Back to Normal…

Seriously, I really don't know how I'm coping with this weather, and these people I see daily in front of me wherever I go. I think I have the right to call myself a superman. Between headaches, migraines and renovations in the kitchen and other parts of the house (which leaves me coffee-less), I'm still trying to survive the summer through. My birthday (August 17^th) will be coming on a Friday, which is a weekend, so I won't be having a real day off work as usual to, simply, enjoy my bed in a regular day. Ah well.
I believe I am in a transition era right now. I'm trying to release the load from over my back so that I might be able to do more photography (and with hope, more conlanging). For this reason, I've ended my membership in the photography group (club) after 6 years (since 2012) of working with them (or maybe for them?) - and that was back in the end of May - and now, lately, I've decided that I must stop using Instagram, as the app is getting ridiculous with its ads, its updates, and useless functions for me (in competition with Snapchat which I don't care about or use). However, I still have one active Instagram account dedicated to Ayvarith (which was the core reason for establishing this blog in the first place! Alas!). I really invested quite a time into this Instagram thing over the years; Preparing posts, thinking of what to post, even thinking of what to shoot for my next post (and this is a positive thing, I admit). However, with the latest updates (and the no-sense involving the chronological order), the place became despicable. Adding to that, the drop in the Likes and comments had been drastic with the latest changes (the friends I relied on do not give Likes already as it is). Apparently, this app is trying to make a business deal out of every user using algorithms to change the way of interactions (or even forcing interactions). That's all too much for me, and I better save my time doing something else for now. So, I'm back to Flickr (despite my disagreement about the new design and layout). At least, not many ads can be seen.

Shellology

As time goes by, and as I've abandoned my activities with the group and Instagram, I've reserved much time to rest and to work on my own pace with my camera. Many ideas come and go but well, not everything is applicable. But I'm having the time right now to document a small collection of shells that I've collected long time ago (some time between 2003-2005) and kept it for no use; Till now. On my pace, I'm trying to shoot one shell per day, and if I was lucky somehow, I'd shoot two a day. The results are quite astonishing and some serious thought is given to re-shoot some of them at different angles and/or at different magnification power.

The series can be long and I don't think I will post it all here but the magnification ranged from 3.2X and down to 1X (point something). It all depends on the shape and size of the shell itself. The general theme of the work is abstract, as in The Shining Shell, but with some sense of documentation as well, as with Shill.

Going extreme with the shell sometimes is triggered by the presence of some fine grooves which can be felt with a fingernail but not by the eye! So, this is another factor (regardless of the size of the shell) which calls for extreme macro (that is, zooming more than 1x in general). One case is MacroSteps with those tiny dirt pieces which I left as some sort of a guideline. Even though I wanted the diagonal trace to be greater, but with the capabilities available and the cumbersome gear I have, I have to satisfy myself with this!

The main struggle though, is to consider or not to consider the addition of oil to the shells prior to the shoot in order to give them some luster. In some cases, the situation was kind of disastrous (and can be fixed at times), as in the case with Bean Farraige. This luster problem is actually an extension of another problem which I used to work with anyway, and that is the lighting with a speedlite. Luckily for this one though, I did find the other half (I guess?) and I shot it without applying baby oil to it, to see the difference in Bean Farraige 2. The difference was huge, though the location of the speedlite did not change drastically.

It took me a while though to think of a way to drop the light on the sample from above, but that doesn't work all the time and I end up, as usual, lighting the shell from one side only. The rest is a process of adding Fill or dodging when processing the final image. The Size of the shell also plays a major role for whether lighting with the speedlite can be a success or not.

In Striptoshella for example, which was a relatively large shell but shot with high magnfiication (3.2x) to focus on the abstract made by the stripes - In this shot, despite dropping the light from above (using Rogue light bender on the speedlite), yet the lower portion was dark and I had to light it a bit digitally during the process. The baby oil here made some nice luster but probably I should have diffused the light even further (as the luster appeared harsher when the final image was sharpened). It was not till later that I decided to use my Bolt LED ringflash or light, which I've left untouched for a long time, when shooting Áilleacht Bhriste just out of mere curiosity.

