Θoughts…

Been awhile since I've posted something here. Seems summer is indeed a time to be idle whether I like it or not. I had plans to, at least, getting more into Geltani conlang project which had stopped completely for ages now, but my life pace in between mood swings and tired body because of the heat, all that left my activities dwindling. Yet, I'm still waiting for my new toys which had some delays and lags in placing their orders.
Anyway, things were not completely idle, but I've been busy somewhat trying to fix VR panoramas, old and new, in order to upload them to Facebook and 360Cities. I'm glad that Facebook enabled this feature already; I used to struggle with QuickTime VR photos. I have though to make a little twitching in the EXIF data of the image to trick Facebook machine into believing that my panorama image is taken with a dedicated panorama camera; a new trend apparently.
On the other hand, I'm a new comer to 360Cities, despite the fact that it is an old website for viewing and uploading VRs. I needed an easier medium to share my VRs, and after long hesitation, I've arrived to this one. I'm still learning to use the features in the website and it has some advanced viewing options (such as the architectural view) which expands the enjoyment range a bit.
Despite being a new comer, but one of my uploaded panoramas was an Editor's Pick and was displayed in the website's homepage! The VR is for a corridor just in front of the entrance to the main praying hall in Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque in Muscat, Oman; a VR I shot during a photography trip with the group to Oman in September 2015.


The Corridor

This same panoramas was also a subject for various projections as well as 3D rendering in various projections. The good thing here about 360cities is the fact that I can embed my VRs into this blog without the need to follow my old procedures and without the need for the viewer to have QuickTime installed! It is such a relief indeed, though it might be a bit clogged with tags displayed.
This is an encouraging start, and now I'm checking old panoramas that I've neglected doing a VR for. Some of them are troublesome of course and might need a lengthy work (and yet fixing them wouldn't be assured); while some of them are tempting me to re-shoot.

Thought

 Meanwhile, with some of this tiny success and reaching the 100-viewers limit for the previous VR, I come to think about the future aspect and how things would evolve in the future specially with the advent of specialized panoramic cameras, like the Ricoh Theta.
Generally, for the public this seems a plausible solution and an amazing tool with some artistic potential. Even though I didn't use any of those specialized cameras or GoPro, but I know they do have specific advantages that my classic methodology wouldn't compete with:

1. Such cameras provide (supposedly) an instantaneous 360^o capture. Which means moving subjects are captured with relative easiness.
2. Judging from the few samples I've encountered so far, seems that such cameras do provide a good exposure expanding the whole width of the panorama.
3. Easy to carry and place.
4. Some of them are able to make a VR Video and not only a stable VR Photo, which is more active.

These are just some of the points that crossed my mind right now. Anyway, I still don't believe those are a replacement for a "true" panoramic photography, or let's say the "classic" method of doing panoramas. This is for a number of points:

1. The higher resolution (not only in numbers but in sensor size as well) that is involved naturally with using DSLR cameras.
2. Even though it is not instantaneous, but it's a great deal for using the HDR technique.
3. More stable with a tripod (but I'm sure the new technology has its own methods).
4. More creativity in terms of using filters and converted cameras for shooting the panorama.
5. Stitching freedom and flexibility for more creative endeavors.

It would be nice to have one of those to try out, even though I'm quite busy developing my own style with panoramas specially with the addition of a converted camera to my collection. However, this classical approach is quite what businesses would need to publish and promote themselves. Just a comparison, I do already own panoramas that might be printed on 3 meters (~ 9ft) width of paper under 72dpi. One might argue that the file size for these 360 cameras is relatively small, and I'd say this is natural; their resolution is supposedly low (in terms of sensor size and photoreceptors size). The resolution is directly connected to the capabilities of printing later on, as well as the noise level and how much the image should be cleaned and sharpened. Let's face it, even DSLR images require that at the end, but the degree of work needed would differ (and full-frame cameras are more resistant to noises for various reasons). All that, makes me believe that the classic panoramic ways are still valid. Those new technologies might be just a "traveler" level devices (if I can call them so), which are used to document the moment rather than making art, or let's say delve deeper into the art. I won't talk about the VR Videos here since it's out of my "appetite."

Dawwar tal-Qaddis
Infrared panorama done with unconverted camera, and stitched in tunnel projection.

