Spaziergang II…

And we come again to the Spaziergang, or walk, which I've talked about in my last post. Unfortunately, up until the moment of typing these words, my idea for a third walk or "spaziergang" is not yet fulfilled. We had some heavy rains recently (which is good and bad altogether) and the weather would have been good for going out. By my lack of sleep and the totally out-of-sync sleeping pattern made it somewhat hard to cope. Adding to that, I'm still (STILL) not decided on what lens I should be using! This is some story for some other day I guess, whenever I decide that is…

Stroll II

My Neighborhood

Voigtländer skopar 20mm f/3.5
Notice the f-numbers on
the left and right
which help on pinning the hyperfocus.

Just like the previous walk or stroll, I've decided to use one camera and one lens. The camera is, again, my modified or converted Canon EOS 7D, but the lens now is Voigtländer 20mm f/3.5, fitted with H-alpha filter. The previous stroll was done using my favorite Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM lens.
This lens, Voigtländer 20mm, imposes a kind of a challenge because it is semi-automatic, and that means few things:

• I can't use the autofocus (there is none).
• Depending on LiveView without autofocus (because of the filter on the lens front) and that might give me hard time in pinning the sharpness I need.

Thus, to solve the issue with these major obstacles, I've decided to depend on the principle of hyperfocus. It's kind of a lengthy a story to be explained here but many websites are dedicated to this issue and how to achieve an acceptable sharpness (a concept majorly common in landscape photography). Thus, I've anchored my f-stop at f/8 and rolled the focusing ring in accordance to that, as in the usual methodology of the hyperfocus principle. And first shot, as a test, was for my neighborhood as soon as I left the house. In the shot you see above, I've pointed the camera to the direction I've gone through in my first stroll. This stroll, however, is in the opposite direction to that and going through to reach the main road outside the block.

بَياض
(whiteness)

I have to say, the beginning was not quite "encouraging" or maybe I should say "exciting". The irony is, as I started looking, it seems the targets that I was finding are all fit for the 50mm lens rather than 20mm! Or could that be MY eyes are just adapted to the previous lens and not used to see (visualize) the new perspective of 20mm? I'm not sure really, but anyway I've started to shoot, or try to, starting with a flowerpot near one of the houses. The shot, Whiteness, underwent some cropping and perspective fixes later on in the processing stage as I wanted to make out an image that was divided into three equal bands of objects (just like a banner or a flag). The original color of the blooms was yellow. I did wish to capture some of the dew or droplets on these petals but that requires 50mm (and maybe an extension tube as well). Anyway, after shooting this I've tried to just forget about it and enjoy the ride and not be too technical until I reach home and check the photos up close and personal.

بَهيجْ
(gratifying)

Not far from Whiteness, I've walked along and reached the main 2-way road separating my block and the next block. This road ends with a traffic light that would lead out of the area, and in normal days in the past, this one would cause one heck of a traffic jam at such time I was out in. Luckily though, things were quiet. I really didn't have any aim when I shot Gratifying but I just loved these clouds and thought to myself that I must capture the moment here, thinking that the road itself might work as some sort of a leading line. However, this leading line is definitely NOT leading anywhere! The clouds and the light gaps are somewhat hovering around the beginning or the middle of the road and not in the horizon, where the road is leading to. However, Gratifying is somewhat special to me in some way; As I usually don't use split-toning with shots taken with the H-alpha filter (or any infrared or UV filters for that matter), I've decided to use split-toning with Gratifying and I think the result was astonishing and more "dynamic"; Color-wise. The light rays were done deliberately in edit.