Bolt VM-110
Macro Ring Light

Now, technically speaking, using this cheap substitute for a ring flash was a failure to some extent, but I still like the good distribution of light it did provide in Áilleacht Bhriste. Here are a number of things that this LED ring flash did not work well for me:

• It does not work well with high f-numbers. In fact, in Áilleacht Bhriste, I used the modeling "light" property in this device and not as a flash. Meaning, it acted as an ambient light rather than a flash, and that required some exposure in the order of half a second (if not for the ISO200 here). Properly if it was an insect, it would be a problem for me to use it that way? Not sure. With a proper speedlite or ringflash, the exposure time would surely be in the order of milliseconds. This fact is related to how the power and duration of the speedlite work in relation to the shutter speed (and the sync speed as well), while Bolt's LED ringflash is merely but an external light source (almost).
• By design, I couldn't attach the ring to the Vello Macrofier which I use to put lenses on reverse to achieve a good magnification AND focusing points easily. In Áilleacht Bhriste, I used extension tubes with 50mm lens just to attach the ring to the front of the 50mm lens. This combination is cumbersome when I work and in fact Áilleacht Bhriste is not made by stacking several shots; The original has its sides out of focus even at f/22, and I couldn't do focus stacking by moving the rail forward to shoot other shots and get one complete sharp image. The final image here was cropped (also to remove the black background). 

Vello Macrofier

Nonetheless, I'm impressed. I'm really thinking of a way to fit this LED ringflash (or light) onto the Macrofier somehow to work together. Even though the exposure time might not be a "quickie" but it is still manageable. I have to say, also, that working with LED would save me loads of energy problems with those speedlites (I had to change the batteries frequently as I worked with these shells!). There must be a way to work with Bolt's ringflash and Vello's macrofier; I just need some time to think about it and I might come up with some DIY solution of some sort! Once this is done, I can work happily with focus stacking again... unless another cumbersome problem occurs again.

Finale

I was going to expand this post further and talk about other experiments I'm working on (specifically the pinhole) but I'll keep that for later maybe as I didn't have much at hand right now. I'm still thinking of a way to fix that problem with Bolt's LED ring light on my Vello's Macrofier, and till I find a solution I might be able to do some ideas I kept at the back of my head for using my pinhole, AND creating some as well! Also by then, a new poem might be ready, if the words and the focusing serve me right. I've tried several times to pin it down but I got seriously distracted and couldn't compose a single line (heck! I didn't even pick a proper rhyming scheme, but I might make up my own here). This poem is supposedly triggered by a shot I made for a shell, and hopefully I will post it next time as well.

Some questions remain unanswered though, or partially unanswered, for the time being after leaving the group and Instagram. What I'm supposed to do next? Well, obviously the first step or answer would be: enjoy photography; Just like in the old days. Enjoy experimenting and invest more time with the camera rather than working on group's stuff or preparing posts for Instagram. Beyond that, I really don't know where I am heading. There might be some local activities (which I've encountered some already but did not participate) but just the thought of "socializing" with people in this circle give me the chills sometimes. Not because I'm an introvert, but because I can't act and put on a fake smile wherever I go, and it is often when my nerves got stepped on in such occasions.

With a weather like this, and a home like this, it is not only people that get on my nerves lately. To some degree, I would say everything; However tiny, however grand. Luckily, I've finally got my new passport after a struggle for months, but the question remains: Will I be able to travel? Traveling to me right now is a need rather than an activity of pleasure to be done after some hard work or relaxing. It is something to keep my sanity in check after spending my entire year (and more than a year for now) in one big asylum like this one. The irony though is, traveling makes me feel home, more than home does.

Mawahb 5 Expo…

A tiresome week had gone and I'm still following up with its consequences - as usual, sleep deprivation. I can call it a successful week with all the positive feedback we received for our booth in the latest Mawahb 5 Expo; and my own panoramas specifically got large base of attention, starting with the Minister of Cabinet Affairs, Sheik Mohammed Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah.

Explaining Ludendorffs Wirklichkeit to the minister, and on the far right appears the Kuwaiti actor Abdul-Rahman Al-Aqil. Frankly, didn't know he's there until I got this image from friends!

It was a funny chat, and I didn't know he is a photographer too! Turned out that he is a Nikonian, while I'm a Canonese! He started the chat with a statement:

I saw your photo and I wanted to see this man in person, now I see you're wearing a Canon around your neck, you made me sad. 