Finale

Now with the upheavals, and the ups and downs in my life, all I'm looking forward to is getting the new gear and start to work on something; anything. Not sure where life is leading me, but bit by bit and slowly, I'm seriously forgetting my interest in this world.
Seems there will be no traveling for me this year as I'm trying to restrict my budget beside other domestic issues in my life. I'm eager though. The name of Morocco is still a frequent visitor to my mind. The architectural adventure there must and should be an enormous one.
Till that day comes (hopefully), I have to work my mind out on my projects here, specially those forgotten ones…

Schnell…

Messy, messy, messy. This is how my life is right now. Thus, this post won't be going long for the time being. Good thing is I'm doing some new experiments with my camera and trying to capture some still life, applying some ideas out of imagination so to say.

In the air there is a chance for another commissioned work, to be gotten via a friend. On the other hand, I'm surprised that the client of my first commissioned work (back in October) doesn't want me to spread my own work. The agreement first was until the calendar they are going to do is produced, I have to keep custody of the images. Now, however, the calendar is made and the client doesn't want the images to get spread. I'm wondering about the legality of such action since the rights of these images are not taken. I'm trying to consult some people in the "know" but yet no reply so far. In the meantime, I decided to make a glimpse about one the panoramas done for my first client! Well, this wouldn't count as spreading the image, would it???



This is one QTVR only (and there is a larger version for it). I'm planning to do more from this location on QTVRs, but it would need further work with composing a nadir stamp or logo. A somewhat lengthy task.

Kbir Qaddis Ġużeppi - BW

On the other hand, I've started the process of converting some of the new panoramas into B&W; mainly those from Oman and Malta, but the start was with panoramas from Malta, as it can be seen with the first one to experience that: Kbir Qaddis Ġużeppi. Under this impression, it struck me with a surprise that I did not even think or tried before, to do a QTVR out of a panorama in black and white! Most of the QTVRs Ive made or even those I've encountered personally online, were in color. Panoramas in black and white would probably give an atmosphere of what I like to call now: Jonathan's Style, in reference to Jonathan Boakes and his famous game "The Lost Crown." Probably the only problem here would be with the seam line between left and right edges of the panorama; because this was usually done by Photomatix in the tone-mapping process for the original HDR panorama altogether. I'm not sure I've turned this option on when processing most of these panoramas (if not doing them in Photoshop already instead of Photomatix).

My mind now is so busy with many ideas. Visiting some art events like the famous Den Gallery (here in Kuwait) and the 16^th Theater Festival - these visits did spark my mind a bit and this what made me turn on the camera and work on bits of ideas (while abandoning some old ones). I wished to spread the results here today, but there is much to be done still and a long sorting process must be made to these images. I'm trying to extract every bit of possible angle for the set.

Time to post this and head to bed now… I'm not sure I want to see tomorrow though, but the only thing I want to do for tomorrow is work with my dear camera…

The Rant…

This is a quick wrap as I'm having a break from working on a new set of panoramas, in what is supposed to be my first commissioned work!
I got the job via a friend, but I will tell more after the whole thing has worked out. It is an interesting place and I'm already having the typical technical problems which accompany panorama-making usually. The work is needed by next Sunday, thus I'm trying to invest every second of my time, and every available space in the memory of my PC! As I'm writing these words the job is not over yet (that is the photo shoot) and probably more to come.

Architectural Anatomy

Meanwhile, I've been trying to dig more into previous panoramas, specifically those from Oman and Malta.One of the interesting projections I've "discovered" so far can be seen in Architectural Anatomy. A friend wondered why I didn't put the huge circle (originally an arc) down; the reason behind this is, when I formed this projection (planet projection), the view seemed to be like a head (and some did indeed comment that it looks like ET!), and hence the name. To imply this vision, I had to keep it that way as can be seen here.

Backbone

Also, there are the panoramas taken from Sultan Qabus Grand Mosque still awaiting for their turn of projections (even though I did extract most of these). One style that was favored by a number of people was Backbone, which for me does somewhat give a sense of Gothic architecture (despite the purely Islamic nature of the architecture in normal format). I guess maybe that's why it was liked by many westerns? Who knows! It was done in 3D as well (and it was liked mostly in 3D anaglyph format). In this specific vertical panorama, I've decided to go with the typical spherical projection instead of the Mercator which I've been using lately for vertical panoramas specifically. For some reason not so clear yet for me, it seemed that having an elongated vertical panorama with this one adds more strength (and probably this is what increased the Gothic effect).

L-Orizzont

My timing is a mess lately because of many preparations with the group (and I really hate it when this happens) - always jobs done to the last minute. Surprisingly, some of my accepted panoramas (in sorting) for some contests, was later discarded (but I'm uploading it anyway), namely L-Orizzont and some others. My experience tells me that some judges are way too much of a burden for no right reason. Same judges did already exclude some of my most renowned panoramas, like Easnacha, which is not displayed in Trierenberg's Luxurious Coffee Table Book Edition (which is printed in a limited number of 500 worldwide). For this reason, I'm giving a deaf ear to these comments and judging, and to some limit, I'm uploading what I see appropriate.