هُيامْ
(ardent love)

Still on that road (pictured above), I've encountered some nice bushes with some blooms, and again, I did wish if I had my 50mm lens with me instead of 20mm! Anyway, there was no use in feeling sorry about that and the whole stroll was to be a challenge to force myself to work with the camera. This time, though, I've decided to break the hyperfocus principle, since I'm shooting up close to the flower (whose original color was yellow, and I think called yellow trumpets). I've rolled back the f-stop down to f/3.5 (the lowest for this lens) to blur the background as much as possible (though still not as awesome as f/1.4), and I had to re-focus. Re-focusing with a semi-automatic (or semi-manual) lens using LiveView is not an easy task, specially without a tripod to rest the camera upon. The hands can get quite busy and shaky! Anyway, to make sure that I don't miss a thing, I've taken several shots with a plan to check them out for sharpness at home. Despite the sharpness, though, I've decided to make the image softer when it processed as I think it adds a dreamy look better. Also, the red colors for the leaves did fit the scene better I guess more than the typical turquoise tint, which is typical for this filter. Of course this was done by swapping the channels (red and blue) and I've found a simple way to do that instead of using the usual Channel Mixer adjustment layer as I used to do with other infrared images:

1. Add an Invert adjustment layer on top.
2. Set the blend for the Invert layer to Hue (or Color).

Of course this won't give out a delicate control of the levels for the R, G, and B channels but it is just about enough to do a channel swap between the red and blue channels. I've tested this method with my old way of swapping the channels using the Channel Mixer adjustment layer and the result was a match.
Anyway, the final image of Ardent Love had to go other processes, the major of them being a crop to remove the excess in the background. After shooting this, I've kept walking and reaching to the "boundary" of my area, where the fun was about to begin.

أَطْيافْ
(apparitions)

I then started to cross the road (a busy one) to read a junction of a bridge that overlooks a tunnel. The tunnel is an extension to a highway (Kuwait is small so our highways are not like the highways in bigger countries). I have to say though that the scene and even crossing to that location was quite "phobiac"; That is, it kicked my phobias to life. The junction itself is like a U-turn and it was busy at the time of me walking there. Looking at the cars passing under me made my knees go soft just a bit and for some reason I started clutching on my camera fearing that it would fall off down into the tunnel; This is while it is already wrapped around my neck with the strap! Anyway, enough with my phobias. This is not my first time in this corner in fact, but I've been here in this place many years around dusk time (blue hour) with a tripod even! This time though, no tripod, but just a camera and a lens (and no ND filters like the other time). I've started to shoot several shots (all bracketed in case I need them in HDR) and I didn't mind the movement of the cars of course, as this was part of the plan to add some motion blur and make the image "alive". Despite being one of the earliest shots in this stroll, I didn't process this image earlier when we I got back home. Anyway, there was no HDR involved but I've stacked about 5 to 6 images and blended them together, which made the cars look like ghosts (hence the title). Which inspired me for such a title further is the overall bluish streak or tint which occurred unintentionally, but I've increased its impact through vibrance once I've noticed it.

يَوْمِيًّا
(daily)

مِنْ-إِلى
(from-to)

Just before I leave the junction I thought it would be a such a loss if I didn't take some more images in hope to create something. Composition-wise, there are some good chances in that place, but the rest is left to the quality of light, and in that situation I was shooting with a filter and with a not-so-wide lens. However, I still tried to make the best of what I have with Daily where a kind of guide or leading lines are formed but the problem is, there is no real destination or some target in the horizon to point to! The cars in the tunnel kind of helped to add a direction as well but the cars on the left were kind opposing this general direction. Philosophically speaking, it is kind of a reflection of life and its currents I would say. In the same manner, From-To was shot as well but in portrait orientation and stitching 2 (originally 3 but had to discard one) images together. The leading lines here, as I think, have less impact on the viewer because the bar is quite close to the side of the image and causing to be more of a frame rather than being a leading line. In this image, I've swapped the channels, and it is worth noting that since I've realized how to swap the red/blue channels easily using the invert adjustment layer, it became almost like a standard practice to try and swap the channels on any image I work on (even normal ones that are not infrared or taken by any filter). 