Oh well, it was the usual strife between Nikons and Canons! At least I did a job that people kept, keep and probably will keep talking about! Up till that moment, I really didn't know he is a photographer as well. It was a pleasant encounter and the beginning of a robust engine. The only thing that kept me annoyed in the duration of the expo is the quality of the prints we've made, and they are supposed to be printed at the #1 print shop here. In one of my discussions with the people working in that print shop, I've realized that the term "calibration" never crossed the dictionaries of those people, yet.

Quick glance at our booth

In this expo, I didn't run around doing a documentation for the whole place as I did 3 years ago. But simply dedicated my efforts for the stage (and man, what an awful legs' pain it was). I didn't have a good lens with low f-value (wide aperture), but the maximum zoom I could do was with my Sigma 70-300mm, and adding a teleconverter (x2) to double the focal length was another definition for "Disaster!" And because the dark atmosphere, there was no escape but to raise the ISO somewhere in between 1600 to 2500. Most of the shots were taken in ISO2000 in fact. Viewing these photos in small size (and after processing) seems fine, but sure not for printing on a large scale.
Taking shots at this events and specifically from the stage is something somehow important for me personally. This is because I'm not a portraiture fan at all, and while a photographer must expand his horizon to other fields other than his, I find it hard to work with portraiture, mainly because of some introversion traits. Thus, the stage is a suitable environment for someone like me to work on capturing gestures and emotions without having to deal in person with the subject. Needless to say, I don't have to plan anything related to the lighting of the scene; it is just all there waiting to be captured.
Well, the work is not over yet with these photos but I will leave you now with a show of some of them which are processed so far, in hope that you'll like them. Keep in mind that the light conditions beside the lens' conditions were NOT to be appreciated! Sorry for the low quality of the slideshow though; this is the only way I got to upload it here!
Note: Music is Soulmates by Lee Rosevere, and can be downloaded for free from freemusicarchive.

  

Book Fair…

Things had been busy a bit here, particularly for the matter of the Expo which accompanies the annual book fair (Arabic Book fair that is). Things went fast, as the organizers called the group's leader to get some photos ready for the expo, leaving the leader no choice but to "pick" directly instead of the usual sorting out process for the members - members that he chose and picked himself out of all of the around-34 members. They, the organizers, specified the number to be 10 photographers, with 2 photos from each photographer to be displayed, and thus the total would be 20 photos. To our surprise though when the expo started by last Wednesday, our group's position was apparently picked by the organizers in a haste or simply our group was thought of as the last solution for some problem they had! Other groups had the chance to get 30 photographers in, with two photos for each (i.e. 60 photos in total). Moreover to this, our group's photos were not gathered specifically into one booth, but spread over 2 places, with some photos of other groups into the booth containing most of our photos.

Our booth in the expo, with the right wall belonging to another group.
The photos of the leader and 2 other members are displayed on the partition,
and on the other side into the next booth.

Also, apparently other groups knew what was going on and brought stickers to put them on the names of their members. We didn't bring ours till next day. There were no signs showing which belongs to what, but they simply dumped the stock side by side.

Anyway, things are going fine and so far so good - we are considered by now the best contributors to this expo; testified by both: photographers and non-photographers. The distribution of the prints made me a trouble for how to document this event by a panorama. However, I decided to go ahead and do one panorama for the main booth. I did another panorama for a general view of the expo. The panorama for the main booth had to be done in HDR because of the harsh contrast coming from the windows above, and yet I didn't bother doing some metering here, since it was just for documenting after all. As for the general panorama, which I didn't stitch yet, it was a simple 360 panorama of single shots, as I didn't care much about showing fine details or making a dramatic look out of it.

This is all for now and till I get some free time from the expo, I might get back to writing this blog. I do have some ideas that I need to work on (at home and outside) but because of the time consuming expo, I can barely have some rest from work before going to the expo, or even barely having some time for myself. See you later!

Ar An mBóthar…

This post contains QTVR environment and needs QuickTime to be installed. Please give some time to load.

I'm not sure if this is the idea I had in my mind for the term "vacation". Not that I'm bored, but quite the opposite; I'm overwhelmed. I technically can't have a rest and my sleeping pattern is not helping as well. At least I got to play some of the games I wanted to play.
Processing the images is still going on even though in a slower pace, specially that I wanted to play these games which made me stop the process for a while. But more to come about that later. Most important thing right now is, almost all panoramas were stitched, in flat format. Which means I, now, have to work further with other projections! and I've made some QTVRs indeed, so hope you have installed QuickTime already!

