Photographer's Note
Sunday,
March 20th 2005 at 12:34:00 PM Greenwich Meantime.
Tehran 04:03:24 PM Sunday March 20,2005
...................................................
The “Sofreh Haft Sin” is the spread,which the family gathers around to celebrate the New Year.
It is the focal point of the celebration and ensuing visits and as such Iranians take great care and pride in putting together a lavish and elaborate spread to signify all that they want in the New Year.
The word ”Haft” means “Seven” and “Sin” stands for the “S” in the alphabet.
“Sofreh” means spread,the floor of which is usually a nice rich material or embroidered fabric.The spread contains the seven specific things that start with “S”.
In addition to the seven items, you may place additional items on the sofreh that will signify renewal,happiness,wealth,good health or any thing that you desire for the New Year.
But,a list of suggested items for your sofreh :
1-Sabzeh:Spring Sprouts:Made from wheat or lentil this S signifies rebirth and renewal.
2-Senjed: A sweet,dry fruit of a lotus tree:
The fragrant and blooming lotus tree makes people fall in love so it is natural that its fruit would signify love and affection !
3-Sib: Apple:A big red apple represents health and beauty.
4-Samanu:Wheat Pudding:Wheat and wheat products signify sweetness and fertility.
5-Serkeh: Vinegar:White Vinegar signifies age and patience.
6-Somagh:Crushed Sumac berries:This S symbolizes the spice of life. Some say Somagh represents the color of the sunrise and with the sun all evil is conquered.
7-Seer:Garlic:This medicinal S is a sign of good health.
8-Optional S:Sekeh:Coins:Wealth and Prosperity
9-Optional S:Sonbol:Hyacinth Flower:Purple or pink represent life and beatuy.
10-Head of the Sofreh:A Mirror To bring light & brightness into the New Year.
11-Head of the Sofreh:Scriptures:Qoran,Bible,Torah, Avesta or other Scriptures:Symbolizes blessings and faith in the New Year.
12-....
:)
Happy New Year to Iranian all,
And Happy new Spring to all of my friends in the world.
Albrecht, ChrisJ, mumek, Hanssie, CliffW, Fixfocus, weswang, Booz, carper, nwoehnl, Wirraway, alvaraalto, johnhopkins, stranger, PLD_images, jmdaoudal, nima, ergomir, ChristianS, Rinie_Hoff, kaychambers, Jeppe, bantonbuju, quantabeh, alford, harold, jrj, supereira, ballyna, azadys, sfsepehr has marked this note useful
Critiques | Translate
Albrecht
(11283) 2005-03-20 10:39
Beautiful still life;good compo and the colours and atmosphere are wonderful
mumek
(20226) 2005-03-20 10:43
Good morning Mohammad!
Super composition, excellent colors, very good details and a lovely fishes in the tank.
Very informative note. Thanks for posting
best regards
ziggy
Hanssie
(11022) 2005-03-20 10:45
Interesting to know what your “Sofreh Haft Sin” means, we can learn a lot from each other here on TE. The picture is a fine still-life of your life. Happy New Year to you, Mohammad !
Maru
(0) 2005-03-20 10:50
Hi Mohammad!
such beautiful shot, plenty of small details and full of colors and a great note, too.
A Happy New Year for you.. and a happy new autumn for me :)
Marisa
Kenny10pin
(19301) 2005-03-20 11:30
beautiful shot, I like the lay out, very rich and crisp here, really well placed and excellent composition
Fixfocus
(9385) 2005-03-20 11:30
A wonderful still life,Mohammad!Beautiful light and colors,the reflections on the bookshelf in the background are a fine detail.
A beautiful crisp and clear image!
Thanks for sharing!
weswang
(18247) 2005-03-20 12:04
Hi Mohammad, Happy New Year.
An excellent family scene. Your notes with the photo together is very educational to me. I thank you for your introduction to the culture, the environment, and celebration mood.
Nice shot, good contrast, well arranged light, a great composition.
Collected as my favorite.
Booz
(14347) 2005-03-20 12:28
HEPPY NEW YEAR Mohammad :) - great photo and thx for note - regards
Tomek
carper
(96) 2005-03-20 12:46
Yes Mohammad,
It is a good still live of a painting in the modern way painted. Very good composition Mohammad, good details in the shot. May I wish You and your family a very good New Year.
gr. Jaap
nwoehnl
(122) 2005-03-20 12:52
Happy New Year to you, Mohammad - peace and joy for you and the family, and of course many more good photos to come ;-) This is a nice and pleasant interior composition, with good colors, soft light, and a well-used DOF. Great explanatory note.
Graal
(103040) 2005-03-20 13:06
Very good colours, composition and sharpness. Interesting note. Good idea. Well done.
Regards
Al.
Wirraway
(1985) 2005-03-20 14:20
Very nicely done Mohammad, informative note and a happy new year.
Regards Ian
Brisbane
alvaraalto
(42804) 2005-03-20 15:25
Happy new year,Mohammad.
