The Faces of Iraq - Photo Post 1
Balad-Ruiz,Iraq
Young Turkish girl in the city of Tuz Iraq
Market center in Samarra,Iraq
I would like to thank HDW for allowing me to use this space as an outlet for my personal photos from Iraq. I have read a lot lately about Photoshop on this site. Just to clear the air, I will let you know up front, that I use it on all of my images (personal) that are not used for OFFICAL USE. Being a military photographer, we are held to the same standards (Order #360-1) as the mainstream media, meaning we cannot and will not alter our photos (OFFICAL) to make them appear as something they were not.
This is my second consecutive tour of Iraq. My title this time is Non Commissioned Officer in charge of Team Bravo of the 133rd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment of the Tennessee Army National Guard. We are a team of 20 Soldiers who record history for the 101st Airborne Division from Fort Campbell Ky. My team of five covers the famed “RAKKASANS”. We go where they go. Prior to joining the National Guard, I worked for several large newspapers on the West and East Coast. Prior to that, I was a Combat Photographer for eight of the twelve years I spent in the Marine Corps. I am a self-taught photographer and have been to only one workshop (Eddie Adams I experience in photojournalism), where I was told by a very well known photographer that I had no future in photography. Part of my desire to be a photographer is because I like people. I enjoy documenting the missions we go out on but sometimes it is very overwhelming, because the missions are so quick. You have to pick a direction and run with it or you get nothing. To enter into the flow of peoples lives and to find that unexpected moment or the essential soul peeking out is an everyday challenge. My gear (not the Army’s) of choice is the D1X and D200, the lenses I use are the 80-200 mm, and the 17-35 mm. The D1X is a great camera, mine is held together with gaffers tape. I am not a technical photographer at all; never claimed to be and never will. I shoot everything on auto and concentrate on the subject only; I let the camera do the job.
I have three sons, one of which just recently graduated from Army Basic Training, the other two live in Texas. This coming October my tour will end here. I will go visit my sons for a few weeks and then will embark on a journey to China to photograph the countryside for a few months. That’s all I have. Enjoy the photos.
Klika
Tikrit, Iraq
Update:
More of Russell Klika’s photos are now available at Russell Klika dot com. - hdw
More From Sgt. Klika…
More exceptional photos of Iraq from Sgt. Klika here and also here.
With so many independent journalists–i……
Trackback by Dean's World — June 22, 2006 @ 1:11 am
As someone who uses Photoshop on a daily basis for my work, I think I should perhaps clarify what Photoshop can be used for.
Aside from photo manipulation where parts of one photo are combined with another, Photoshop is routinely used to adjust color, bring out or obscure detail, fix problems with the original shot (the mark of a good photographer is that very little has to be done after the photo is taken), repair damage, and do hundreds of other little tasks that used to be done in a darkroom.
When High Desert Wanderer mentions that he Photoshops all of his non-official photos, for the most part he probably means color and sharpness adjustments beyond what you would do for a journalistic photo, as well as removing distracting objects from the background. There also seems to be a bit of what is called a vignette effect on the central photo above; this is selective darkening of the edges to focus attention on the subject.
Comment by B. Durbin — June 24, 2006 @ 4:37 pm
Sgt. Klika,
Your photographs are beautiful! I am in awe. Thank you for sharing them with us and God bless you for your service!
Comment by Lady Jane — June 27, 2006 @ 5:05 pm
Faces of Iraq…
Please take a moment to visit High Desert Wanderer. Sgt. Klika is on his second tour of duty in Iraq and has guest posted some beautiful photographs he took there.
Here are the links to the posts. Stop by and say hello and thank him for his serv …….
Trackback by A Lady's Ruminations — June 27, 2006 @ 5:26 pm
B. Durbin, the photos are from Staff Sgt. Klika, and the PhotoShop comment your refered to was from him. I also use PhotoShop extensively in my position as a graphic designer, but from the safety of Virginia in my case.
Thanks for the comment.
HDW
Comment by HDW — June 27, 2006 @ 10:10 pm
Dear Staff Sgt. Klika,
Bravo! Thanks for your service to the country, and thanks for sharing your beautiful photos. I’ll put a link back here.
Godspeed,
D. Ox
Comment by Dumb Ox — June 27, 2006 @ 11:43 pm
Outstanding pics. My wife has an interest/hobby in photography and she really liked your pics and I am also going to share with her the gear you use for it. Keep your ass low and your head lower and come home safe, god bless you and your family!
Logan
Comment by Logan in Philly — June 30, 2006 @ 9:53 pm
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Pingback by High Desert Wanderer » Blog Archive » Rakkasans — January 12, 2007 @ 5:34 pm
Dears,
hope this finds you well
i’m very interested in having the copy write of the following picture
Young Turkish girl in the city of Tuz Iraq
to use it as a cover page for a social study report prepared for Iraq
please advice on how and the procedure we have to follow
many regards
Ruba hikmat
Comment by ruba hikmat — May 9, 2007 @ 1:57 am
Russell should have been automatically notified of your comment, and thus your request, but I’ll send him a note just to make sure.
Comment by HDW — May 9, 2007 @ 9:37 am
I cannot completely commit to Camp 1 as I do think there are times, and situations, where users have to take responsibility for their own choices. For example, if someone choses to remain on dialup when higher speed connections are available, and within their reach, I do not think I should be obliged to design with their free choice in mind. If they choose to stay with an older browser rather than upgrade, why should I have to take that into account? To do so would constrain design and possibly compromise the experience of others for no good reason. http://www.managehairloss.com
Comment by Hair loss — July 3, 2007 @ 3:41 am