Kabul Candid

I shot this image one afternoon while at work with a Canon 5D and the 80-200/2.8; distance is about 50-60 meters. This is a major crop from the original and post-processed with Elements for sharpness, contrast, and saturation. I'd often see the ladies of the house out washing clothes and such but didn't see the children that often. Afghan women wear out quickly- they spend their lives working and having children. The burqa is seen regularly on the streets, but in the more private courtyards of homes- where this photograph was made- it is never seen.

This post is something of a test to see if the hosting site worked out ok- image is a little large and I apologize if that causes any issues.

Wendy

Hi Wendy,

To start with, the size of the image is OK, don't worry about it. Just as a general rule, we expect to see pictures of around 800 pixels along the longer side. The exception being panos or other pictures which must be appreciated at larger sizes. But as I said, no problems with this one .

Coming back to the image itself, it is a very nice documentary. I like the profile of the mom seen through her veil/scarf. Or is it maybe the grandmother? Her right hand seems to belong to an aged woman. But as you wrote, they get "older" much faster than the women in the western countries.
Further, the photo has captured and interesting and tender moment. I keep on wondering what that child was doing/thinking.

Thanks for sharing.

PS: Did you mean to write 70-200 instead of 80-200/2.8?

Cheers,

70-200! I have Nikon on the brain.

These ladies spend the better part of their day washing at a hand-pump in the yard, which is not apparent from the above image. At 30 years of age, an Afghan woman will appear to be in her 50's.

Wendy

Hi, Wendy,

Exquisite shot. Thanks so much.

By the way, I also much appreciate your writing style.

Welcome aboard!

Thank you, Doug. I'll be in Texas tomorrow; it will be good to be home for a bit. I'm from the Houston area and will be arriving just ahead of the storm, or so it would seem. How are things there in quarterhorse country?

Wendy

Hi, Wendy,

Wendy Thurman said:

Thank you, Doug. I'll be in Texas tomorrow; it will be good to be home for a bit. I'm from the Houston area and will be arriving just ahead of the storm, or so it would seem. How are things there in quarterhorse country?

Click to expand...

Well, it's just lovely out here "where the West begins".

We moved to Weatherford just last October, from East Dallas (I had lived there 34 years). We are just delighted by our new situation.

I'm really looking forward to working with you in the forum.

Best regards,

Doug

Wendy,

What a great intimate moment between this veiled woman and the child. The broken rail and the unpainted sill show the area is poor and in disrepair. Thanks for bringing this too us. Beyond architecture. fashion and other wonders of photography, we also need to see what we are doing to ourselves, the humanity we share.

Cem is correct on size, generally up to 800 pixels wide. Detail-rich pictures may need to be larger.

However, you are taking pictures in areas where the lantern of the camera is shining for us, places where we do not normally get to see. We generally make pictures the size needed to see the form and details. As long as we don't need to scroll, this size you have chosen is magnificent, although Cem is right for everyone else and I'm wrong for making exceptions but this photography, penetrating to the corners of the earth where Burger King and Big Macs are not common and the poorest of the poor struggle for daily survival, is an eye-opener. So when you need to this size, occasionally, it's fine. Just remember that as the thread gets more and more pictures like that, loading might be slowed.

Asher

Wendy: I would imagine it's not easy taking pictures in Kabul for a number of reasons.

Thanks for these.

Doug A.

I've been on the road and in Houston- major issues there although nothing compared to the devastation on Galveston Island- so haven't been online much at all lately. Hopefully I'll soon have more images to post; I have the new D700 along with the 14-24/2.8 and the 24-70/2.8. Early results are very promising at ISO 3200- was in the Air & Space Museum at Washington Dulles and the camera performed very well.

More to follow...

Wendy

Hi Wendy,

I hope you are safe there and have had no damage or hurt. I'd love to have your impression, if you can of whether that ISO 3200 matches or bests Canon 1DII series at ISO 1600. Low light photography is sometimes the most fascinating.

I still return to this first Kabul picture. The pinks maintained between mother and child suggest the strong ties between them. It's so tender.

We look forward to your new pictures as well as more of Kabul.

Drive carefully!

Asher

Asher-

We fared pretty well during the storm- a couple of trees down, but that's it.

I am no longer working in Kabul but am in Baghdad these days- headed back in about a week. It's not as easy to make images there as movement is tough but I will be out hunting photos as soon as I am back.

I will get some images up I shot at the Air & Space museum- it's a bit crowded with airplanes so it's hard to get an uncluttered composition but I am quite pleased with the high-ISO performance of the D700. I've not seen the Canon images so can't compare them but I'll post what I've done.

Wendy