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Ibraim Almazbekov
@ibraim_almazbekov
Best of the week 2 at #nomadict 2022
It was my father who instilled a passion for photography in me. He worked as an engineer at the airport and in addition, he worked as a photographer – shooting with old Soviet cameras. We lived in Karakol, the most tourist city in Kyrgyzstan, and he had to drive to all the villages and offer his services. At that time, people did not have smartphones and almost everyone agreed. Whenever he could he would update the camera and he was constantly trying to improve.
"Hence, we had a lot of family photos at home, and the camera has always been something special for me."
My own journey started with shooting photo reports for various volunteering projects. Later when I started working in tourism, I found a new meaning in photography. My first trip was to the border zone of the Issyk-Kul region – the abandoned city of Enilchek. The way to the city was very picturesque and my task was to make a photo report for social networks. During that trip, I realized that I had never traveled in my country!
Ever since, I have been going to the mountains more often and trying to visit many places in Kyrgyzstan; I love exploring new places, and I love documenting them even more. A turning point for me and my photography happened in August 2018. Our touristic project Visit Karakol collaborated with a famous and professional photographer from the Netherlands – Albert Dros – to promote tourism in Kyrgyzstan. My task was to assist and guide him through a unique program that we created. I saw and observed the whole process of photography during this project. Later, when the final photos were ready, I was very inspired by Albert’s work. I was surprised by how he had been able to show the experiences, the moments, the views, and the beauty of our nature.
"Albert still gives me advice and thanks to his full editing course, I have made great progress on the path of professional growth!"
Recently, I bought my first drone and decided to test it. As usual, before going somewhere, I plan my route on the map. My friend and I decided to see the “beginning” of Issy-Kul Lake. This lake cannot freeze in winter, but I have heard that the beginning of the lake does freeze. We decided to check this theory. To our surprise, when we arrived, the lake seemed all frozen. Local people cross the lake by car and some go fishing. In my case, I flew the drone. I wanted to see how far the lake froze. I had to fly 3km to see the end of the frozen part and it was very beautiful! Against the background of the Tien Shan Mountains, the lake looked very unusual.
It was important for me to arrive on time and see what could be a great place for photography. I was waiting for sunset, but it was not as spectacular as usual and was more bluish. After reconnaissance, I saw how and where the lake begins and it was important for me to put it in the whole frame. The idea of my composition was to show Lake Issyk-Kul and the mountains of Kyrgyzstan. With the edit, my goal was to show the scale of our nature – I tried to highlight the lake to convey its length. Also, I wanted to maintain natural colors – It was almost a blue hour and I wanted to have this clearly visible in the photo. I darkened the right side of the photo to highlight the last light from the sun on the lake.
In general, when I edit a photo, I don’t have a single style or fixed process because every moment can be different and I try to play with the editing tools until I achieve and see on the screen what I actually saw and felt at the moment of shooting.
Shooting this photo was a new experience for me, because drone and camera photography are different in terms of composition and angle. I realized that you can show the scale of landscapes more easily and find an unusual perspective. I have a goal to break the stereotype about gear, because I don’t have the most professional drone or camera. I think the main factors needed for a good photo are the skills and the idea. In any situation, you can find a solution. For example, I only have 12 MP on my drone, but I can use the image stacking technique to increase the quality of the photo. It is a great inspiration for beginners.
I am very lucky that I was born in Kyrgyzstan, after all, this country is a paradise for photographers. My country has directly influenced my creative activity and there are not so many landscape photographers here. It is an honor for me to represent Kyrgyzstan and be one of the first photographers in our generation.
My country is still unknown to the world and has many stereotypes. You will be surprised how good it is here and everyone can discover Kyrgyzstan in their own way. If I were to describe my country to a person who knows nothing about it, I would say: Kyrgyzstan is like Switzerland 100 years ago, and 5 times bigger. It has more than 2000 lakes, 40000 rivers and 93% is mountain. Believe it or not, but you can find similar landscapes as in Canada, the Alps, Norway, Scotland, Iceland and many others.
There are many unexplored places and all four seasons are very distinct. The colors of nature often change and because of the high mountains and along with clouds, there are insanely beautiful sunsets!
"So, give Kyrgyzstan a shot!"
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