BH Neely's Photography

This is my last post from this blog location. Future posts will be from the new location at http://www.bpsphoto.com/blog/ . I'm working on bringing my family of sites into one space, with one look. The link for the RSS feed is at the bottom right of the new location.
Thanks for being with over the past several years, and I look forward with continuing to provide you with even more beautiful photographs from around the world.

Woodcut Detail #48, Studio, Kabul, Afghanistan

Somebody spent hours, days maybe, carving this thing by hand. I envisioned this shot as a river, but I don't feel it quite worked out as I wanted. It's nice, but not exactly what I thought I saw. Keep trying.

Woodcut Detail, Studio, Kabul, Afghanistan

When you can't get out and shoot due to illness and security restrictions, you look for stuff sitting around the house. On our recent trip to India, my wife bought a couple of woodcut printing blocks. So naturally I pointed my extension tubes and 50mm lens at them to see what would happen. A few nine-exposure HDRIs and several layers of Photoshop treatments later, I came up with this. I think I like it, but that could be the lack of oxygen my brain's dealing with.

Fallen Tree, Budapest, Hungary

 
The roots had taken such hold of the fence that when the tree went down, so did the fence. You don't really think much about trees until they do something like this.

Opera House, Budapest, Hungary

I'm sure you've heard, as I have, people extolling the virtues of digital v. film. Many allege that film is dead. That digital is technically superior to film in every way. To them, I present this as evidence. Shot with a 20-year-old Pentax 67 that I picked up with a lens for under $400, on Ilford HP5 film, you simply could not ask for a better photo. It is as sharp a photo as you could hope for. The tonal gradations are smooooooooth and rich. I think I need a moment alone.

It's one of the sphinx women flanking the State Opera House in Budapest.

Many thanks to Panda Lab (www.pandalab.com), whom I used to use when I was just starting to shoot b&w in the mid 90's. They were the friendliest lab in Seattle, and they only did b&w. When I bought the 67 and needed to get the film developed, I looked them up, hardly daring to hope they'd weathered the storm that took down so many good labs. Not only had they weathered it, they appear to be prospering. They do everything, develop color as well as b&w, scan film, make contact sheets and work from digital files.

Street, Spoleto (?), Italy

I think this is Spoleto, Italy, though I could be wrong (well, I KNOW it's Italy). Anyway, I love this photograph. It gives a flawless sense of place and feels nearly timeless. Even the stop sign, though it puts the era as any time after, let's say 1950, helps set the scene.

The Blue Mosque, Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan

If you're into religious history, the Blue Mosque in Mazar-e-Sharif is one of a few reputed burial sites for Ali, Mohammed's cousin and son-in-law (there's a lot of that). If the history's important to you, the Wikipedia page for it is probably accurate enough.

I like it for the gorgeous, reconstructed tiles in several shades of blue (and other colors). From a distance, all you see is the blue. Up close, you see a) all the colors and b) the intricacy of the tile work. Should you happen to be traveling through Central Asia, and have a chance to visit, it's well worth it.

Pedestrian, Dast-e-Shor, Afghanistan

About an hour from Mazar-e-Sharif on a desolate, dusty dirt road lies the village of Dast-e-Shor home to refugees repatriated from Iran. The scenery reminded me of southern Saskatchewan, without the benefit of field after field of wheat.

We were visiting a vocational education site where men learn carpentry and welding, while women learn tailoring and clothing manufacture.

Panjshir River, Afghanistan

It was a beautiful day in the Panjshir Valley. I thought I'd work with a duotone treatment. I did the lighter areas in a yellow-brown, sepia-ish color and the shadows in a blue. I think the brown conveys some of the sense of the heat of the day and brings out the dustiness of the hillside, while the blue helps out the sky and river.

I've heard that Panjshir Province is working on developing some sort of tourism industry...if you ever have a chance, go there. It's probably the safest place in Afghanistan, maybe the world, and one of the most beautiful places on earth.

Gullies, Hindu Kush, Afghanistan

On a flight to the Panjshir Valley, we passed over the southern edge of the Hindu Kush. That rectangle on the left is someone's homestead or field, rather dramatically disrupted by the formation of a new gully. I would guess the road in the upper right will have to be rebuilt after the spring floods...assuming we get enough snow this winter for there to be spring floods.