Well, I just got back a few days ago from a rather amazing trip to Uzbekistan, mainly to the cities of Khiva, Bukhara and Samarkand. Anyhow, rather than be all literary and descriptive I wanted to share my photos with you.
Just curious to see which ones strike you, which ones to edit out, etc, etc, etc. If anyone wants technical info, feel free to ask. Other than, have fun and any and all comments would be appreciated!
Thanks!
No comment really… just a question: Why did the camel cross the road?
The ones that appeal to me are the ones with the Islamidc architecture – and I love the drooling camel!
You are one heck of a talented photographer, pulykamell!
Well, it sure makes me wish I had a better camera when I was over that way. I love your shots !
I do think it’s hard to go wrong in some ways because everything looks interesting and colourful but, equally, you can also waste what could be a much nicer shot by not thinking of the best way to approach the subject. Seems to me you made the most of things. Just to pick out a few – BTW, I have a penchant for non-posed and non-intrusive people / family type photos (cos they seem particularly revealing to me):
X18 – with the guy in the mirror. Strange that’s he’s so broody. Interesting.
X15 – kid and tv. Had a similar one myself once of a family in Cairo watching ‘Dallas’ in similar surroundings. This one reminded me of the seduction / pull of capitalism and aspiring to things they think will improve their lives…if only they knew ! Nice.
X13 – motion shot with hanging clothes. Loved this particularly ! Beautiful colours and a lovely street scene. Probably my favourite.
The architecture shots are also nicley done…heck, I like them all – happy memories !
thanks, y’all are making me blush. 
well, i do this for a living, but i’m always curious as to which pictures strike people, because they’re often different than the ones that i like the best. the guy in the mirror was a fortuitous shot. as i was walknig out of their house, i looked back, saw the mirror, saw the light perfectly shining on the guy’s face, and the woman stepped into the frame just long enough for me to grab one shot. and then it all disappeared. wasn’t even sure if i had it or not. luckily, i did, and it worked out well.
it really was a photographer’s dream out there, especially with the architecture, and i concentrated on taking most of my photos about an hour or less before sunset. hence the nice lighting. incidentally, my favorite photo is the first one (silhouette with the medressa in the background) and the ones London_Calling mentioned. Oh, and the one with the kid’s butt showing.
I’d like to know how long you were on your trip? Do you need shots to goto Uzbekistan? And on the photography thing, what kind of camera, lenses and film were you using?
adam - i was gone for 10 days. as far as i know, you don’t need shots to go to uzbekistan…at least we didn’t. there don’t seem to be any immediate health risks there, but i wouldn’t drink the tap water, except maybe in samarkand and tashkent. the only hassle we experienced was getting the visas in moscow through uzbektourism (motto: you’re in luck if we give a fuck,) the state-run tourism agency. you can go directly to an embassy, but it may take longer (10 days.) They want you to pre-book some of your hotels before you go. The old policy was you had to pre-book your whole trip, but don’t believe them. We played the whole “Well, we’re going for three days for sure, but we may stay more, so we don’t wanna pay the whole thing” line, to which they threatened to give us a visa for only three days, but we stood our ground. In the end, we managed a multiple entry visa for four years. Yeah, imagine that.
If you’re dealing with it from New York, it should hopefully be easier. It’s a safe country – the only people to be wary of are the police. We personally didn’t have any problems, but people we met crossing the more interesting borders (eg. Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, etc.) were shaken down for money. Usually, the best bet is to stand your ground, and generally nothing will happen.
The Silk Road cities are completely used to tourists. Lots of French everywhere. And every other person will try to talk to you. “Hello meeeester! Bon bon? Pen?” Apparently there is a candy and pen shortage as all the kids ask for are these things. If you start carrying treats for the kids be careful…it’s like tossing breadcrumbs to pigeons. But it’s a nice gesture.
As for technical details, everything was shot on a Nikon F90x (aka N90s) with Fuji 100F slide film, save for a couple indoor shots which were on Fuji 400 neg. Lenses used were a Nikon 24mm/2.8, Nikon 80-200/2.8, and Nikon 85/1.8.
An SB-28 flash was used on one photo. I would totally recommend shooting on slide. The colors and contrast and drama that you can get from it put neg to shame. The only problem is printing it up to the quality of the slide itself is expensive. But it’s 90% of what I shoot these days in color. Fuji Velvia (50 ISO) is another great film worth checking out for vibrant colors and contrasty pix.
I like number 3. Great shot. The range of expressions on the ladies faces is interesting and is offset nicely by the uniformity of their dress material. I look at that and it really makes me wonder what each of them is thinking. It kinda reminds of a see/hear/speak no evil trio, except they all seem amused about something. Maybe you remind them each of a secret past paramour. Or your fly was down. Either way. The vibrant shades of blue work very nicely with the striking counterpoints of the green curtain and white window frame.
Six is pretty durned good, too. Great scale from the iron work too the buildings. Fantastic framing and symmetry.
x18. I like this one, too. It has some undefinable sinister quality, while still presenting a certain homeyness. Obviously, the sinister quality comes from the gentleman reflected in the mirror; it’s wouldn’t take much to convince you he’s one of Satan’s henchmen. And the homeyness, I think, comes from the pattern and colors in the curtain, as well as the soothing hues of the walls.
You do good work. I’m impressed.
Nikon 85/ƒ1.8 Now I’m just jealous; I gotta make do with my ancient Minolta MD lenses and X-700 and SRT-101 bodies. Yup, matched-needle metering. I picked up a couple rolls of the Fuji Velvia just a a couple weeks ago. Of course, since then, it’s rained 4 outta five days here. I’m waiting for a sunny evening to head over to the zoo and try it out.
Damn! You are good! These are National Geographic quality.
They’re so beautiful, I liked the one of all the ladies at the market, it was fabulous.
I wanna go on holiday with you!