Pano

In the field of panoramas, there were some panoramas that I'm reluctant to work with further for various reasons; colors, mood, and even the structure. However, in the next round of panoramas (in other projections other than flat ones), I guess I will re-checking those. Particularly here, the panorama taken from the lounge of the Waterfront B&B. I'm sort of glad though that one of the panoramas, for which I've expected lot of hurdles, turned out to be finely stitched!

An Seomra Folchta
The Bathroom

I was expecting such panorama, An Seomra Folchta, to have problems because of the very narrow space I've taken it in. But it was finely stitched in HDR with the help of a model made out from JPG slides. The detection of the white balance on location with the help of the WB disk paid well here, as the atmosphere inside this small space was mixed, between a bluish tint (hence yellowish WB would be needed) and some hot colors on the ground from the carpets (hence bluish WB would be needed); but all was set just by using the WB disk. The main difficulty in this panorama specifically would be aligning the panorama and making sure that some lines are truly vertical. OK, now to the QTVRs.

QTVRs

Concerning QTVRs, I've been thinking lately if there is another way to represent them instead of the current methodology I'm following. I've had a peek into the matter and seems there are other methods indeed, but probably more rigorous in terms of application; yet they can be useful for viewers of this blog as some of them don't require installing QuickTime. I'm not sure how this would work actually since converting the panorama into a QTVR is already done through PTGui here and the file type would already be a MOV. Need some time for this!



In this QTVR you might notice a mistake. Well, more than one in fact. Anyway, it seems that when I tone-mapped this HDR panorama with Photomatix, I've forgot to tick the "360" option, which ensures that the left and right edges of the panorama are seamless and flow together without a cut. This is one of the problems with tone-mapping in Photoshop; there is no option to make the panorama seamless - not that I'm aware of any anyway! Despite this fact, sometimes I'm forced to use it for tone-mapping specifically as it comes...



This QTVR was made from a panorama which was originally tone-mapped in Photoshop. Fixing the seam here was relatively easy; just some cloning work and I guess it is not easy to notice the seam line when rotating the QTVR. The reason I tone-map with Photoshop sometimes is the fact that I can use curves to establish the tonal values for various luminance levels all around the image, and this is how I worked out the disk of the sun here and made it sparkling instead of having just white bright spot in the sky. Such specific control can't be done in Photomatix, unfortunately. Imagine the power if the two are merged: one application to control the light by curves (beside other methods) AND making sure the panorama is seamless. Awesome!
Left to say I'm kind of surprised for Aughnanure castle's QTVR, because here, I didn't add a nadir point as I was experimenting only about the seam line. However, it was seamless AND PTGui seems to have identified the vertical limitations of the panorama; in old QTVRs, these vertical limits would be black zones if the panorama is not in the format of 2:1 ratio. But here, the viewer would automatically stop before reaching the cut of the nadir point. It was experimental after all thus I left the watermark as is on the image.

Well, there are plenty of other QTVRs but maybe I will keep them for some other time, like Kylemore Abbey's QTVR and the one for the interior of The Waterfront, beside the exterior panorama too. In all of these, and despite the fact that it was easy to clone the nadir image, I've decided to use the classic method of putting a label at the nadir point to identify the panorama and work as a "watermark" of some sort.

Singles

Meanwhile, along with the panoramas, I'm doing more single shots in between. Even though people now started to look at me for panoramas and related fields (here at least), single shots, nevertheless, are equally important. The problem, or should I say the dilemma, I'm in is: am I just good because I do panoramas? Things in the group somehow agree with this statement, specially with the upcoming events.

Uaigneas Lúcháireach
(joyous solitude)
Canon EF 50mm, f/16,
25^-1sec, ISO100.

