Repeated Elements

...

The conical hat, a common sight in rural areas of south-east Asia. There’s a nice description of their construction and a legend of how they came to be called non la hats in Vietnam here.

Exotica in western countries, travellers in SE Asia jump off their buses and snap these hats. Photographed against a backdrop of paddy fields or dusty road such photographs certainly look authentic and exotic.

Nice too, if you can include a similar shape in the background. In this case the conical hat is echoed by the triangular road sign in the background. Reminiscent of a repeated theme in music, or a repeated motif in a painting. The photographer must either wait until a subject opportunely passes by, or compare the foreground with the background (and maybe crop) during editing.

Burma border, Canon 5D II, 70-200mm, 090203.

...