Firing Tiles Photo

Photographer’s Note

The Friday Mosque in Herat has been the subject of a major restoration programme since 1943. It continues today to keep the building in perfect condition. One of the main tasks is replacing the decorative tiles as they become worn, crack or fall off.

This guy is firing the tiles in a large oven. Sunlight streams through the vents in the roof to illuminate the smoke in the room.

Handheld at 1/10s.

A view of the mosque is here.

Bien, MiguelP, banyanman, jafadabret, Fixfocus, riclopes, Gerrit, Tue, pierreb, don_narayan, tjanze, coco, cengiz, timleahy, sandandtsunamis, Didi, tiobibi has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

fib2004 (1180) 2005-12-16 12:03

Dear Jonathan,
The rays of light are stunning and the composition is very good.
TFS, regards
Fabien

Bien (4727) 2005-12-16 12:20

Hi Jonathan, Truly superb how these beams of light pierce through the roof: very strong and perseverant! I like your composition a lot and the light is really beautiful. Perhaps I'm just missing a tiny bit the sense of heat in this place, but I'm just being greedy now - wanting too much. Love this shot! Sabine

devimeuxbe (55853) 2005-12-16 12:22

Hi Jonathan
the light is so beautifull here !
Is very splendit.
Congratulations also for the composition.
Well done
Bertrand

BillyReuter (6) 2005-12-16 12:28

Lovely colours that generate mystery within the photo. The rays of light coming from above look like a divine sign. I really like the golden-coloured wall of stones, which so nice mix with black. Smoke seems to be a ghost wandering around. And the worker could be a priest in the mosque, under some other circumstances!

MiguelP (14324) 2005-12-16 12:35

Your photos of Afganisthan are worthy to be shown in an exposition. I think this statement include my humble opinion about this your last post. Thanks for share.

banyanman (7716) 2005-12-16 12:42

Great sharpness for handheld at 1/10 Jonathan, enabling you to capture these shafts of light with just the right exposure. A very atmospheric composition. Pity the guy has abandoned his traditional Afghan headwear for a baseball cap! Cheers . . . David

jafadabret (39357) 2005-12-16 12:47

Belle composition, Jonathan les deux rais de lumière enfumés attire le regard sur l'ouvrier dans une atmosphère irréelle. C'est encore une belle photo !
Jacques

Ina (2679) 2005-12-16 12:56

This is art... The light-beams look fantastic and so do the rest of the picture... Composition, light, colors and the pose of the young boy ...It's a masterpiece...TFS...Ina...

weswang (18223) 2005-12-16 13:11

Hi Jonathan, An impressive capture of the light beams. I guess the smoke came out form the oven may help to increase the contrast of the visibility to the sun beams. You have done a great job to this long exposure shot. A very well taken picture.

Fixfocus (9377) 2005-12-16 13:45

Hello Jonathan,
You captured a beautiful light effect with those two sunrays.Good capture of the working man too and nice included foreground details.
Greetings,
Hermann

Gerrit (35593) 2005-12-16 15:25

Hi Jonathan,

This is a remarkable good shot. The devotion of the little man in the huge building and those extraordinairy sunrayes.
Great Job.

Thanks and regards, Gerrit

sengir (4946) 2005-12-16 16:20

incredible light, almost mystical mood. Possess everything that good travel photo should have

Tue (25608) 2005-12-16 17:52

Hej Jonathan,
The combination of smoke and sunlight is really wonderful here. Really excellently captured and thanks for sharing!
Have a nice weekend!
Hilsner,
Lars

gebala (0) 2005-12-16 19:16

hello, I am sorry no time for folowing your exellent shot but I will come back and I will write some words, this one I like much, great point of view, great colours, amaizing is:) TFS
rgs

don_narayan (2014) 2005-12-16 23:01

Hi Jonathan. this is superb... really impressive light in here... it is like a spot light beaming onto this man and illuminating the smoke... really great catch, good eye.