خَرَسانَة
(concrete)

Leaving the junction (with some hard movements because of the narrow spaces there), I've headed back to the area away from the busy road and started walking on some asphalt road around some backyards of the houses on the edge of the area. Probably it serves as a walkway for jogging as well, don't know! Anyway, as I've explained before, it was rainy the day before so the place was full of "ponds" (if I can call them so). Unlike other moments when I started this stroll, where I wished to have my 50mm with me, this time I wished if I have my polarizer with me to enhance the reflections off the pond. I have to admit though, the subject matter here is not quite interesting; Not to me at least. But I couldn't let go of a chance to shoot reflections here. I think this shot proves that however digital you go, you would still need filters at some point! I've shot this in brackets (of course) and in fact the photo you see here is tone-mapped from HDR, but I didn't like the idea of going crazy with processing the image. I might try that later (just might!). I was trying to enhance the reflections further by tone-mapping the HDR but nothing can replace the good ol' polarizer.

اِرْتِباكاتْ
(confusions)

غَوْرْ
(depth)

Shooting reflections continued at this point as I kept walking along the fence that separates the area from the main road bordering the area, as I was hoping that I would capture some good reflection. Despite going all the way down almost kneeling on the ground, but that just was not enough. Probably, as well, the composition and the subject matter were not quite interesting, I'd say. Anyway, to make some interest out of these "boring" images like Confusions and Depth, I've sorted out to an old trick: Changing perspective. And this is done mostly by rotating the image for 180^{^o}. Done it before and it worked, so hopefully it does here, though I didn't get much feed back on these. Currently, my participation and involvement with the social media is ebbing low. In fact, I don't think anyone cares what I post, and I don't care either.

الصاعِد
(the ascendant)

As I walked on, I reached a pedestrian bridge that connects my area with the adjacent one. I've shot a panorama on such a bridge but on another location in the area, back in 2013. Essentially the design is the same, except that near this bridge there is a tree. I liked this tree so much (yes, I'm a tree hugger) specially that it is by the stairs of the bridge. It happens then as I was trying to find a proper angle to shoot this tree, a man passed by. Usually I wouldn't bother with people (street photography is not my thing) but since the man was giving me his back and not looking at the camera, I thought that it would be a good idea to snap the shot. Of course I didn't have my enough with a single shot, but after sorting the images and checking the movement of the legs and the distance of the man, I finally picked what it became The Ascendant (yeah my interest in astrology is getting the best of me here). In the processing phase, I've swapped the channels apparently (in case you couldn't tell so far, everything is reddish in hue instead of blue), and also tried to darken the atmosphere while focusing (dodging) the periphery of the man to grab the focus; Aided with some slight vignetting. At this point, still, the main aim was not achieved! And that is, shooting the tree beside the stairway.

المُسْتَظَل 1
(sought for shadow 1)

I was in dilemma as no specific angle did give the perspective that I really like about this tree, and thus I've decided to go for a hand-held panorama. Such kind of panoramas are always risky at some point in that some angles might be missed and some details won't be there for stitching. Anyway, despite shooting for HDR, I didn't really use the HDR technique here but simply edited the RAW files. At this point I think I got what I was looking for (of course the results were not obvious until I got back home and started to edit the photos). In case you are wondering about the name here, this is just the nature of Arabic where one word can replace a full phrase or expression in English.

المُسْتَظَل 2
(sought for shadow 2)

Of course I had to try out and swap the channels as usual and honestly I was puzzled a bit as to which one is better-looking. I like them both. I sought some opinions from family members and friends and they do prefer the second version (with channels swapped) and on Instagram (yeah, I'm posting back to some extent) the trend seems the same with slightly more likes to version 2 than to version 1. However, the dreamy look that I've worked on in the processing phase, is more pronounced in version 1 as I see it, and that is probably related to the nature of colors, as red might be rendered sharper to our eyes as I believe. Just an opinion. And probably the intriguing part of this image is not the tree itself as much as the small portion of shadow cast on the stairway (and hence the name). I have to say though that it was such an overcast day and the sun was barely visible at that time (almost 8 a.m.), but with some contrast, shadows get pronounced more in the images.

