mike's shots were of the silhouette of a fisherman at sunrise.
I looked at them and immediately had a feeling of deja-vu as only
a couple of hours before Mike's post I had been looking at some photos
of my own, also of fishermen, but at sunset rather than sunrise.

Though I originally had no plan to post them, I thought it too much
of a synchronistic event to simply let slip by. :lol:

In many ways, it is not so much of a coincidence after all.
When you think about it -
Photographers love sunrises/sunsets.
One of the best places to see sunrises/sunsets is at the beach.
Who else is at the beach? Yes, you guessed it, fishermen.
What would make a good subject to frame my sunrise/sunset? - that fisherman. :thumbsup:

So picking up on Mike's theme and without further ado, here are fishermen
at sunset, taken at Phu Quoc Island, which belongs to Vietnam and is just
off the coast of Cambodia in the Gulf of Thailand.

Thanks for looking! :hi:

Best Regards

Gary

[Octane]

Gary,

Once again, you're killin' me. Wonderful subjects, and such beautiful lighting. Makes it seem like an inviting place to be.

Simply wonderful.

More, please.

Regards,
Humayun

[iceman]

They are fantastic, Gary. They tell a story and the fisherman are silhouetted perfectly.

Beautiful images.

[Liz]

Wow ..... absolutely beautiful, thank you Gary :thumbsup:

[Quark]

What lovely images Gary,

The soft light, stillness of the water, the cloud and glow of the Sun create a very special atmosphere. Love the silhouettes of the fisherman, there is such a natural simplicity to these images, excellent work indeed.

Regards
Trevor

[hector]

Gary they are wonderful images. The balance between the water reflections and the sky is perfect.
Well Done
Andrew

[gary]

Hi Humayun! Once again thanks for your very kind comments.

Indeed, the realities are that it is a really nice place to be at. The beach seems
to stretch forever with really nice sand and the water is warm enough and the
sea tranquil enough that you can literally stay in indefinitely. You can see
how tranquil it is in the photograph.

At night when you walk along the beach, as the waves gently break, you see
thousands of tiny phosphorescent green specks in the water glow brightly, the
result of tiny organisms.

The quietness at night is occasionally punctuated by the laughter of a gecko,
some of which are quite loud and large, in the order of 35cm to 40cm long.

However, it has not always been so peaceful as it is today. Back in 1975,
Khmer Rouge forces raided the island and this marked the beginning of the
Cambodian-Vietnamese war. The Vietnamese retook the island in a large
battle and the shell and bullet-pocked burnt-out and overgrown remains of some
of the old French villas that still remain along the beach among stands of palm trees
are testimony to the conflict.



Thanks Mike. Some overtones of Asian shadow puppetry going on there perhaps? :)

Thanks again for posting your shots which was enough of a trigger to try
and continue the theme with these.



Thank you Liz!



Thanks Trevor! I liked your observation about the simplicity. It is like when you are
out and about and you come across some of those landscape painters at some
place or another. You see them put in what appears to be a minimalist
amount of squiggling for the water and the sky and the sun but despite the
apparent lack of information, their renderings look realistic. I wish I could
do that!



Thanks Andrew! The weather there was perfect and the sea as calm as can be
so that's where the balance really came from.

[astro_south]

Great shots Gary - I love the composition in No.2 :thumbsup:

[Kevnool]

Great shots beautifull contrast there Gary...cheers Kev.

[Tilt]

Awesome images, I just love this lighting. So relaxing.

Michael