Syed Shakhawat Kamal, QPSA  


DESPAIR IN DR CONGO.  by Syed Shakhawat Kamal, QPSA

March 2020 - DESPAIR IN DR CONGO.

About the Image(s)

This is from my archive of old photos, which was actually scanned from the photo made by my first film camera yashica MF-2. It was taken from a rebel camp of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) during my "Peace Enforcing Tour in DRC in 2003-2004. I have served one year period as an operational pilot of MI-17 helicopter to enforce the peace in the region.

It was made hand held with no gimbals. It was an opportunity based shot, while I landed in one of the rebel camp for reconnaissance mission and these young child soldiers showed up with their weapons. As we were representing UN, they used to respect us.

I was very fortunate to have this shot and could kept the historic moment right with these soldiers in the background of our helicopters. After scanning them, I did some simple editing with the CS6 for cropping and light adjustment.

Any new idea or suggestions as to composition or other areas, would be more than welcome for my image.


This round’s discussion is now closed!
10 comments posted




Gregory Waldron   Gregory Waldron
Syed,
This is a very strong image. Very photo journalistic. I ran a little noise reduction, cropped it in tighter, and flipped it to B&W. It holds up well both in color and B&W. Thanks for sharing such a strong image.   Posted: 03/09/2020 21:54:08
Comment Image
Syed Shakhawat Kamal   Syed Shakhawat Kamal
Dear Greg,
Thank you for your suggestions and they are truly as effective as you have mentioned. Loved the work you did on BW. I appreciate your kind words on the image overall. Means a lot to me. Sincerely. Kamal.   Posted: 03/09/2020 22:48:11



 
This is a very impressive journalistic image and I can imagine the importance it has to you. I understand you had very little time to record the scene. The young boys with automatic assault weapons make a strong impact. I like the background and the general landscape included in the frame.

Not knowing the time of the day and the conditions in which the image was taken, I find the image a bit on the flat side. I have selectively adjusted the brightness of the boys, particularly their weapons to draw more attention on the main subject here.   Posted: 03/10/2020 11:06:45
Comment Image
Syed Shakhawat Kamal   Syed Shakhawat Kamal
Dear Arun,
Thank you for the feedback. I will surely keep your suggestions in the consideration. your image processing really works for my
submission. this is really a treasure for me. Thanks again.   Posted: 03/31/2020 08:34:23



Stuart Caine   Stuart Caine
(Group 42)
This ia a very strong image. I cropped some of the right side and used CS6 and Topaz Studio 2 This is what I got.   Posted: 03/13/2020 14:18:11
Comment Image
Syed Shakhawat Kamal   Syed Shakhawat Kamal
Dear Stuart,
Thank you for the feedback. I loved the suggestions you made.
Your image processing really works for my image of this month
submission. Thank you very much.   Posted: 03/31/2020 08:37:36



Darcy Johnson   Darcy Johnson
What a powerful photograph; what a story it tells . . . I appreciate that you provided the context through your description of the image. Everyone's suggestions above have merit, especially about brightening.   Posted: 03/13/2020 20:47:32
Syed Shakhawat Kamal   Syed Shakhawat Kamal
Dear Darcy,
Thank you for your feedback.
Sincerely.
  Posted: 03/31/2020 08:40:02



 
To me this is a powerful image. I spent some time in Vietnam
and can relate to the youngsters being in and around the "action". I can't tell from their faces (not visible) if these young people are posing or actually soldiers. Because they do not have any other "combat gear" (bandoleers, ammo etc) it makes be think they are posing for the picture. At any rate this was a well done shot and with a little brightening would truly be an amazing incident.   Posted: 03/14/2020 14:30:04
Syed Shakhawat Kamal   Syed Shakhawat Kamal
Hi Bill
To be honest they are real child soldiers from one of their militia group. They were not posing & they had satchel full of Ammos, that they were carrying. it was on the ground & I was very fortunate to have them in the frame. Usually we were told not to interact with rebels. As you can see I landed in the rebel camp proximity. I had to make sure that I am friendly towards them & want them to be friendly towards us. Generally they used to respect for UN mission. Still I wanted to be cozy with them in the first place. Yes I was flying as a Captain or PIC of the particular Mission. Thanks for your kind feedback. I have been very lucky to serve the UN peace enforcing mission in DRC. We were the first to establish the mission there in Ituri Region, north eastern sector of DRC.   Posted: 03/31/2020 08:47:49