مُضَلَّعاتْ
(polygons)

The fun then just began as I climbed up on the bridge, and I have to say, my retinitis pigmentosa did cast its hideous shadows here. One of the biggest problems for me comes when the environment becomes too much grayish, bright or too dark; In such situations my eyes start to play tricks on me and I don't know the limits of the objects, specially stairs. In such instances, I have to move slowly and sensing my steps with my foot before going up or down. Anyway, upon reaching the "post" after the stairs, I've noticed some interesting octagonal structures, and again, I did wish if I just have something else me here, and this time, my panorama gear altogether! Well, I had to work around this need by doing a hand-held panorama, but this time it was a bit extreme, as I started taking photos and bending my back backward shooting photos are more than 90 degrees. Luckily I didn't get any back pain afterwards! Anyway, the shoot was bracketed of course and this time I DID work with HDR and then tone-mapped from HDR. There were some features in these gaps that I had to clone out. Swapping channels did not change much with the looks and by this I kind of gone depressed because of all the "gray matter" here. Colors would be pronounced more with lively trees with leaves, usually. Anyway, I lie hope in the clouds to make some interest in such images despite the gray looks. Probably even more than I lie hope in the geometrical shapes.

صِراطْ
(straight path)

Then comes the best part from the bridge. Something that reminded me of the old days when I did a panorama on the pedestrian bridge on the other side of the area. Actually, Straight Path, was not a single shot itself, and it is technically a panorama indeed, even though it was not calculated for. The problem here is that the shots are in portrait orientation, and for such geometry, or more precisely, for such a vertical panorama (regardless of its length) one should consider shooting in landscape orientation. Anyway, I was not planning for panorama work at that moment, when I pointed my camera and tried to be at the center as much as possible (and still missed it, sometimes it sucks behind a left-handed). As I got to the processing phase with this set and trying to pick the best candidate to go on with the process, I realized that maybe a combination of two or more would be better in fact, as one shot included too much of the top (the octagons) and another had too much of the ground. Thus, in between the two, it sounded logical to strike a balance by merging the two to form one image. Of course, some cropping was due after all as it can be seen that the top portion is longer than the lower one. Also, I had to work selectively here with layers to sharpen and enhance the details of the bridge in isolation from the rest of the image (the background). After finishing with these shots on the bridge, I've shot the tunnel below again but I guess nothing much to be said about this one except that it was processed with split-toning like Gratifying above. Probably these two from the set are the only ones that had been processed with split-toning, so far. I'll post it below (To-From The Capital). 

صَدَقَةٌ جارِيَة
(perpetual charity)

At this point, I thought it is maybe time to get back home now (I think I've spent less than one hour a bit in this stroll so far). Here, I've encountered what we call here [ماء سبيل: maa' sabeel]. It is a drinkable water outlet (cooler) usually placed near homes for any passerby to drink, as a form of charity. This particular place and object got my interest. I have to admit here again that it might have been better to shoot this with 50mm. Anyway, this is not the main point of this image, but it was the working within HDR. Typically, I would just merge the slides into HDR and then tone-map them (using Photomatix). My typical workflow changed a bit when I noticed that I've captured a lamp post just behind the cooler and the idea got into my head: Let's light up the scene!
I'm not quite the expert with such a task but as I've read about HDR techniques (specifically by Christian Bloch), I've got the idea that working in HDR, is simply Paiting with light. Thus, after merging into a HDR image, I had to first work on some minor issues (but took a load of time!) with the perspective and cropping. The rest then was a matter of trial and error and a LOT of adjustment layers to light up the post AND mimicking its feathering over the surrounding area. Saying it is easy, but keeping it as real as possible is a hard task filled with trial and error. Needless to say here that I needed to change the scene from "morning-like" which is the original, to "evening-like," and some problems later on rendering and tone-mapping the HDR file itself. To be honest, I'm still not quite satisfied with Perpetual Charity but I can say that I did my best here, and I did enjoy working with it more than caring about the final results in fact! I don't often work in HDR images in that manner as I tone-map right away most of the time. 

