This is a simple scenic subject, yet the use of wideangle perspective has added a sense of layered depth that pulls the viewer into the scene. It also gives a sense of scale to the vastness of the Mekong valley itself. I used my 24mm conversion lens to stress the rocky, rugged quality of the land itself, filling the foreground layer with sand and rock. This leads the eye to the middle ground layer, where we see a thatched roof boat shelter, a river boat, and up on the hill a group of boys who served as our welcoming committee. By deliberately placing the boys in the middle ground layer, I made them small enough to be symbolic, rather than describe them physically, as well as giving the scene a sense of grand scale. A thin trail of boats and rocks along the shoreline draws our eye into the background layer of this image, where large hills give us a sense of the Mekong Valley’s topography.