Easnacha

This coincides with my e-mail to Bruce Barnbaum, an author or 2 great books about the art of photography (and currently in the process of reading the second). It was great to have him reply to my e-mail. I asked him about his ideas about Panoramas, and Photography contests. Somewhat, it didn't differ much from my view (excluding the panorama part). Here's his reply directly from my email:

TJ,

I agree with you about panoramas: it seems that most people are doing them today simply because the CAN do them. I've seen virtually none that excite me.

Photography contests are utterly useless: It's much like asking, "Who is better, Rembrandt or van Gogh." The question, itself, is stupid.

Thank you for your nice comments about my book!

Bruce Barnbaum

I tried to let him judge some of my work with panoramas despite his disinterest in them, but he apologized about it for his busy schedule. No wonder. I do consider this man one of the cores of arts! Not only at the point of contests do I agree with him, but also in other stuff mentioned in his books (like he does not do much portraits and does prefer abstracts and landscapes). I'm greatly happy that he did answer my e-mail, and also having something in common with him somehow. Ironically, after sending this e-mail, I continued reading his book and I did read exactly what he expressed in his e-mail about photography contests.

I'm emphasizing this point because I do feel like I'm doing a job for others with one exception: it's not commissioned, but quite the opposite. I'm paying for these contests. Why? I know it's all about the reputation in the field and that makes a way for other relationships and revenues, but looking at the limit of the stress and the efforts done to get a single acceptable image (by the members of the group or myself), makes me feel that it is just unworthy and far from "art." We are, literally, spending hundreds of dinars every year just for such contests. Things are worse my way, since not much of them does understand or have some support to the art of panorama. They say you should do (or photograph) what you like most because it makes you indulge easily and get creative - and this is what I'm trying to do with my panoramas; yet, those who are supposedly to be the art-patrons, do not understand or simply neglect this art. That's it... ranting over.

Triq tas-Sema (road of heaven)
طريق السماء

Sewing…

Things are going in a fast pace here. Expo, international contest, and work; it's all having a toll on everything in my life, even photography and specially my health. There had been days now that I've simply stayed home just for some extra hours of sleep away from work and the photography club I'm involved in. On the other hand, I'm trying to quantify my work pace with my photos (from both, Oman and Malta) in the rhythm of two images per day; at least for the time being. One would be a single shot and the other one should be a stitched panorama in some projection not done before (all flat versions are stitched already).

Sewing Matters

As the big day of The Book annual is approaching, comes with it the pressure to introduce some kind of new photography and new imagery within the group (or club) to be presented in the photography expo coming along the event. Many professional photographers and clubs are invited to participate in this event, and hence, the job is a tough one; to stand tall among the crowds.

Maltese Abstract (3D)

From my part, I've introduced the idea of printing 3D anaglyph images and the deal was to push the whole group to do this activity, but alas, at the end it was only me who kept on working on this project. Hence, there was a great change of plans.

Maltese Delight (3D)

In the beginning, some of my images and panoramas were sorted out for this expo, but then seeing the lack of 3D images presented, the plans had changed and I won't be presenting these images. But instead, I will present two 3D images. Having done 3D panoramas in Oman was a bonus here; the two images selected for this task were from Sultan Qabus Grand Mosque: a panorama, and a single shot with my Rokinon fisheye lens. No need to display them here for the time being as I will leave that for the expo later on. However, these two were among a dozen or more of 3D images I've been rendering from Malta and Oman (and Malta specifically). From a list of 17 images which I deemed "meaningful," six were chosen, and those were filtered down to two for the expo display. The last filtration actually took place after a test print in A3 size on semi-glossy paper - not a good quality actually and the contrast increased significantly (a critical factor in 3D images), but it did the job to make a quick comparison and decision. Despite the increase in contrast, the images did show little or no ghosting at all.

3D Prints

As for the time being, all these images which were supposed to be printed for this coming expo, would be probably moved to the stack for Al-Thani international photography contest (organized by Trierenberg Circuit, organizers of Austria's international contest, which I've forgot to state before that they published another panorama in their luxurious edition). The contest has only 2 major themes: General, and Travel. One of the items here that I wish for it to be printed is the Sultan's Eye [عين السلطان], which I have plan for it to be printed and framed in a circular form instead of the conventional rectangular shape. It would be something non-ordinary, here at least.