ما بَعْدَ العاصِفَة
(after the storm)

Just before reaching home, I was passing through a wide space (used to be a playground of some sort for football (soccer) for the kids in the area but now it is merely a… little lake after the rain. When dry, this space serves as a junction and a parking lot. Anyway, as I approached this space, I've noticed some seagulls (yes, seagulls, my area is close to the seaside) and being frustrated myself because of not having a proper lens, I've started to capture the scene in hope that I get a trace of the birds in their low flight (hoping to crop the image later and make it look better). However, I ended up with something better, to me at least!
I've shot After The Storm with bracketed shots (randomly point the camera to the direction of the birds). Anyway, as I processed the image, I realized there is no trace for the birds! Anyway, I didn't process the shot in HDR but I've combined portions from the dark and the bright images manually, in addition to the crop. The light beams in this shot are real and not edited except for some contrast added to the whole scene (unlike Gratifying above where the beams were added in the process). One thing upsets me though about this shot, and that is the car and the boat on the right, taking so much space form the image and kind of "uncroppable"; If this is a word anyway. I wouldn't say it is something to participate with or to print despite the lovely light beams.
At this place there had been other shots as well for some tires and sand but I really couldn't find any interest in the composition (specially that the background was not blurred enough even at f/3.5, the lowest); Thus, I've forgot about these shots and didn't process them at all. I'll keep them just in case, as I usually do!

Finale

مِن-إِلى العاصِمَة
(from-to the capital)

يَتَدَلّى
(dangling)

So this was it with my second strolling out, and up until typing these words things are not clear about my third stroll that I've been planning for for weeks. Meanwhile, my mother is having health issues and it keeps my brain exhausted to even think of holding a camera. I literally don't know how I am typing this blog post (I'm gathering a bits of minutes here and there to type this).
I had plans to post something in my Arabic blog but that also is postponed still since I can't find a good topic to post there. As if this is not enough, I got myself entangled with my brother's studies as I'm trying to help him out (since his English is not good). With all such mess, I think I will be taking some time off from blogging here.
My mood swings had not been the nicest for a while and I have to say that each day is becoming a struggle to have my own peace of mind and to control myself. One way to cope with all of this mess in my life is to read Quran every now and then, specially in daytime under the sun (for sunbathing while reading) or late after midnight when everything is (almost) quiet outside. Sometimes I do even play some Quran from YouTube and wear my headphones to help me go to sleep. Some might say I'm too religious, but with the standards for I live, I am not really so. These interests or curiosities are merely a norm and people here are "supposed" to do or to inspect from time to time, as a way of straightening the soul; And how few of them do right now. I wonder also if traveling would enhance anything with my mental status. I surely need a change in scenery but of course traveling in such circumstances is hard to be done (even before COVID). There is so much mess in my life and I need a good broom to sort things out…

Spaziergang I…

The weather is getting better (in my terms) and looks encouraging for some outdoors activities. I'm not an outdoor man generally speaking, unless it comes to some solitude and lone walks - with or without a camera.
So far, at the time of typing these words, I've gone indeed into 2 strolls and planning for a 3^rd one when everything settles in properly. Anyway, just not to put all the eggs in one basket, I've decided to dedicate a blog post for each stroll, as much as possible.

Stroll I

Things were not planned, to begin with. Just some nice weather and a quiet morning; Things I do miss indeed. I cannot describe it with enough clarity but I can say it was somewhat like a sudden surge of energy that rushed through me and pushed me to change clothes and head out with my camera. It was one of these challenges that I used to set to myself when going to work on some days; One camera, one lens. However, there was a catch: A filter.

