A few weeks ago I visited Ayuttaya’s new Floating Market during a stormy weekday and the place was mostly empty. Still, it had many of the necessary ingredients for a successful workshop and it just so happened a client I’d been in contact with was describing this place in his list of desires so I forwarded him a link to the feature I did on my visit and soon I heard back that he was keen to visit. We scheduled for last Saturday.

Canon 5d Mark II, 85mm F1.2L  @F1.6  1/8000th  ISO 200

 

 

A few weeks ago I visited Ayuttaya’s new Floating Market during a stormy weekday and the place was mostly empty.  Still, it had many of the necessary ingredients for a successful workshop and it just so happened a client I’d been in contact with was describing this place in his list of desires so I forwarded him a link to the feature I did  on my visit and soon I heard back that he was keen to visit.  We scheduled for last Saturday.

 

Saturday morning found us trying desperately to make it there.  On the way my six month old vehicle developed an engine warning light and we found ourselves pulled over in a service station pretending we could fix the problem by checking all the fluids and looking for parts ready to fall off.  We must have did a good job of pretending because ten minutes later we restarted the vehicle and the engine light was out. 

 

 

We continued on our way guided by my Mai Noi, my Garmin 885T GPS. I distinctly remembered saying to Stick “while we’re here in the parking lot I’m going to make sure to enter our location so we can easily find this place again.” The problem was, the GPS map set didn’t have the floating market on it, so it was only a location with no connecting roads. We ended up in a small neighborhood less than 150 meters from where I entered the location in the floating markets car park, yet we had no way to get to the floating market from there without turning the vehicle into a submersible. 6-7km’s and many turns later we found a sign pointing at the new floating market. It said (in Thai) to turn in 100 meters. There was no where to turn for 300-400 meters.

Canon 5d Mark II, Sigma 12-24mm F4  @F5.6  1/30th  24mm  ISO 200

 

 

 

We continued on our way guided by my Mai Noi, my Garmin 885T GPS.  I distinctly remembered saying to Stick “while we’re here in the parking lot I’m going to make sure to enter our location so we can easily find this place again.”  The problem was, the GPS map set didn’t have the floating market on it, so it was only a location with no connecting roads.  We ended up in a small neighborhood less than 150 meters from where I entered the location in the floating markets car park, yet we had no way to get to the floating market from there without turning the vehicle into a submersible.  6-7km’s and many turns later we found a sign pointing at the new floating market.  It said (in Thai) to turn in 100 meters.  There was no where to turn for 300-400 meters.

 

We eventually found the place and queued up being a few hundred cars also looking to park.  This place went from the empty place we saw on the weekday, to being as crowded as JJ Market on its busiest day.  The character and feel of Ayutthaya’s Floating Market totally changed.  For the better!  In several hours there we were the only farangs we saw, the visitors were mostly working class Thai families, and there were many theme skits and other historical displays going on everywhere we looked.  The car park attendant was dressed as an ancient soldier and looked plenty scary!  For the life of me I can’t reason why I didn’t take his picture.  Next time.

 

 

 

After a brief walk around we found a place to work from and settled into a table and ordered some drinks. As we worked I discovered my biggest challenge was to get him to slow down a bit and really observe our new environment. Soon we were on track and he was doing great. It was then that I decided to challenge myself. While he was working behind his viewfinder, I decided to look for and photograph as many adult daughter/mother pairs I could find during the next ten minutes.

Canon 5d Mark II, 85mm F1.2L  @F1.4  1/1600th  ISO 200

 

 

 

After a brief walk around we found a place to work from and settled into a table and ordered some drinks.  As we worked I discovered my biggest challenge was to get him to slow down a bit and really observe our new environment.  Soon we were on track and he was doing great.  It was then that I decided to challenge myself.  While he was working behind his viewfinder, I decided to look for and photograph as many adult daughter/mother pairs I could find during the next ten minutes.

 

 

 

It didn’t take long to notice the old adage “if you want to know what the young girl will look like in a few years, you need look no further than her mother” was indeed true. In some cases scary true.

Canon 5d Mark II, 85mm F1.2L  @F1.4  1/1600th  ISO 200

 

 

It didn’t take long to notice the old adage “if you want to know what the young girl will look like in a few years, you need look no further than her mother” was indeed true.  In some cases scary true.

 

 

In the ten minutes I found no less than ten adult daughter/mother pairs covering a wide age range. In some cases their relationships were immediately obvious, and in others you had to take a cloth look at features and mannerisms.

Canon 5d Mark II, 85mm F1.2L  @F1.4  1/1600th  ISO 200

 

 

 

 

In the ten minutes I found no less than ten adult daughter/mother pairs covering a wide age range.  In some cases their relationships were immediately obvious, and in others you had to take a cloth look at features and mannerisms.

 

 

 

 

In other cases a close look at chins, noses, and even dental structure gave them away. I started to get a good feeling about this location because of the families. These weren’t the “predator” locals you normally encounter in tourist areas of Bangkok, instead they were everyday families doing what Thai families do best. Family outings on the weekends and holidays.