And thank you for this beautiful, meaningful, stil life.
Very informative note, well illustrated with this fine picture.
groet Rob
hugolef
(4913) 2005-03-20 15:59
Hello Mohammad
nice and colorful composition. Each element of your compo seems to be at the right place, and all is well balanced.
A touch of life with fishes ...
regards, hugues
johnhopkins
(866) 2005-03-20 16:13
Happy New Year Mohammad and to all in your country!! You really captured a wonderful scene here with great sharpness and colour. I particularly like the daffodils which are only now beginning to flower up here in England but are a powerful symbol that winter is behind us...
stranger
(726) 2005-03-20 17:06
First of all HAPPY NOROUZ Muhammad :-)
2. Great Haft sin ;) If you have prepared it then cong. for you if not cong. for the one who has set it :))
3 . Lovley shot ... I love it :-)
Wish you the best in our own national & traditional new year :-)
Shahab.
PLD_images
(7149) 2005-03-20 21:12
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU MOHAMMAD !!!!
Just a wondefull, beautifull superb photo that you show us on this special day. All the elements are great and I love the DOF.
Thanks you for the excellent note.
I wish you all the best for this new year and I hope that all your dreams come true.
pamastro
(7296) 2005-03-20 22:42
Happy New Year and thanks for this informative note and shot showing us everything. The image is very crisp and clean and well exposed. You set it all up beautifully too and photographed it very well. At work today a group rented out our large hall to have a Persian New Year Celebration. They expected some 800 people. Unfortunately I did not work today to go and take a look and see if I found anything like this.
jmdaoudal
(82) 2005-03-21 4:38
Very strong "nature morte" with a great quality from the colors and depth.
I like very much how it is balanced. The whole information you give through the composition and the note is great and sure that I will kep this one in my mind for its high value.
Compliments
Jean Michel
ChrisJ
(171822) 2005-03-21 4:38
Hi Mohammad
A superb 'still life', & daily life shot, with excellent sharpness, color saturation & pov. Well done, & a Happy New Year!
nima
(658) 2005-03-21 9:03
WOW!
This is very very nice!very well composed and great DOF!
i like the SOFRE and the books in shelfs!
good use of light and shadows!
and also a great note!
this shot and your note learn so many new things to me!
GOOGLE designed a special logo for NEW PERSIAN YEAR:
http://www.google.com/logos/persian_newyear05.gif
thanks and Happy new year again!
N.M
andchew
(476) 2005-03-21 10:57
Hi Mohd. Very colorful and informative. I always like your work. Great Job. Regards, Andrew
jhm
(211736) 2005-03-21 12:18
Hi Mohammad,
It's almost a painting, excellent DOF and soft of colours, the reflections on the bookshelf in the background are a fine detail together with fish bowl.
Again a very nice note and traditions of your country.
Compliments,
John.
Schultzy
(5446) 2005-03-21 12:43
That's again a great shot Mohammad. Very symbolic ! On the technical field, a perfect DOF and beautiful colors. Very well done !
ChristianS
(2997) 2005-03-21 12:47
Hi Mohammad, very nice informative photo, very rich in details and very appealing. Thanks for the note, it's very informative and together with a radio report I heard this morning on the Swedish radio about the Iranian New Year, my knowledge about your culture has increased. Is it true that the celebrations are going on for 13 days? Anyhow Muhammad, I wish you a Happy New Year!
Regards, Christian
lukkul
(510) 2005-03-21 17:32
What a excelent guidelines and the composition is nice and great. So and with so many wonderful details, I say have a great happy ne year in your country and people, because world is exactly this. All the days to comunicate the details of all of the world.
Thanks for this nice moment and picture.
Luis
kaychambers
(1198) 2005-03-21 19:42
Hi Mohammad,
Excellent still life complimented with an great note.
Well done sir, and a Happy New Year to you.
Regards,
Vic, Singapore. 22nd March 2005
Jeppe
(18654) 2005-03-22 8:32
Oh - a very excellent capture and documentary of the these traditions - I like the fine setup and the soft light and DOF - thanks Mohammad for this work and the very informative note - I surely learned a lot here.
A happy New Year to you and all Iranian people.
Yours
J.
oochappan
(4880) 2005-03-23 4:03
And a Happy New Year to you too Mohammad ... just back from my trip, checking up all my friends !
What a glass clear picture you got there, the forground very well put on focus with the DOF and lighter background.
Your note let us enjoy the total meaning of this unique moment of the year.
Thanks.