One Normal Day

The lens of choice here was (my trusted) 50mm, and the filter was my H-alpha (which is a filter dedicated for night sky photography). I picked this filter specifically to see how it responds to light in normal conditions like these (the sun was not so strong though, it was a cloudy day) and this filter acts like an infrared filter of a low threshold (not scientifically but I mean in the looks of the images) and that's why I've picked this filter specifically. The camera is, of course, my modified Canon EOS 7D. Even though the H-alpha is somewhat forgiving when it comes to viewing through the viewfinder (unlike regular infrared filters), yet working with a mask on and wearing glasses made this task difficult and I had to go with shooting using the LiveView instead. Shooting using the LiveView is somewhat cumbersome even though the shutter speed with high enough for stabilization while using this filter. To be on the safe side, I've decided to shoot bracketed shots; Shots like One Normal Day (which was a test shot) and more later to come, were mostly those of lower EV value because they were the most stable ones. Were I to shoot using the viewfinder, things would have been more stable.

الياسمين على الخد قال
(the jasmine on the cheek had said)

One of the things that keeps me from going out strolling and shooting images is the people around this area (almost everywhere here actually) which, if not taking privacy beyond the reasonable limits, would be bugs in the armpits (I came up with this). Anyway, I've kept on exploring around trying to find something interesting in some way and I did find some, but kept it for later because some people were standing there and I didn't want to stir trouble. I've even started to shoot some cat on some trash bin to ward off attention (I kind of like that shot though but I never posted it anywhere). Anyway, seeing that I might get more attention if I remained in one place and not moving, I've kept on going with the intention to get back to that location later to do the shot that I had in mind. This is where I've encountered some garden with a fence with some (Indian) jasmine flowers; We had a similar plant in my workplace and it attracts flies, but good thing there were none when I wanted to shoot that. There was only the keeper of the garden who greeted and was happy to watch me shoot the flower (and maybe was hoping that I would take a photo of him!).

Now, processing these images (later after the stroll) did produce such a nice turquoise tint (naturally) to the leaves while keeping everything else almost close to B&W; But things will change as it will be shown later. I could also go on and explain the procedure for processing each shot (specially the crop) but I guess no need for that here right now. I just hope you get accustomed to seeing Arabic titles for my images here as I preferred to use Arabic for these shots! Usually I use one or two words, but the jasmine shot reminded me of a line from a song, so I used it here.

The Signal

When it comes to surprises, I was kind of not disappointed in fact. I'm still wondering what is that thing that bears the Batman logo on top of it. I really wanted to turn around and take a shot from the front of this thing but I felt like someone is watching me so I decided not to linger longer here. One of the mistakes I did when shooting this, though, is not placing the Batman sign on the left to give it a proper space and direction. I've also decided to crop it first but then I've realized that the crop would take out a lot of the space and the environment around the sign so I just kept it as it is. Not a photo that I would use to participate in contests or anything but it is a good practice to notice and study.

Urbangle

Some surprises, on the other hand, did require a bit of scrutiny, as is the case with Urbangle. As I kept walking forward, after shooting the Batman sign, I was rolling my eyes around (literally, because of my retinitis pigmentosa) trying to find out anything interesting, when I noticed this leather sofa which apparently had seen better days, and been devoured by these palm trees outside one of the houses. I'm not sure what's the story here but apparently someone (probably a gardener or someone who works for one of the houses) used to rest here as I noticed an extension cord and a cable, probably acharger of some sort. Anyway, without thinking of the final outcome, I've snapped the shot as I thought it is kind of "funny" (my sense of humor isn't class most of the time). Later, at home, when this image was set to be processed, I was amazed by the colors (and here, I've processed the dark version of the bracketed set); Somehow, it looked like a fluorescent image and surely served a certain mood. Originally the image was sharp but I've worked on creating a dreamy look. And by the way, Urbangle is "urban" + "jungle". Not sure if such shot would make it through contests or anything but some people on YouPic really did like it indeed.

