STORY
BEHIND
THE STILL
Photographer’s name: Sabina Akter
Website: 500px.com/bina
Image location: Myanmar (Burma)
Type of commission: Personal
Shot details: Canon EOS 5D Mark IV, 24-70mm lens,
1/320sec, f/5.6, ISO 1250About the shot: As with many aspects of life, the
greatest success in photography often requires patience,
dedication and a little pain or discomfort! While ‘nice’
images can be captured from tourist trails or well-worn
tracks, the most fascinating subjects are found in less-
convenient settings. For Sabina this meant trudging
through a swamp to capturethis gorgeous shot of Intha
fisherpeople.Thisnaturallyhadimplicationsforthe
safetyofherphotogear.
“This location was in a swamp forest, and the water
level was deep, so I had to take extra precautions during
the process of making the photo,” Sabina explains to
us. “This made capturing the composition I wanted
especially challenging. The image was taken near Inle
Lake in Myanmar, although I don’t know the name of the
exact location.”
A major feature of this image is the strong directional
backlight, which gives the shot a fairytale-like
atmosphere. “I love the traditional Intha fishing system
of Myanmar, which is what initially attracted me to take
this image, but it was the beauty of the light I really
wanted to portray,” Sabina says.
When travelling to remote locations it is often
the case that we have to capture the best-possible
images we can, but we later realise there were other
opportunities for images. Sabina was happy with her
final frame, but given the chance again would try
alternative perspectives. “I would like to take a similar
photograph, but with a different angle on the same
scene” she comments. “Nature itself inspires my style of
photography. Therefore I only applied a small amount of
post-processing to this shot in software.”
Right
Relax
Sabina focused on capturing
the organic interaction of these
traditional Intha fisher people and
their environment, using natural light
to push the narrative of the shotAll images © Sabina Akter20
YOUR IMAGES