Local Mosque Photo

Photographer’s Note

Qarqara is the last village in Kazakhstan on the road to the Kyrgyz border in the Tian Shan mountain range. This is a shot of the village mosque with the mountains in the distance.

The mosque style, including the bright metal (probably aluminum) covering the dome, is around 100 years old, but the mosque itself was almost certainly built after 1991, when the Soviet Union broke up, as the Soviets rarely allowed mosques or any other religious structure to be built. They also forbade the azan, the Muslim call to prayer, and that habit seems to have continued; in 3 weeks in Central Asia, I heard the azan only once.

swiatopelk777, gracious, Dyerco, avene, shevchenko, Photo65Net, Budapestman, pablominto, plimrn, bobocortis, ChrisJ, gunbud, feather has marked this note useful

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swiatopelk777 (9240) 2008-12-04 6:58

Hi Daniel!
Very interesting mosque. Original architecture. Nice light and colors. Good capture. Very good info.
Greetings from Poland!

gracious (20017) 2008-12-04 8:16

Hello Daniel,
Thank you so much for this beautiful image of the mosque well captured with those wonderful light over the land! the pov is just great with good depth!
the image is sharp with very good details!
thanks for the notes as well
cheers
tony

Dyerco (9296) 2008-12-04 8:58

Hi Dan
The reflections on the mosque towers provide a bit of "bling" to an otherwise fairly innocuous building. The exposure is a bit under but given the light and time of day was probably the best choice. Good shot.
Phil

avene (11136) 2008-12-04 11:02

hi Dan,
I find it quite symbolic that the mosque stands alone in the middle of an empty field, I find it illustrates rather well how religion has to re-enter the former Soviet Union where it was almost entirely wiped out. I'd probably try adjusting levels since I seem to detect that annoying gray digital fog, but that's a minor matter, I like how the shining roof of the mosque seems to mirror the snow-capped mountains in the distance.

regards,
Kristine

shevchenko (10072) 2008-12-04 19:06

Hi Daniel,
The color of domes are harmonious with the color of sky, good pov and detail to show the structure of a local mosque, it frontgate look similar to Babylon style and side walls & windows resemble to Europe church, interesting related history, nice to see background houses too, thanks for sharing.
Ally

ahmetgedikli (22094) 2008-12-04 23:38

Hi Daniel,
Superb shot! Very beautiful architecture, light and good details...
All the best.
Have a good day.
Ahmet

John_F_Kennedy (31994) 2008-12-05 2:55

Beautiful architecture shot with many details. Amazing perspective. Really impressive mosque. Well done.
Best wishes,
Achim

Photo65Net (43096) 2008-12-05 4:10

Salut Daniel,
A nice architecture, and your exposure is very good to allow us to enjoy it.
Nice job,
Bonne journée,
JB.

Budapestman (42780) 2008-12-05 5:12

Hi Daniel,
Superb shot from this imposing mosque with spectacular composition. I like the particular atmosphere and the beautiful blue tints, the soft lights are attractive. Thank you for sharing. Have a nice day!
George

pablominto (41340) 2008-12-05 10:30

Hello Daniel,

The typical architecture is well framed, and the blue elements reminds me of a far more famous mosque in the same region!
Well composed and sharp fine details, the autumn feeling comes well through in the colours...
A lovely sky with some fine cloud formations in the horizon!

Greetings,
Pablo -

plimrn (19694) 2008-12-05 12:22

Hi Dan,
There is a nice harmony between the domes and the distant clouds and moutains. A mosque without people seems is unusual sight, the fence seems to emphasize its isolation. Your note is useful in explaining this unusual sight.
HLJ, Pat

bobocortis (14144) 2008-12-05 12:23

Hello Daniel.
I like very much the composition you took, with the well-decentered holy building having the main dome in central position in the shot.
I like the way the ìreflections on the metal covering the domes.
Best regards.
Bobo.

ChrisJ (70443) 2008-12-05 16:17

Hi Daniel

I visited neighboring Mongolia last year & its a similar story there. Religion was brutally suppressed for decades by the old Soviet regime but isd making a comeback of late. Did you try a shot from within the perimeter fence? A good travel documentary shot. Tfs!

gunbud (28153) 2008-12-05 19:03

Hi Dan,
This landscape look much like eastern Colorado where it is still falt with the snow capped mountains looming in the background.
The modern gray mosque contrast nicely with the cloudsless blue sky.
It is amazing how little was heard from this part of the world prior to the break up of the Soviet Union.
Regards, Tom

feather (50144) 2008-12-06 6:11

The architecture is beautiful with the shiny blue domes. The corner view works well in the composition as well as having the advantage of showing two facades. I was interested in Pat's point in your thread with Kristine about sRGB and am wondering if that is your answer, as I don't have the same problem and use sRGB. I read somewhere that the web cannot assimilate all the extra colours you get with Adobe RGB and hence images look worse when viewed on the net. I looked at the histogram of this and it is empty on the right, indicating it's too dark.
Kath