Boy From Swat Valley

i caught this shy guy sitting near a fresh water spring in shangla,

swat valley. very low light did some good 4 me, i hope. comments/

critique/ ratings welcome.

Very nice portfolio ,

This is really a GREAT shot Umair: good colors, composition, DOF.

Should be published on National Geographic!

 

Eli

 

simple...beauty.......regards

Splendid portrait!

Extraordinary, the colour composition, the eyes, his mysterious expression. Congratulations. Karl

Extra portrait, fantastic expression and eyes, one of the best portraits ever seen.

Wonderful portrait of this Boy dear Umair. full of emotions :)

 

Have a creative weekend!

 

Biliana

Umair, I admire your skills in portraiting, that's true, but here still I ask myself, *how*, just how you shot that, since I believe to see the shyness of a really fine heart. And for me it is this that, what you captured, that fine heart rather, than anything else.

 

The unbelievable clarity of those shy eyes and the lips just a tiny bit pressed on one another, show such an unexplainable insecurity! A small hand touching the grey jacket, searching for a feeling of something trusted, a young boy that seems to want to cover as little space as possible. Another one that had to grow up too early? Who knows?

 

Perhaps it is the great contrast between the blueish hues that surround his face, perhaps it is that peace mixed up whith his shyness in his expression - I can't tell. But a portrait shouldn't be just a subject of technical explanations.

 

Congratulations, thank you for sharing this, and my best wishes!

 

Nick

Bellisimo retrato, gran calidad de luz y color con una belleza de encuadre, saludos cordiales Umair.

Umair a great shot here. Those Piercing eyes make it different. Perhaps a tad bit darker background?

I agree with Nick. You can capture the soul,the personaity of a person,in your image.That is the hallmark of a maestro. Very good exposure,composition and light,Umair.Sabash!

Excellent portrait work.

Excellent! His eyes and face do jump out because he is surounded by the blue. Wonderful. The low light did work for you!

Excellent.

 

Really don't understand how people can put a 3/3 for this. Crazy.

A.K. Sircar: Exactly! But only if you are such a maestro like Umair! Because this is not only a technically perfect one! Not only a capture of a young soul! But also a capture of our times. Any ideas out there why that young face has to be so serious? Perhaps of some... misplaced childhood? (With all respect to Marillion and Fish.)

 

Rhiannon: Oh well, my friend, the 3/3 is apparently a direct result of some inability of modern computers to accept any number greater than 3 in their input boxes. (Could that be a a new XP limitation? ;-)) But what if most people would prefer the totally flat photo of some... sweeeet blond kid dressed in white and with the smile of 1000 Angels in the sun? There is also this terrible possibility which we'd better ignore, by just ignoring those 3/3s!

 

Best wishes to all and hat off to Umair again!

 

Nick

Nick, thanks for expressing in your first comment exactly what I felt but I did not find the right words. Karl

Very very nice PS touch!

 

Regards...

Love this portrait and those piercing eyes, Umair! Congratulations!!

Pictures like this blow off my brain. The mood, gesture, attitude, deep gaze of this wonderful boy is extremely touching. Good for you because captured this irrepetible second of his life. You have more than just photographic skills. Extraordinary job you done.

About 3/3. I guess those "3/3" people has a deep knowledge about photography. Fortunately I'm an ignorant about this.

Karl, you are very welcome my friend, but it has been Fish who wrote that lines initially. The lyrics of the song "Misplaced childhood" (Marillion) just jumped into my mind. A great thing would it be to make photos for songs with lyrics that deserve the name.

 

Carlos, my friend, I have the impression that the many "3/3-people" have rather deep knowledge about some limiting frame of rules, inside which all "good photography" has to take place. But creativity is known for escaping *any* frames by simply ignoring them ;-). I suspect though that there are also those "3/3-people" that had the luck (?) to be exclusively in touch with some distorted and useless picture of a "sweeeeet, sunny, wonderful" world, which... simply doesn't exist anywhere except of course in some limited portions of our world/society that still look themselves in the mirror, asking if they are the most "beautiful". And they document this in "sweeet, sunny, wonderful" photos ;-)

 

Best wishes to all,

 

Nick

well, well, well! i believe in showing what i shoot, to the world. i never ever care about low ratings, but prefer 2 learn from comments & healthy criticism. regards!

Which is also a rather healthy way to consider such matters, Umair!

 

Regards,

 

Nick

Remarkable composition. Again timeless and those eyes. There is a depth to this shot that is truly remarkable.

To follow on from Nick: Let your light come amongst them like a flame of light, my child.

Unflickering and pure and delight them in to silence.

Go and stand amid the scowling hearts, my child

and let your gentle eyes fall upon them like the forgiving peace of the evening over the strife of day. Rabindranath Tagore.

just seemed apropos. Regards Ken.