عين السلطان (Sultan's Eye)

Anyway, if I get the chance to, I would present this for Al-Thani contest as well. The decision is left at the end for the judges who sort out the group's stack of images. The art I do, or specifically the kind of photography I do, is not understood by many and when professional photographers are invited to judge for the group members, my panoramas are deleted quite often and for various reasons; but mainly all stem from the fact that they don't understand what is going on or the nature of this image (and mainly thinking it is a graphic design which is automatically out in contests of photography). I'm not mad or upset about it, but in some ironic way it does show the mentality of photographers, specifically those old professionals and how they look at it. In any way, what really upsets me is when all options are exhausted and I would not be left with an accepted image to submit for the contest, or when such judging takes place so late, a day or two before the deadline day of the contest.

Finale

Despite coughing is being down a bit for the time being and I've stopped taking a nebulizer for my "asthma" (and I'm not sure it is a real asthma really), yet my health is still dwindling up and down. Suddenly sneezing with a seizure, or waking up late at night with a harsh dry cough. In all situation, my lack of sleep is greater than before. As of late, I would be awake for about 19 hours in exchange of 4 hours of sleep only, on a course of several days. Can't wait for this weekend to come and have some long sleep (and play some spooky games too!). I just hope all that would disappear with the arrival of the real winter whose rain showers appear last week with heavy rains and harsh wind (yet humid weather!). I'm keeping hopes that this winter will carry out more activities for me despite this shaky health. It is my favorite season in the year, specially when it comes to photography…

Barra (Outside) - 3D
Despite the strong 3D effect, this image didn't pass the sorting process.
Taken inside my room back in Qala, Malta, when it was raining outside.

Malta fil Orizzont…

My flight date is getting closer. Yet, I'm so tired to even pack. Allergies rounded a severe attack on my body since I got back from Oman. Seems like I had an appointment with bad luck since I got back here. I can't wait to leave on a real vacation for good, and hopefully all this allergic reaction is over with it. I don't recall in my life ever that I did consume such amount of medicines (nutritional ones included). I hate pills, but allergy and cough left me no choice; I do suffocate and lose concentration because of them.

Meanwhile, my progress is slow with the current images from Oman (specially panoramas). This is related to my sickness nowadays. I feel the need to sleep most of the time. I've been preparing some 3D panoramas but they won't be displayed right now for some reason. I'll keep them for another occasion. In addition, most panoramas from Oman had been processed in the regular flat format. Some are interesting in such format and some are yet to be manipulated further in other styles.

In The Court of The Sultan

In reviewing some of these panoramas in a meeting for our group to sort out what is appropriate for exhibitions, those panoramas with a sun halo were not much favored. However, panoramas like In The Court of The Sultan were somewhat saved because the sun disk was not completely obvious from behind the structure, beside other processing tricks which reduced the artifacts in this area. But…

Architectural Journey

Polar projections for the same panorama, Architectural Journey, was much favored that it made other panoramas in the list more or less like a child's play. However, it needs some specific crop to enhance the visual impact, the leader said. There are more projections awaiting to be processed for this panorama specifically, and for the others in general. Doing various projections is a must to extract as much as possible from a single panorama (which keeps me afloat in presenting some work all the time).

Sultan's Eye

One of most beloved panoramas for me right now is the Sultan's Eye. It is the planet projection for the inside of Sultan Qaboos grand mosque. The plan, if printed, is to present it as it is in a circular format. The leader of the group commented that it does need some tilt fix, and this is normal since I was not exactly in the center of the mosque. However, using the guidelines in Photoshop, everything seems to fall in place and it is perfectly symmetrical! This asymmetry would be more obvious in case that parts of the chandelier were obvious in the scene, but those were removed here because of a highlights problem.

Finale

The time is drawing near. Malta is in the horizon with lot of opportunities to photograph. I'm not sure though how easy it is to move around with my stuff, but one thing for sure after my travel to Oman: I need to drop some items down. Malta is full of history and the language in particular is interesting for me. How much I wish to go there and, in some way, never come back. Well, dreams aren't always easy; I know.
I have in this short period of time till the 27^th to invent some way still to fit gel filters comfortably at the back of the Rokinon fisheye lens. Some infrared shots from Oman turned so blurry because of the scratches on the filter. The only method (and not a practical one) I could think of so far is using a duct tape along in my kit.
This would be my last post before heading to Malta, and I'm not sure yet if I will be posting daily from there to document my activities like I used to do in Ireland. But I'll try anyway. I need to pack ASAP with this allergic attack. I just wish I'd come back 2 weeks later and find my reality is just different, just like that…