Canon 5d Mark II, 85mm F1.2L  @F4  1/1000th  ISO 200

 

 

 

In other cases a close look at chins, noses, and even dental structure gave them away.  I started to get a good feeling about this location because of the families.  These weren’t the “predator” locals you normally encounter in tourist areas of Bangkok, instead they were everyday families doing what Thai families do best.  Family outings on the weekends and holidays.

 

 

Some of the more obvious matches had the most difference in the ‘before/after’ effect. Looking at this daughter I’d guess a good many men would find the daughter quite attractive. A nice build, great smile, confident posture, and a modern style. The mother, while obviously the mother, didn’t even have a hint of her daughters attractiveness left in her.

Canon 5d Mark II, 70-200mm F2.8L IS  @F4  1/2500th  190mm ISO 200

 

 

Some of the more obvious matches had the most difference in the ‘before/after’ effect.  Looking at this daughter I’d guess a good many men would find the daughter quite attractive.  A nice build, great smile, confident posture, and a modern style.  The mother, while obviously the mother, didn’t even have a hint of her daughters attractiveness left in her.

 

 

Suddenly I noticed the young girl making coffee nearby was working with her mother. Looking at them in this image it’s not immediately obvious.

Canon 5d Mark II, 70-200mm F2.8L IS  @F5  1/30th  150mm ISO 400

 

Suddenly I noticed the young girl making coffee nearby was working with her mother.  Looking at them in this image it’s not immediately obvious.

 

 

But as soon as they both smiled in unison, the way they tucked in their mouths when smiling, held their eyes and chins, it became clear. Another mother and daughter pair!

Canon 5d Mark II, 70-200mm F2.8L IS  @F4  1/40th  150mm ISO 400

 

But as soon as they both smiled in unison, the way they tucked in their mouths when smiling, held their eyes and chins, it became clear.  Another mother and daughter pair!

 

 

This was the first time I noticed her. To me she was interesting before I started thinking daughter/mother pairs. She quietly worked and seemed very aware of everything around her. She was almost anticipating her customers.

Canon 5d Mark II, 70-200mm F2.8L IS  @F5  1/60th  153mm ISO 800

 

 

This was the first time I noticed her.  To me she was interesting before I started thinking daughter/mother pairs.  She quietly worked and seemed very aware of everything around her.  She was almost anticipating her customers.

 

 

This was a very friendly place. People were coming up to us and asking us to take their photographs! The client I was working with was surprised at this, but really once you get away from ‘tourist Thailand’ this is pretty normal behavior. If you have professional looking gear and you’re using it in a professional manner, people will come up to you hoping to be put in the newspaper or whoever they think you’re working for. Others are just friendly or curious.

Canon 5d Mark II, Sigma 12-24mm F4  @F6.3  1/200th  24mm ISO 200

 

 

This was a very friendly place.  People were coming up to us and asking us to take their photographs!  The client I was working with was surprised at this, but really once you get away from ‘tourist Thailand’ this is pretty normal behavior.  If you have professional looking gear and you’re using it in a professional manner, people will come up to you hoping to be put in the newspaper or whoever they think you’re working for.  Others are just friendly or curious.

 

 

In between capturing daughter/mother pairs I found other captures I enjoyed. This young lady carefully counting her change looked quite serious. Already very attractive I wondered what she would look like at 20, and then 40, and finally 60? Time stands still for no one, we’re constantly performers in a very large time lapse movie and photographs are merely a ‘slice’ of time depicting our individual performance at a particular place and time.

Canon 5d Mark II, 70-200mm F2.8L IS  @F8  1/40th  170mm ISO 400

 

 

In between capturing daughter/mother pairs I found other captures I enjoyed.  This young lady carefully counting her change looked quite serious.  Already very attractive I wondered what she would look like at 20, and then 40, and finally 60?  Time stands still for no one, we’re constantly performers in a very large time lapse movie and photographs are merely a ‘slice’ of time depicting our individual performance at a particular place and time.

 

 

This was one of my favorite images of the day. The boy was really enjoying his ice cream and as his father took his photograph he put on a face that was really precious. I felt bad, usually I have a card that I’ll hand off to the parent for such captures so they can contact me later for a copy of the image. Today I had forgot to replenish my cards.

Canon 5d Mark II, 70-200mm F2.8L IS  @F4  1/100th  200mm ISO 200

 

This was one of my favorite images of the day.  The boy was really enjoying his ice cream and as his father took his photograph he put on a face that was really precious.  I felt bad, usually I have a card that I’ll hand off to the parent for such captures so they can contact me later for a copy of the image.  Today I had forgot to replenish my cards.

 

Overall I was satisfied with our days shoot and what we accomplished during our workshop visit of Ayutthaya’s Floating Market.  The difference between a slow weekday and a busy weekend was profound.  The people were great and there were tons of interesting photographic opportunities everywhere you looked, from interesting people to traditional period correct skits/performances.  Many boats and scenery shots, food, markets, landscaping, and more.  The first time I visited I was left feeling less than thrilled, this time I can’t wait to go back!