The Long Walk Through the Paddies of Purbadhala

The GPS puts this right on a small residential lane in Purbadhala, in Netrokona — one of those narrow village roads that runs straight between the paddies with nothing either side but rice. I'd set out early with the X-T5 and the 23mm and no real plan beyond following the road to see where it went.

It was mid-May, the end of the boro harvest, so the fields were caught between two colours — deep green on one side, the first wash of gold on the other. The morning stayed overcast and soft, which suited it; no harsh light to fight, just an even grey that let the rice hold its colour all the way to the tree line.

I kept telling myself I'd turn back at the next bend, then the one after. There's nothing dramatic about Purbadhala — paddies, a few trees, the odd palm on the horizon — but the quiet pulls you along. I shot at f/8 to hold everything sharp from the blades at my feet to the trees far off, and by the time I stopped I'd walked much further than I meant to, chasing a frame that kept staying one field ahead.