Post-Oman…

Here we are, a week after a rigorous trip to Oman last week, and still waiting for the upcoming (real) vacation by the end of September. I have to say though, despite the rigorous nature for this trip it was a 50-50 adventure; I had fun despite "some" circumstances that might upset lot of people in such trips. The trip was a photography trip in the first place, but Oman is such a beautiful place that 4 days are merely enough for a single place to "document" - least to say.
We used to go out in early mornings (usually 8 a.m.) and come back to our "dwellings" after dusk, and sometimes spending more than 3 hours on the roads traveling from one city or village to another. In this rush it was hard to document the activities we were doing by writing or typing, and I barely had time to even upload the pictures I've taken during the day to my laptop (did that in the last night in Muscat only). Just to give an imagination about the rush we were in, we did in fact start doing photography at the night of our arrival in Muscat, the capital city of the Sultanate of Oman. It was a minor activity to "grease" our eyes a bit - yet I did come up with some shots that might be favorable for the group's activities later on!

Zenith
Mohammed AlAmeen mosque. Muscat, Oman.
Rokinon 8mm fisheye, f/8, 1/4s, ISO400.

The architecture of Mohammed AlAmeen mosque was quite favorable but because of the tired body and mind it was hard to focus in doing much there. Yet, I did try my best and found my Rokinon 8mm fisheye lens quite favorable for such place. I had to do some body-stretching though, as in Zenith, where I laid down on my back pointing my head to one of the entrances of the mosque and resting the camera on my chest. Three bracketed shots were taken in this position, but since I was breathing (surprisingly!), the first and last exposures were hazy and shaken and had no choice but to pick the lowest exposure (at -2EV) to edit in RAW format, which made up Zenith. Considerable work was involved here to enhance the exposure and sharpness and reducing the noise, but I doubt that it would be a good view in a large print.
The main gain in the trip goes to those who are interested in portraiture and documenting the rural life of Oman (unfortunately, international contests are always emphasizing these elements which leaves me empty-handed). Some members did indeed bring studio flashes and monolights, dragging them wherever we go; and the apogee of such activity was in Bayt Al-Safah: the home town of our guide which was an active center for the surrounding villages along many aspects of day-to-day life in the past. In that location specifically I didn't touch my camera and I really enjoyed myself in the rural life style and the traditional music which I love.

The Race
Rokinon 8mm fisheye, f/3.5,
8m10s, ISO400.

Compared to other members in the group, I would be probably at the end of the list in number of photographs taken, specially that I was concentrating on panoramas more than anything else (but I did take single shots yet I don't think they add much to my arsenal but a mere documentation). Probably the thing that I feel sorry the most for is the fact that I didn't do much night shots despite the dedication from the group to do a milkyway-shot from the top of the mountains on our second night in Oman. The wind was somewhat cruel with our summer clothing and no jackets (which caused me some severe pains in the wrists in the following days). Even though I'm accustomed to such atmosphere but being on the top of the mountain was quite a dangerous venture and yet somewhat annoying because the job was done by a group and not a single person, me. As you can see in The Race, which was a star-trail shot rather than milkyway-shot, there is a trace of car lights which passed through the frame just seconds before the exposure ended. I guess it is just my luck and it is supposed to be so. Probably it does add some dynamic touch to the overall look of the image. I've raised the ISO here to 400 instead of settling with 100 to shorten the time (it should have taken around 32 minutes with ISO100); spending so much time in that wind and with other members lighting their torches on and off to see their ways would be just a vain. After completing this shot (and the only good one I suppose), I've went down back to the hotel (on feet as the hotel was on the top of the mountain itself) with some members leaving the others there trying to find their luck. It was an amazing night, and in the morning the sun light exposed many aspect of the breath-taking terrain surrounding the area: we were on the top of a mountain, where we could see other mountains below us. Definitely this place needs more than just one-night stay. Unfortunately, that morning and because of the pain in my hands, I didn't risk doing anything; it was a time to rest.

Ya'aribah's Halo
Al-Ya'aribah Mosque, Nizwa. Oman.

