Banaue Rice Terraces, a photo from Ifugao, Cagayan Valley

Photographer's Note

Banaue Rice terraces used to appear on the old paper 1,000 peso notes, which were still in circulation when I was there in 2011. You can see it here:

http://www.charleskeng.com/images-notes/P1000b.jpg

Bali, Java, China, Nepal & Vietnam are not the only countries with impressive rice terraces. The Philippines has some too in central Luzon Island. Of course, the paddies would look better in June when the rice seedlings have been planted, but my holiday from Korea had to be in December / January which is winter. But the view is still spectacular none the less. The town of Banaue is over to the right about 5 km down the valley.

COSTANTINO, ikeharel, holmertz, snunney, jhm, photographer_sg, jean113, PaulVDV, adramad, cornejo has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

COSTANTINO (116580) 2019-05-01 10:33

Hello dear Chris and have a nice time
and a happy new day and month May 2019
original version
you were very lucky to have the
experience when you was there
in 2011
Banaue Rice terraces used to appear
on the old paper 1000 peso notes
and the question is!!!
is there people up there???
regards
Costantino

pajaran (115989) 2019-05-01 10:40

Pozdrav.
Interesantan i lep pogled, dobar tekst ...
Lepo pokazano, dobra perspektiva i kontrast, lepe boje.
Lepe terase sa pirincem i zelenilo, lepa priroda.
Zelim vam sve najbolje.
Paja.

Greeting.
Interesting and beautiful view, good text ...
Beautifully shown, good perspective and contrast, nice colors.
Beautiful terraces with rice and greenery, beautiful nature.
I wish you all the best.

lousat (139332) 2019-05-01 12:16

Hi Chris,wonderful terraces after the wonderful beach,another fantastic memory from this trip,great view and the usual top quality,very well done! Have a nice evening and thanks,Luciano

Tue (92470) 2019-05-01 13:05

Hello Chris,
These terraces look amazing and they are so steep! The tiny stairs make a great detail as well. The colours are very well-saturated and you had found a fantastic vantage point.
Lars

federico (6109) 2019-05-01 14:29

hello Chris very nice vertical composition with the terraces as an interesting subject, unfortunately a quite flat light,
regards
Fred

pierrefonds (114536) 2019-05-01 17:19

Bonsoir Cris,

J'apprйcie l'effet symйtrique des terrasses. La prise de vue permet de voir les dйtails des terrasses de plantation de riz. Il y a un bon contraste entre les couleurs de l'image. Bonne soirйe.

Pierre

ifege (48159) 2019-05-01 21:41

Hi Chris
I never cease to be amazed at the terraces all around east and south east Asia. A well taken photo with that great set of stairs meandering up the hillside.
cheers
Ian

jemaflor (147224) 2019-05-01 23:40

Hi Chris,
So photogenic these green terraces, good presentation with your vertical format, pleasant green tones, well made, tfs.

holmertz (102774) 2019-05-02 0:25

Hello Chris,
These terraces look a lot better in your photo than on the banknotes. Digital photos have an advantage over monochrome etchings. This is a really spectacular view, and although the terraces are the most important features I am also quite fond of the steep staircase in the lower part. You found a superb POV for this amazing photo.
Regards,
Gert

snunney (130967) 2019-05-02 1:44

Hello Chris,
These steeply banked rice terraces are quite fascinating and cannot be easy to work. The point of view is well chosen to show us how they rise and curve through the landscape. Excellent realisation.

Nicou (193806) 2019-05-02 3:20

Hello

quelle image de haut quel petit escalier que pointe et ce graphisme quelles terrasses avec ce parcelles ce vert la forme de la colline superbe.
Bravo et amitiй
Nciou

Silvio1953 (221729) 2019-05-02 4:44

Ciao Chris, great POV on fantastic terraces, wonderful colors, excellent clarity and splendid light, very well done, my friend, ciao Silvio

jhm (211736) 2019-05-02 6:38

Hello Chris,

What a lovely nature picture with the table culture.
The high and long stair is wonderful on this image.
Sharpness and clarity are perfect.
Very well done, TFS.

Best regards,
John.

rychem (72187) 2019-05-02 7:42

Great photo of terraces of rice fields, the view is really amazing, the fields look like a wedding cake with many layers

regards Ryszard

dta (98848) 2019-05-02 12:43

Hello Chris ,
Amazing terraces landscape. Great palet of greenery . The plunging view is impressive , too .
Regards

avigur_11 (22553) 2019-05-02 23:03

Hi Chris. Always a challenge to find a good location with an aerial view of the terraces. I was lucky to find such locations in Vietnam. Good choice with the portrait orientation in this case.

photographer_sg (6059) 2019-05-02 23:15

Hi Chris
Lovely composition in the vertical format. The meandering steps lead the eyes to all parts of the photo. Fine colours and sharpness.
TFS and Cheers!
Satya

carlo62 (81265) 2019-05-03 9:42

Ciao Chris
oltre al lungo lavoro per costruire questi terrazzamenti e la manutenzione che occorre, stavo osservando i passaggi e le scale che devono essere percorse dagli uomini, una grande fatica solo per questo.
Saluti
Carlo

Royaldevon (85932) 2019-05-04 0:46

Hello Chris,

These rice terraces do make a very attractive photograph.
They are patterned, like contours on a map, but have the advantage of colours and depth and, of course, the compositional skills of the photographer.
The included path and steps help to explain the scale and the steepness of the slope.
It must take quite an effort to climb up there, never mind work!

Have a lovely day,
Bev :-)

jean113 (27893) 2019-05-04 14:39

Hello Chris, an incredible view from a high vantage point.
It must have taken so much work to create the terraces.
The steps that I can see look very steep.
Excellent sharpness.
Regards Jean.

PaulVDV (62978) 2019-05-05 9:57

Hello Chris,
Many years ago I've visited Banaue and I walked down from the top to the bottom but I cannot remember there were stairs. It was a difficult walk and I was glad to have a Filipino guide.
Very spectacular!
Wonderful view of the terraces along multiple sides of this mountain slope.
Best regards, Paul

Miguel82 (47110) 2019-05-09 3:38

Chris, the rice terraces collect the rain water falling in that mountain area. This is an old farming system to save water in a sloping ground. Wonderful green hues, sharp composition

adramad (73006) 2019-05-12 8:33

Hello Chris.
How wonderful it has been remodeling the land, turning these hills into terraced terraces to be able to cultivate, beautiful orography and a radiant greenness.
Very nice color that gives strength to the image.
Magnificent management of brightness and sharpnes.
Very well captured. I like it.
Enjoy the weekend.
Very best regards.
Luis.

jmdias (115252) 2019-05-16 10:18

chris

lovely landscape transformed by the men hands. this terraces are more narrow and less high those I saw in longji, china. but here we have more wild and tropical environment around.in some aspect they are more similar with madeira island plantations.

take care

jorge

cornejo (61504) 2019-06-20 2:52

Hello Chris, very good view of this beautiful and interesting landscape of rice terraces, very well captured with a great pov in this very good and nice photo. An interesting image with good sharpness, light, color and quality. A great job perfectly done, my congratulations my friend. Thanks for sharing this beautiful work.

Good afternoon and happy weekend.
All the best from the south of Spain.
Angel.

kasianowak (17676) 2019-10-06 1:30

Hi Chris
Just came across this image. It looks lovely in spite of the fact that the flat parts are not as vividly green as in photos taken in early summer. You captured the many layers and forms of lush vegetation emblematic to the region.
I'm going there in a few months and, alas, I also can't make it in May-June, due to work commitments.
Best wishes
Kasia