I love visiting traditional markets in the tropics, both to enjoy looking at – and occasionally purchasing – local produce, but also as a an opportunity to take photographs.  I am primarily interested in taking photographs which are interesting in terms of colours, as well as (hopefully) in terms of content.

I like blocks of colour, and so am often attracted to the colourful umbrellas found in such markets, as well as to the effects they produce, in terms of filtered light, such as above, where an red-orange colour cast is created by the overhead screens.

I also like taking photographs of people, but it is important to be friendly and show respect; ideally asking them whether they would mind having their photographs taken.  In markets such as this, where tourists are fairly common, people are used to having their photos taken; but it’s still good to smile and ask permission.  Showing the subject(s) the results is also something I like to do, if people are not too busy.

I really like photographs where there is a depth of field – I don’t mean in terms of it all being in focus – but where there is a scene stretching from the foreground into a distant background, as in the above image.  I think it is more interesting if the eye can follow through into the image.  It is a matter of keeping an eye out for such scenes, but it also needs a bit of luck.  I never take enough photographs, they can always be deleted in this digital age, and – as any professional will admit – it is only by trying hard AND taking a lot of images that you get lucky and take a good one.  I am not sure how good these are – it is easy to fall in love with your own photos – and one has to be very severe in rejecting all but the best ones.  This is another one which runs from front to back, and also has some interesting colours created by the blue, red and orange canopies above the stalls selling fish and vegetables.

This traditional market in Tomohon is famed for having a lot of local meat, including things which many westerners do not eat such as dogs, rats and bats.  I am less concerned about these than I am about threatened (rare) species, but I was not really in the mood to look at them, so I concentrated on trying to get some colourful images (literally) rather than gruesome images of roasted canines!

The above photograph has a lot of nice produce of the soil in the foreground, but hopefully it is interesting because one is drawn to look through it to the brightly lit background.  I like photographs which have a number of layers to them.  The following photograph also has a brightly lit background; it’s not to difficult to take these sorts of photographs in such a colourful and complex market place!