Narayan

Erwan (866) 2005-12-17 1:30

Très impressionnants ces rais de lumières! Très belle composition. Le tout à 1/10è à main levée? ...un grand bravo!
Erwan.

tjanze (5674) 2005-12-17 2:46

Hi johnatan!
I can say only Woooow!
Work of art.Perfect photo,especaily the strong border between sun rays and shadows.

rosaline (0) 2005-12-17 3:45

Jonathan
I saw something like this in India. Very similar technology and processes. The light coming through is a brilliant capture which is nice and clean. Good exposure control, as this can be difficult in such conditions.
Cheers
Aubrey

riclopes (32957) 2005-12-17 3:48

Uhau Jonathan,
Great capture of those beams of light in direction to the scene. It's semmed to be a kind of a magic happening. And the smoke got really bright! Congratulations. It's a great shot and I love it.
TFS,
Have a nice evening,
Ricardo

pmthanh (676) 2005-12-17 7:18

Hello Jonathan!
Great the lay off light and composition. I really like this shot. Thanks for sharing.

Thanh.

colinbrenchley (6133) 2005-12-17 10:02

Fanastic rays of light really make this composition stand out. Your people pictures from this trip are really excellent.
Regards Colin

anesugur (16800) 2005-12-17 14:36

Hi Jonathan
Superb picture.
Composition and exposure is perfect.
Thanks for sharing. Uğur

coco (27766) 2005-12-17 17:58

Hi Jonathan.
Thanks for show to us this new picture. As I've said in many others photos: the photos are good, but even more, we learn about a country we are learning what you show to us.
Splendid work.

sarju (5308) 2005-12-18 12:38

Hi Jon
I have always wanted to take a photo like this with what appears to be a twilight falling from above. Excellent exposure settings here as we can see the details of the person very well in this ambient light.
Excellent capture of the mood in this photo.
congrats ... tfs .. regards ... sarju
PS: This one is going straight to my theme about photos that teach me good techniques about photography.

bnallama (3755) 2005-12-18 12:49

I really love the light here!! Bala

cengiz (3581) 2005-12-19 4:03

light beam is suberb congragulations
cengiz

nbournas (3223) 2005-12-27 12:02

Very atmoshperic shot. The sunbeams make your shot very special. Nice catch Jonathan.

capthaddock (28640) 2006-01-09 18:05

Hi Jonathan - the dramatic sunlight streams really make the shot here, though it is a great daily life shot even without them, the only thing that bothers me is his hat, which is way too yankee.

donluicu (23923) 2006-01-10 4:48

Hi John
i like this picture very much, the managing of the different lights is excellent...
very good job

loic

timleahy (2189) 2006-01-13 19:31

Remarkable shot Jonathan, the light streaming down is wonderful. Excellent composition!

...tim

arturo (31) 2006-01-23 17:21

Hi Jonathan,

takin' a chance to drop my 5 cents here;-)...got attracted to this photo when looking at these light beams...kind of a spot light effect one could observe in a theatre really...a very dynamic composition...I would probably preferred the person more in the foreground...but then I guess this "theater" effect could have been lost...cheers, artur

Didi (35998) 2006-04-10 5:36

Hello Jonathan
I misse that one.
Great lights ambiance with a dark foreground.
The two spots lights give a big interest to your composition.
Well done.

DLM (6447) 2006-04-11 12:19

Hi Jonathan,
this is awesome work,TFS
Dave.

abulafia (4802) 2006-05-17 11:08

Hi Jonathan
This is very impressive, the light beams looks allmost solid.
Great lighting, and a very nice composition.
TFS
Harry

DigitalLion (17) 2006-08-13 18:34

Wow! Your photographs are amazing, my friend.

Brendon (285) 2006-09-04 23:08

Ah...Perfect!
The sun's rays peering through mixing with the rising smoke - absolutely stunning! It looks like solid columns coming out of the roof and then vanishing into nothing.
I would love for a shot like this. I am glad to have learned something from this photo with your settings.
Very impressive array of photos in your gallery. You really have captured and shared a large part of the world for us.
TFS
Brendon

sandandtsunamis (34) 2007-03-14 19:17

One of my favorite styles of picture...I tried to get one like this myself when working with the fledgling Afghan National Army and touring a kitchen. Difficult to get, but you've done a great job capturing it.

deud (1841) 2009-10-16 17:03

Wow! C'est magnifique!

merci.