Buskashi

[maiaibing]

Buskashi is the Afghan national sport. Its a simple game with only one rule: no weapons allowed... Riders use their horses, their whips and themselves in the fierce contest for the dead calf which they ride down to a flag and back.

The uncompromising struggle for prize, the speed and movement, the dust, the harsh light and the very real risk of being run over by the horses (!) make this my favourite Afghan spectacle. Sadly the season is short, and security restraints only allowed me two shoot twice. All these from the same event. Link & Lens info at bottom of page.

Enjoy!























Most pictures Canon Xti with 100-400L and some with 70-200 f/4 IS L.
Full gallery is here: http://www.mellbin.com/K9-web/index.htm

 

[JMacedo]

WOW! These are terrific! You captured the action very well, great job, great photos. Not everyday we can see images like these. Thank you for sharing.
--
Kind Regards,

Jorge Macedo
http://www.shotsandstuff.com

 

[corvax]

wow what a mess. lol

Great action photos. Very well.

António

 

[mike703]

An awesome set of pictures, especially the close-ups of the horses... reminds me a bit of the film Ben-Hur!
Best wishes
--
Mike

 

[morris]

Excellent action photography. I wonder if letting a bit of the highlights go might have made for brighter photos?

Morris

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http://qcpages.qc.cuny.edu/~morris/POD

 

[Tomek D]

Awesome, you can feel action and adrenaline rush just by looking at them. Thanks for sharing.
--
Tomek
'Even a clock that does not work is right twice a day.'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tomcio77

 

[KeninDFW]

Very impressive series. #6 stands out above the rest for me.

--
Ken

http://www.pbase.com/kenindfw/galleries

Nikon D300 / 50 1.4 / 80 - 400 / 18 - 200 / 105 2.8 / 24 - 70 2.8 / 14 - 24 2.8

 

[jouni123]

As action your pictures are very good, with very strong feelings.

Copies could be lighter. Action looks almost brutal for a Scandinavian like me.

Whats going on ? What is this happening ? Why do they have animal bodies on the horses ?

Warm wishes, Jouni

 

[depleted]

great action.

 

[JClaude]

I am not really sure i like the subject, but there was a certain fascination looking at them, a bit like if I was watching it in the Nat Geo channel !

--
Jean-Claude
http://www.opusmeum.com
Personal Creative

 

[maiaibing]

As some of you have noted I have tried to control the highlights.

Maybe it is a little too much (I do not have a true color monitor with me here in Afghanistan), but the mid-day sunlight light was very harsh and I used some levels tweaking to counter that.

 

[MJapper]

maiaibing,

Sorry I am late in commenting, but these are incredible!

--
Mike

 

[maiaibing]

Whats going on ? What is this happening ? Why do they have animal
bodies on the horses ?

1) There are two goal posts - a white circle at one end and a green flag at the other

2) Everyone starts trying to pick up a headless calf from the circle

3) Small prize for rounding the flag with the calf, large prize for dropping the calf back into the circle again

4) Everybody competes against everybody

5) Riders will use arms, whips, legs - and the horses - against each others. The horses will bite each other and the riders.

6) Spectators, stupid photografers and anything else in harms way, will be run over by the horses (I have quite a few pictures of this from the other event, which was very crowded). Somehow Afghans do not understand that when 15 wild horses are stampeeding against you - DON'T turn your back to them, because you cannot outrun them! But they do - and they get trampled. Not recommened...

Finally. Why a dead animal? Simple; its heavy, it has "handles" and it can take the incredible beating, pulling and trowing around that goes with the sport.

Have to love it. Yes, it is brutal. But that is true for riders, horses and spectators alike.

Best game ever.

 

[LeungPhotos]

These are intense!
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http://photography.leung.us