Big guns go marching by, a photo from Himachal Pradesh, North

Photographer's Note

In the Minjar festival in Chamba, (over 1000 years old), there are a lot of guns. Here the ancient retaining wall is at least 3 stories high. The 6 temples on the top, date from 3rd century onwards. The parade with Gods and Goddesses on palaquins marches down this very narrow street, up and down the steep winding streets to the river, where the Goddess is bathed. I took this picture with 35 mm film, my trusty old pentax. I was hiding inside my hotel. I was too terrified to step into the street and get better pictures. The police smashed my digital Olympus camera and beat me the day before ("sorry, it was a mistake" was the final word), as I sat in a grassy field. The film was very poorly developed in Delhi, they then scanned from prints, (instead of the negatives as promised) and scratched. I know little about photoshop. I applied image for more color, contrast, then sharpened.

dawekato, Aegean, Kenny10pin, Eagle78, shihwei ha contrassegnato questa nota come utile

Critiques | Translate

Robert_L (385) 2004-08-22 9:07

Ha! Those look like Lee-Enfield rifles. Perhaps, the S.M.L.E. No.1 Mk.3 that was introduced by the British in 1907.

maciekda (19895) 2004-08-22 9:13 [Comment]

Show Comment

dawekato (2269) 2004-08-22 9:13 [Comment]

Show Comment +

Darren (6823) 2004-08-22 9:21

This is excellent Gloria. great use of strong diagonal lines. The wall is a great background as well. Considering this was scanned from a print, it looks full of detail as well. Looks like you have chosen a contrasty look and while it is alittle strong, it fits this image well. This one is really good Gloria.

Aegean (2571) 2004-08-22 10:15

Even with all those difficulties it's a brilliant photo...I really like the serious face expresions of the soldiers which is like coming out from a 60's comedy...The strong diagonal composition is great and the angle of view from above very succesful! Very well done!

Kenny10pin (19301) 2004-08-22 10:18

great sharp pic, very good work, and the angle is very good too, well done

Midnight_sun (1941) 2004-08-22 10:27

Great shot, lots of repetition and strong lines from the rifles. The angle you've choosen really draws the eye into the shot well. Good stuff.

longpt (947) 2004-08-22 12:11

Nice Crop! Detail and more color~

Eagle78 (1933) 2004-08-22 14:08

Excelent job Gloria! Love your image and your note. The colors here bring much live to image and these guys standing makes almost a graphical image. Weel done :)

flydragon (0) 2004-08-23 5:19

hello Gloria
even i dont like military
this is a great picture
good compostion and nice color
those guy are funny there have all a moustache
is that mean they are male lol ,o)
well done Gloria
Simon

hojper (2832) 2004-08-23 6:01

I wouldn't want to photograph those guys head on either. They really look menacing. The candid camera approach and the funny angle really do wonders for the composition, though. And the colours are different and very nice. An eye-catcher of a thumbnail, with a good title.

c_kyr (1810) 2004-08-23 23:13

Excellent work here!
Beautiful photo.
Well done!

aca925 (67) 2005-07-13 23:41

What an incredible shot. I love the symmetry, love the fact that the soldiers are Indian (I've not seen many images of soldiers from the subcontinent). I think photoshopping is completely unnecessary here!