Panorama-wise now. I was reluctant to do a panorama wherever I go; this is mainly because of the time limitation imposed on the group's activities overall. For this reason, I had to inspect in a whim and make quick decisions about whether or not a panorama should be done here or there. Well, this made me forget some points and precautions (typical even in normal conditions), but the great challenge with panoramas taken from Oman is not the architecture and the looks, but the surroundings and the people roaming the place.
As we were going around typically tourists attractions, it was inevitable to do panoramas with people roaming the place. At the time of typing this, I did not inspect all panoramas but so far so good with those done with the stitching already. The greatest challenge though is to see the yielding results of stitching Sultan Qabus mosque's panorama; the mosque is said to have the largest chandelier in the world and it is a tourists attraction, while taking photos is allowed only from 8 to 11 a.m.; I'm quite positive right now that there will be a great deal of Photoshop work and skills needed in that specific panorama, and I'm relying on the HDR ghost-removal techniques to reduce (not completely remove) some of the movements in the place. The HDR technique did some nice job in other busy places before!

Solar Jabreen
Jabreen fort and castle. Bahla, Oman.

Problematic as much as it is fascinating, those panoramas taken outdoors did have the glaring sun disk in them. Fascinating for the fact that exposures are done easily (in brackets), and also increasing the depth of field does not impose an immediate lag in the shutter speed after all; the sun light is rough! On the other hand, it is problematic because the sun disk does not provide a pleasant addition to the scene with just a glaring white spot in the sky. For this reason, I've found myself doing the tone-mapping for these HDR panoramas using Photoshop to control the tones curve freely - this way I could create the annular shapes for the sun as can be seen in Ya'aribah's Halo and Solar Jabreen. This work did extended in fact with some few other panoramas after these two even though there is no sun disk visible in the scene but because of the harsh contrast between the sky and the other elements in the scene. One thing I wish I did (but couldn't) is an infrared panorama like the one done in Ireland under a diffused sunlight (but here we got a strong sun light which should shorten the time of exposures). The time limit did not allow me to achieve this dream. My infrared panorama from Ireland did have quite a voiced support from some of the audience in the latest expo.

The Waterfront (IR)

QTVRs are early to talk about but they are doable. Despite the fact that I've taken shots for the nadir point under my feet with the intent to clone the tripod and other elements to make them adequate to be merged into panoramas, I've actually just cropped the bottom areas of these panoramas to remove the tripod without adding a nadir point. When it comes to making a QTVR later on, I'll be adding a label with the name and location for that QTVR. The only backlash here is when other projections are needed where the nadir point might be in the front instead at the bottom, which calls for heavy skills in cloning as usual. Hopefully I'll be posting more panoramas in the coming days just before my second travel to Malta on September 27^th.

Finale

I do feel like a running horse right now; all work and no play. Work with my photos that is. We have a sorting meeting coming up next week and thus I must prepare as much as possible before coming Sunday. Meanwhile, I do feel like doing nothing. In fact, once my feet stepped on the soil of the homeland, I wished to go back to Oman; not to take photos, but to live - as simple as that. I think it is time to change the people around me, yet it is such a hard task to do nor visible in the near horizon. All I can do is just travel as much as I can, as long as my financial situation allows to. If one has a home that doesn't feel like home, and workplace that bears no respect, where one should be going next?

3D Fort
Bayt AlRideedah, Nizwa. Oman.
Click to Enlarge

Gallería …

This post contains a QTVR, which needs QuickTime to be installed. It requires some time to load and probably won't show properly on mobile devices.

Here we go now with the gallery (or expo). It really made my week busy, and made my plans go on halt for the time being, despite the fact that attendance there was almost a zero for most days. Yet, I had to attend and be there for some time now and then (except on Friday, in which I was really tired and needed to sleep). In the beginning I was reluctant to do any documentation, but then I decided to do some simple documenting, specifically for my own work, and add a twist to it by using anaglyphs.

Section where my prints are kept (on the right side of the hall from entrance).
They should look hovering above wall level when viewed properly.
Click to enlarge.

Doing a panorama, too, was out of question, but then I thought again why not document that whole hall by doing a panorama? Specially that I didn't touch my tools for a long time now (while trying to work indoors at home to no avail). This panorama specifically was a unique experience on certain levels. I've discovered that empty spaces do have their magic at some point, this is for one. On the other hand, some features were not quite obvious on location until I started working with the shots, this is for two. As for the third, it was the usual pizza-behavior as I call it - panorama stitching gone erratic. Something weird is going on with this behavior, and I must try to figure out the reasons behind it before heading to Oman on September 9^th.

The pizza!

I did the panorama shooting in one day, but since it didn't go well (as I said, pizza behavior!), I came back the second day to shoot. However, after inspecting some images, I could probably relate to the reasons for such erratic behavior in the stitching process; it could be the dirty lens which left some spots (probably causing the computer to calculate some control points for them), and to my surprise, I've found out that there is a whole angle or corner in the panorama which was left without shooting! It was definitely a job to be done again (and carefully this time), and after cleaning the camera and lenses thoroughly.

