chapmanwr

Some painters strive to make their paintings look like photographs.

Go figure?

Vincent- Yes I do have prints done from this image. I have made several 20x30's even with good results. For this, I have used a 50megabyte scanned file and it works very well.

Even though these horses are small in stature, they are not ponies, and they are very hardy, swift, and tough.

There were no other photographers for many miles around. This was the first time this event had ever been photographed by an outsider. Later, I was invited to attend a dance celebration that lasted through the night with lots of dancing and endless amounts of "chang" or Tibetan beer consumed. I got some shots during the evening, but as the honored guest, I was forced to drink what seemed like gallons of their homemade brew, and after an hour I could hardly stand, much less operate my cameras. But it was fun trying. Back to the photo, I was shooting in continuous focus mode at around 6 frames per second. Since then, I have taken a couple of my small photo tour groups to this location. For a photographer- it is sensory overload to the max.

Perhaps this image will help better illustrate the effort.

I'll explain further. Yes the scarf was much like the sash around the riders waist and or like the "katas", or sacred scarves, he is picking up from the ground, and that you see blurred and blowing in the wind of the background. This is a riding competition where riders run a course at full gallop while reaching to the ground to retrieve the scarves that are placed every 5 or 10 feet along the course. Sometimes they get totally out of control, and more than once I ate dirt escaping their path.

Nathan- The dark area in foreground on original image is actually a shadow from a scarf blowing in the wind. The new version is the same scene shot on a different frame a milisecond apart. You have to remember also that the subject was coming straight ahead very fast and furious.

New treatment with scan of duplicate slide

As I stated before, this is a straight scan. The "dust" you see is real, along with other flying debris. If you want cleanliness and tidiness,stay in the studio.

Another example from the same day

I am reading the most curious posts on this image. Such as depth of field considerations. If you had ever shot anything that wasn't static, you would know it was impossible to capture a subject like this with a small aperture and still retain adequate shutter speed. I wish I had the luxury and time to set up the shots I need to make in my line of business,but I have to react to situations quickly and effectively under conditions that are not always pleasant. Like living on barley paste and butter tea for a week before I reached the location to take this shot.

M- This image was shot with 100-400 IS Canon. It was captured in one of my "studios". To get there, I rode for four days in an open truck,crossed four 17,000ft. frigid passes, and arrived just in time to grab my gear and start shooting. This is only one of many "usable" images from that afternoon. The site of this annual event is in the shadow of and within sight of Mt. Everest.

I'll try again to get the image to load

I must admit I submitted a raw transparency image without any manipulation on purpose. I find it curious that so many people are so used to seeing so many posed and contrived images here that they find it hard to really see or understand the nature of real location documentary photography. What is unique about an image like this is not so much its individual technical merits, but that it was captured at all. The easy part that anyone can do is dressing up the details on the computer monitor. And I really appreciate that aspect too. A similar image attached.

Alternate to original horseman image.

Unmanipulated and unposed. One of the challenges faced by the

location travel photographer is finding a compelling subject, in the

right light,in the right place, and being prepared to make the

capture in a split second. Hesitate, and the time is gone forever.

While trekking through a small village, I interrupted the afternoon

bath of this young boy. His mother had a hard time keeping him

inside the tub, and the ducks out.

Ross and Frank- I thoroughly appreciate your comments. This shot is full frame and scanned directly from the slide. I fired a burst of around five frames and two others are equally as good, but a little different. I had dirt thrown in my face and felt the wind from the horse as I jumped to the side. Maybe I'll post another for you to compare.

Bill

Taken during horse riding competition in central Tibet. I was almost run down by this horse and rider moments after I fired off a burst of shots. I traveled overland for several days to reach this destination. This event had never been photographed before from what I was told by locals.

This image was made on the Tibetan plateau in the Mt. Everest region

while doing research for my book "The Face of Tibet" The elevation

was 18,000 ft.

An obviously beautiful scene- but- this image would have much more impact if the clouds were not casting such a strong shadow across the mountains reflection. Also it needs a perspective lending feature in the foreground to ad interest. Preferrably in the left lower part of frame. A great location to revisit and study for a more thoughtful shot.

This image is one in a series of night scenes. This surreal scene is

from one exposure of two hours around midnight during the dark of the

moon. Looking due north, the arch was lit by painted light from two

differnet sources near the beginning of the exposure.