Henk
Galmeida
(12559) 2005-03-23 6:23
Sorry for my delay, but have a Happy New Year to you Mohammad and to your people. Very nice useful notes and a beautiful familiy indoor composition, with many lovely details and colors. Very well done!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
Regards
bantonbuju
(51815) 2005-03-23 10:52
all the best mohammad, salem, peace, tolerance, love, patience, wealth and health, pride and patience, to you, your friends and your family; and many new photo opportunities;
take care my friend, jerzy
as for the photo - technical excellence
Paker
(2650) 2005-03-23 17:16
Interesting compositions, great note, nice celebration. Happy New Year!
regards,
Krzysztof
RGatward
(20108) 2005-03-24 19:38
Quite a different shot for you. Very carefully arranged still life to illustrate this cultural event.
quantabeh
(5205) 2005-03-26 1:48
Hi Mohammad,
very splendid Haftsin spread. For me, it is very memorable and brings back lots of memories. Very good detailed description of these symbolic objects. even though I knew most of them, it was still very interesting for me to read the notes.
happy new year to you.
Behrang
Didi
(61589) 2005-03-26 4:51
I allow myself to wish it in Egyptian "3Eid Said Mohhammad", Happy new year.
The decoration is tallied perfectly, with a good sensibility.
Salam.
MiguelP
(14470) 2005-03-27 9:16
Wonderful note Mohammad... Why civilization dont know each other instead of fight? Nothing is best or worse, just is and we better learm from every one. The day I think I know everything I will be death... Sorry for the speech: I like the compo of this photo that has within a kind of pictorical value. Thanks.
PD: I´ve just seen a wonderful iranian film: Turtles can fly. In my opinion Iranian movies are between the more interested worldwide.
alford
(4063) 2005-03-27 20:47
Again, I've learned another part of your culture thru your photos, Mohammad! Very nice shot, and very informative notes - very TE in photo and notes! Enjoy your new year! rgds.
igorb
(758) 2005-03-28 7:24
Hapy to you also once again.
I'm wondering about the eggs,you didn't mention them,what they are simbolized??
excellent shot,
Igor
kolesn
(591) 2005-03-28 13:49
Canon EOS should buy this photograph!
...New idea for simultaneous capturing, Mohammad! This time take a photo EXACTLY at 20.00 (8pm) of your local time on coming Friday, 1 April! Add it to the theme called 1 APRIL 2005: 8 PM LOCAL TIME EVERYWHERE.
Let's repeat the success of 19 March. See you there!
Aleksei
PixelTerror
(0) 2005-03-29 4:56
Hi Mohammad,
Nice composition with good work on DoF, details and colors and an excellent note to complement it, thanks for sharing all these informations with us and Happy New Year to you !!!
Have a nice day,
jean-Yves
harold
(2377) 2005-03-29 16:30
salut mohammad superbe compo du travail de pro vraiment trés nette bravo amitié harold
jrj
(34843) 2005-03-30 5:34
Really great shot M. and superb to your notes. All details well presented in the perfect light. Thank's for sharing.
papagolf21
(152607) 2005-03-30 13:48
Bonsoir mon ami Mohammad,
Une photo chargée de nombreux symboles. Merci de nous faire partager les us et coutumes du pays. C'est bien dommage que notre regard ne s'ouvre pas suffisamment sur le monde, cela éviterait vraisemblablement beaucoup de malentendus.
Idée très originale et très bien rendue.
Amitiés.
Philippe
supereira
(9576) 2005-04-01 9:39
Great shot.I like the composition and point of view.Very good colors and contrasts.I like the light,textures and sharpness.I like the fish.Well done!
ballyna
(1689) 2005-04-13 2:58 [Comment]
fahrik
(175) 2005-08-23 4:14
Novruz Mubarek Mohammad!
This is a nice photo and and informative notes... Really interesting
luso
(144) 2005-08-24 3:50
Beautifly busy and colorful Moahammad. I'm glad there's plenty in your home but people need more than bread to live so you got the books included. Great touch
Photo Information
-
Copyright: Mohammad E Hesamian (elihesamian)
(26149)
- Genre: ¦a¤è
- Medium: ±m¦â
- Date Taken: 2005-03-20
- Categories: ¤é±`¥Í¬¡¡A¸`¤é¡A¨å§
- Camera: Canon EOS 20D, EF 28-200mm f/3.5-5.6 USM, UV O-Haze Filter
- Exposure¡Gf/3.5, 1/25 seconds
- Photo Version¡GOriginal Version
- Theme(s)¡GNorooz (persian New Year), Tehran ( Capital of Iran ) [view contributor(s)]
- Date Submitted: 2005-03-20 10:30
- Favorites¡G6 [view]
Discussions
- To Hanssie: Thanks! (1)
by elihesamian, last updated 2005-03-21 04:09 - To Maru: Autumn:) (1)
by elihesamian, last updated 2005-03-21 04:11 - To Fixfocus: Thanks a lot ! (1)
by elihesamian, last updated 2005-03-21 04:14 - To weswang: Thank You very much ! (1)
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by elihesamian, last updated 2005-03-21 04:30 - To stranger: Thanks a lot! (2)
by elihesamian, last updated 2005-03-21 04:35 - To PLD_images: Thanks! (2)
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by elihesamian, last updated 2005-03-21 04:49 - To ChristianS: Thanks,Yes,13 days! (1)
by elihesamian, last updated 2005-03-21 04:59