هَيَجانُ نَواعِم
(softies' upheaval)

At this point, I didn't see much interesting things after Urbangle was shot, so I decided to go back to that road where I wanted to take one specific shot for a bougainvillea, but didn't because of some people were standing by. I was hoping that they left the place, and I was right. However, I did notice something that somehow I didn't notice before. Some grass or weed growing on the roadside on its own; I'm not sure what this plant is called but seems I've seen it called "dogtail" somewhere. Anyway for this post, I will simply call it the "weed". I loved this plant and its soft structure. It was windy a bit that day and the way it moved with the wind or breeze was, to me, breathtaking. Just like sea waves and I literally stood there watching it and shot a video of it, before I started to shoot several shots from different angles. I did wish at that moment that I do have my Voigtländer 20mm with me but nevertheless, I did make some shots with the 50mm lens with good perspective at some point.

تَناوُشْ
(reach)

The deal was with the processing of such images (whether to be taken with 50mm or 20mm) as the perspective in any way would include unneeded elements from the surroundings or the background. So, in any way it would be, a crop and some darkening for the background (beside the special work with layer masks and all that mess) - all that was a must. Because of the movement here, we do have some blurry images and this is something I didn't mind with such a scene and even appreciate it more than a still image; It is a source of abstracts as it is, as seen in Softies' Upheaval or Reach. Yet, there was at some point or moment when I had to switch off the camera and start to shoot again, and forgot to set up the bracketing option again (as all the shots in this stroll were done that way). I've shot 7 successive shots (burst mode) before realizing that the bracketing was off because I've switched the camera off.

اِهْتِياج
(rampage)

It was a mistake, and I was thinking that I will delete these files later when I go back home. But, as usual, that didn't happen. Checking the images back and seeing that the exposures are somewhat workable (some shots were stable and some had motion blur), I've decided to do the multi-exposure magic and add a bit of dark mode to the mix. The result was Rampage. It was a mistake, but a useful one. It occurred to me at this point that sometimes, beauty lies in the mistakes; or as we say in Arabic sometimes: May a harmful/bad thing be beneficial. From the set of images taken for this weed, I think Rampage is the one I like the most and I'm grateful for such a mistake! But now, after stopping by this plant, it is time to work on the shot that I've came back to this road for.

أَثيرِيْ
(ethereal)

The scene attracted me for that long bougainvillea branch AND the lantern (that looks somewhat Victorian in style). It is a facade for one of the houses and that's why I was hesitant to shoot this scene. So, before anyone would comes in and disrupt the process, I've decided to work quickly. I had no time to check for the tilt, perspective and all that in between; I was just there shooting. Thus, in the processing phase back home, I spent quite a time fixing the perspective and managing a proper crop for the image to remove undesirable additions (and cloning out some too). I would say that Ethereal is my No.1 favorite from this stroll, followed by Rampage which was shot for that weed. The dreamy look, of course, was added in the processing phase and I tried to confine it to the plant alone. What I like here is the shadows that add some ethereal feel (hence the name); Some feeling that I can't find proper words to describe it except: a dream. Things didn't stop here though, as I've created a swapped version, where the blue/red channels are swapped.

عَبْرَ الأَثيرْ
(via ether)

Some people even preferred the swapped version. Personally, I like them both and I find it hard to decide which one is better than the other. I'm wondering in fact if I was to upload them to the stocks, would they both be accepted or one of them is rejected on the grounds of similarity (happened before with me when one image is rejected because it is similar to another in the upload). However, the closest to a "real" dream (if I can call it so) would be Ethereal despite the nice contrast and the colors combo in Via Ether. Also, Via Ether won't be completely unrealistic in terms of colors, I'm sure that the town of Chefchauon  in Morocco does have such beauties with its blue theme (it is called the blue city/town indeed). This said, I need to think about it thoroughly as I'm not sure if these images would be a good addition to the stocks, or they are better being treasured up for events, contests, or printed for any expos in the future (though I didn't participate in any since I left the group).