The Gallery

This panorama shooting was done in manual mode and I did some light metering around the set yielding 1sec exposure at f/11 and ISO100. This is the base from which I've expanded a bracket to take shots at -2 and +2 EV (that is 2 stops below and above the basic exposure time). However, the next day, the settings in the camera didn't change but I thought of reducing the f-number to f/9 while reducing the base exposure to half a second. This was done mainly for two reasons: a) reducing light source burst (star-like effect) which might corrupt the stitch later on and add unfavorable effect, and b) just to make sure that +2EV shots don't go way too bright but just enough to control the shadow areas later on. Moreover, I've used my white balance disk to pick up a Custom WB image, because the lighting conditions there were all mixed up (CFL and spotlights). A decision I didn't regret at all!

Initial tone-mapping settings before adding further adjustment layers.
I got to say that I like the shape of the final curve!

Tone-mapping the HDR panorama was done in Photoshop rather in Photomatix. This is because I needed some control over specific zones (to make the whole scene look as if it was a high-key shot), while suppressing some other zones; in a nutshell, Photomatix would be way too general to my needs here. The only mishap here is that the virtual reality (QTVR) would have an obvious seam between the left and the right edges of the panorama. Strangely, that did not happen, or maybe it did but my eyes are failing me! Photomatix supposedly is the only application that would make it possible to equalize the exposure and tones on the left and right edges. I was thinking of fixing that manually if I had to, but strangely, the QTVR was seamless!

QTVR

 As I usually do nowadays, I don't play it hard with the nadir shots (even though I do take them in the process, just in case). Thus, I've made the usual tag or title nadir shot on my own, with information about this QTVR (location, event, …etc). As I've mentioned above, I was surprised that the QTVR did not have a seam line, OR it might be just my eyes failing me. The irony here is that I didn't notice the arcs in the ceiling on location, but only when I started to work with this panorama already! Anyway, it was a lovely addition which transformed my work from documentation to working for art.




For this panorama specifically, it is better to see it in a small size, as there are several stitching errors even in the second trial to take the panorama (however, they were minor). I do suspect that Moiré effect does have a relation to this. But I need to check my no-parallax point in the configuration as well.

Finale

This might be my last post for now before heading to Oman next week, on September 9^th. Four days only, but surely they will be tiring. I've seen the proposed schedule for the shoot and frankly I'm not sure I will be able to cope with that but I'm hoping to do some panoramas there and night shots as well. Until then, I'll be wishing myself some good luck…

A surprise this week from m&m's. A heart-shaped chocolate legume!

Heedless…

Well, this is a quick wrap for the latest events here, after some long pause during Ramadhan. Ramadhan is over now and I'm trying to hop to the regular pace of a normal life (figurative speech). So many things to do here, including preparations for the vacation I'm planning to have on September, in which I'm supposed to travel to Oman first with the group for a workshop, and then I'm planning to head to Malta few days after that trip. I didn't organize the trip and timing still, and one thing new to me here is the transportation (supposing I'm going to land in Malta's main island, while I'd like to stay on the other island, Gozo). Up till this moment, I didn't even do anything about the visa.
Meanwhile, I'm not doing much with my camera except for visiting old photos and trying to do retouches and reworking some of them (specially converting some to B&W). I'm still aiming at that goal of doing a B&W panorama in JPEG format, but I'm still not sure about the location. Needless to say, summer is killing my chances in "cold" blood… pun intended.

Arabian Eye
One of the reworked images from 2014, adding luster to the iris and more sharpness.

This said, I did spend a considerable time with my Geltani trying to prepare some graphics to put on the page. I'm still not sure how I will send this to Omniglot, but anyway the process is going on. I prepare the characters for the syllables by scanning my own handwriting and then cutting the shapes and prepare them in a specific squared sizes to fit the main document about Geltani. This said, I did already add some more sounds to the syllabic system, beside adjusting some shapes for the 3^rd or 4^th time. Yet, there are things to add, and a numerical system to fix.

ِA scan for some doodles with
trials for the numerical system.
Click to enlarge.

In addition to that, I've added (or made up the idea) a symbol for stressing the syllable just as in Japanese syllables as well. The number of syllables so far exceeded 100, which seems a lot, but the virtue here lies in the fact that they are mostly systematic in derivation (or composing so to say). It is a leap if  I should say; there was nothing and now I'm already in the middle of something. I need to check some of those phonetic values and the transliteration system, essentially to be noted down in the document I'm going to send to Omniglot. The document must be in HTML, and with so many pictures, it seems I'm going to zip it all and send it over. Doesn't sound quite right though, don't know why exactly!