البَرَكَةُ كانَتْ هُنا
(the bless was here)

Finishing with the bougainvillea, I think I felt a bit exhausted and started to go back home, but on the way, again, I stopped to shoot some old door. I have a soft spot for doors, specially old ones. Such elaborate doors are quite the flag for the 1960s and 1970s eras here (give or take). Personally, these eras were the golden age (even though I was born in 1980) and probably the best times in the history of this place (if not in most of the world). I guess you can tell now why I named the photo here The Bless Was Here. Anyway, modern doors for modern houses nowadays don't happen to be with much art and craft like these old doors and that makes even more special.
I don't know who owned this house really and apparently no one lives here as you can probably tell from the ruins. Such houses are common in some areas and usually some haunting stories looms around them, and I'm pretty sure this house is no exception.
Anyway, back to the technical aspects of shooting this. This photo is actually a merge of two shots, panorama if you say. Two or three shots just about enough to include the door and whatever above. For some reason, I didn't like to take a shot of the door alone; I think it was my eye calling for me to include the environment and not just the door alone; Some form of complementing environment I suppose. With that, there was quite some work to be done with the perspective as I shot this in a haste and without a tripod to begin with, so some alignments and straightening was needed to fit the door into a perfect rectangular shape (and consequently, cropping out some parts as well). Honestly, I didn't experiment much with channel swapping here because the colors that pop out when the white balance got fixed were quite sufficient for that dusty, old, past mood. Probably swapping the channels (red and blue mostly) would not serve the mood much here.

خَريفْ
(autumn)

خَريفْ 2
(autumn 2)

At home even things didn't stop and I glimpsed right away the curves of the bougainvillea, which despite its thorns, I'm quite fond of. Despite the fact that I've shot these plants many times before (and posted some of the images here as well) but the atmosphere that day was somewhat adding a new layer or a new vision power over my eyes. It is a well-known fact that the weather does control the mood for many, and I'm no exception. However, it seems it goes more for me as my eyes are opened to see more lines, more abstracts; To see things in ordinary things that I do see every day. Things with Autumn, of course, did not go without a crop. And it seems that people are more interactive with the swapped version rather than the original, as well. I believe it's natural to feel that way about it since it has a stronger contrast (visually).

Finale

So, basically this was my first stroll. There is another one that was done which I've kept for another blog post, hopefully. I hope though there would be a third, a fourth and even more. It just depends on the situation at home and whether I'm being very active or not. We are well into December already and when I roll back with my memory, it seems that there is some work waiting to be done (some of it concerning my car). I have to admit though that staying home all this time and not going to work is a good thing but in the same time I'm kind of dragging myself to do the usual regular tasks that I used to do regularly back when I used to get up every morning just to go to work. Nevertheless, I'm not complaining. If there is one thing to complain about in the meantime that would my sluggishness and mood swings (which I'm trying hard to control).

So far, at the time of typing these words, two strolls had been already. The first one is the one I've talked about above, and the next one will hopefully be posted in the week after the next. In this stroll I've used 50mm lens, and in the next one I've used 20mm lens, and yet I'm still thinking about my next lens. The issue is technical as I'm trying to keep shooting with my H-alpha filter and this filter, being 58mm in diameter, won't fit my Sigma 12-24mm even with step down rings (the lens' diameter is 80mm). On the other hand, I could be using Sigma 70-300mm (with a diameter of 62mm) but this lens is definitely for a stroll I would say. It would be nice to use a classic zoom lens like 18-55mm as it has a good range between wide and normal focal lengths but unfortunately for me, my lens is quite old and not functioning well. Is it time to update my lenses and more? Maybe Canon's pancake (40mm) lens? Anyway, at the time of typing this, I'm still not sure what lens to use for my next walk or stroll, beside the many, many, many things, that plague my mind as it is already…