With all this work, and Ramadhan is over, I'm planning for some "move" that might probably get me to set a foot in some direction. Some celebrities did ask for the collection of photos I've taken for them on the stage after checking them out on Instagram. However, because of the malfunctioning endeavor with Instagram (which is embarrassing me a lot), it seems that I have to do it in person. I'm planning as well to make a print for a celebrity as a gift. I just need to know a way to deliver those to them!

Young and Old.

Meanwhile, I've trying to push myself further with poetry as I'm trying to get in touch with my inner feelings and expressing more of myself as I used to do in the old times. I've found out that some abstract photos that I've taken before do entice the memory and some writing capabilities. Well, it's not a joke to say that sometimes you have to be tortured just to do art, any art, if possible. Anyway, I did write a piece, which I called Young and Old, inspired by an abstract photo taken from Ireland in 2010!

Not sure for now what the coming days hold for me in store. All what I really want is just a vacation. A vacation... with that I should also be sleeping without thinking about the next day! I'm sort of having what I like to call a "relapse" to Phil Collins music. I was more into Irish music for some time. Well, Phil's music is good, pretty good, but I tried to avoid it in the past trying not to lick over my injuries… and I failed.

Hearts With You (Japan and free nations)...

Well folks, it is a sad week all over the world. I don't think I'm able to write something here for the time being, so I've decided to give some space for some humble effort from my side to help with the catastrophe in Japan.
I've tried hard to imply here some links for donations and I've emailed some donation websites to provide me with some clues, unfortunately none did reply, except of PayPal, which actually guided me to put my own icon and I then, should transfer the funds to donating organizations, which is a responsibility I'm fearing to take care of. One of the trusted websites as I believe must be the Red Cross, you can start from there if you really want to give donations and help give a life to someone on this globe, and surely one of these would be The Red Cross, or The American Red Cross here, as well as similar Red Cross bases all around the world. Also, PayPal's blog got interesting information if you are willing to help in some other way.

君が代は
千代に八千代に
さざれ石の
いわおとなりて
こけの生すまで

Looking up the Japanese national anthem to post it here, opened my eyes on interesting information and history behind the shortest national anthem in the world.

Maybe my words are not eloquent enough to describe the sympathy with the Japanese after such a disaster, but I tried to write something, and hope the overall meanings of my words reach to their ears and hearts as well. You are not alone...

The Rising Sun

Oh land of the fury,
the past shame and glories.
The happy moments,
and the animated stories.
On the edge now,
passing the train off by.
Like the world stumbles,
for a rage down from the sky.

Through the hardships,
through all sorts of pain.
The light kept shining,
so it will be again.
Raise a rainbow,
flip up a frowning face.
Time is a healer,
this courage I praise.

Devastation,
mounts of desperation,
unconscious sensation,
several might knock you down.
Trust me,
the world looks down so humbly,
and just crying so simply,
for a smile at dawn.

Kneeling, while I'm praying,
begging and praising,
amid the cries and keening,
to the Grace of One.
Look over here,
over this shoulder,
a caress in a finger,
just watch, the rising sun...

Losing your faith?
I understand...
The tears are down?
just take my hand.
Is it blowing?
not a damn.
Feeling cold?
here I am.

Crazy world,
evolves so fast.
No respect,
not a simple heart.
Just who cares,
when you smile?
Innocently,
from the pile.

And then,
if you have to mention,
all about this tension,
that goes in your heart.
Then know,
I am in here also,
for sharing a rainbow,
that won't depart.

Kneeling, while I'm praying,
begging and praising,
amid the cries and keening,
to the Grace of One.
Look over here,
over this shoulder,
a caress in a finger,
just watch, the rising sun...

Oceans of troubles under your feet,
Shakes and shakes, nothing to be feared.
Just like the world's king,
eternity seeking.
you are,
just like a rising sun...

Please note that there are some fake organizations that do take donations under such circumstances, so please, check into it more and make sure they are official.

Our hearts as well go along with the peoples of Bahrain, KSA, Libya, Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Oman and probably Syria on the way. Just like how the Tunisian poet ِAbu Al-Qásim Al-Sháby [English here] (1909-1934) said in his poem (and how ironic his own people started the flare of freedom in the Arab world as well):

إذا الشعب يوما أراد الحياة *** فلا بد أن يستجيب القدر

ولا بد لليل أن ينجلي *** ولا بد للقيد أن ينكسر

If the people one day desired life *** Destiny then must obey

And the night must clear out *** And the chain must break

The morning sun, will rise, definitely...