I'm trying not to put all the egg in one basket as they say; whenever there is a sorting out for the group, I do pick up some old files along with the new ones from Ireland. However, chances are still low. I can't deny that there are some fatal mistakes in some images after all. Mistakes that just don't appear for the regular viewer (who enjoys colors and setting more than composition and clarity). However, there are images that did somewhat gain popularity (on the internet at least) but yet they were rejected, like Áilleacht Dhorcha which I've posted about last week.
 On the other hand there were images that I was glad to work with but then it turned out it's all a mistake. Well, I did like the color at least! Uaigneas Lúcháireach here is an example, but maybe I do have my excuse here at least. The boat was moving fast and I had to snap the picture fast before it's gone out of sight! The main problem here is the "guide line" which literally extends from the middle of the frame below to the extreme left side; such a wrong position. In addition to that, the leader said there are some distracting elements which makes it out-of-harmony. Well, my confidence is not shaken yet for this! At least I'm glad I didn't use polarizer here to clear the water which provided some reflection, and the whole atmosphere was mainly achieved by changing the White Balance without sorting to HDR technique. Maybe another version of the scene was better (despite the emptiness)...

Maidin Ghorma Aon (one blue morning)
Canon EF 50mm, f/16, 125^-1sec, ISO100

Probably not better here with Maidin Ghorma Aom, but the annoying "wrong" guide line here is removed (this shot is taken before they reach that point). Lot of work here was involved (mainly dodge and burn) to control light and shadows, and specifically approach the image to a silhouette style.

Amharc Éagsúil
(different view)
Canon EF 50mm, f/8,
20sec, ISO400.

On the other hand there were desperate trials to create something out of... desperate shots, to say the least. Images like Amharc Éagsúil for example, were simply test shots in the dark (dusk time), but since the quantity of shots taken this year (single shots that is) is at low, I had to gamble a bit with shots that were intended as tests, like this one. It would have been some nice shot if only there was a full or partial reflection on water, but all I got is clouds and the tip of the house. Thus, to make things interesting a bit, I flipped the image upside down just to make out some interest! Controlling the tones later was just as desperate trial of creating vividness without oversaturating the image. I'm really not against rejecting this image at all. But there was something strange too...

Roimh an Dorchadas (before the dark)
Rokinon 8mm fisheye, f/8, 12m, ISO100.

Roimh an Dorchadas, an image which was on the list for sorting out for future events. There were comments about over saturating the colors but I believe there had been a problem with color calibration in that laptop (wasn't color-calibrated). However, what I consider the strangest comment was "you have better than this already". I'm not sure what was meant by that or what picture in particular was meant here. Maybe Through My Window? But if this was the case, I do consider Roimh an Dorchadas better-looking...

Through My Window
Rokinon 8mm fisheye, f/8, 7m, ISO100.

Yes, the clouds line is apparently better in Through My Window, yet Roimh an Dorchadas has probably more interesting elements in the image itself. The problem with Roimh an Dorchadas is that the air was almost static and hence the clouds didn't move much.

Finale

The coffee table book cover

It is finally here! My own copy of Coffee Table book of the luxury edition (2014) of Trierenberg Circuit contest, which contains my own panorama, Ludendorffs Wirklichkeit. The process of retrieving this book was something out of one of those adventure games: tasks, questions, investigations. Still, the case is not over yet with the (bad) post services here, as there are copies of the catalogs that did not reach us yet (supposedly sent back in June). There is a probability that they were sent back to Austria, but no news from Austria still. Many issues were here as why this has happened, like not providing a track number for receivers to see where the parcel stopped, and no phone numbers provided on the parcel so at least we would expect a call from the post service, and yet the post service here, of course, wouldn't do a thing (probably even with a phone number provided).

Ludendorffs Wirklichkeit as
printed in the book,
in a small corner.

I didn't go through the book yet but I do believe there is a lot to learn from other contestants' photos in the field of architecture and landscape photography. Yet, I can't hold my disappointment here. Let aside the fact that my "large" panorama was printed in a small corner (and the colors aren't as vivid as on monitor), the book itself is a demonstration of clear bias for specific "items". I'm not saying photos aren't great, but a quick look through the book made it clear that if you are a portrait photographer, and specifically into nude photography, your chances are dim. Sorry, but it somewhat feels like, and sorry for the wording here - like checking a brothel's catalog. I know what I will get for such a comment (retard, old-fashioned, know-nothing-about-art, ...etc). But seriously, I can't help it. Doesn't seem that you make a woman just a toy of cosmetics in such field of photography? Well, to me it does. On the other hand, other fields deserve some attention more than it is already.

Anyway, far from the book, I'm trying to cope with the busy schedule I'm getting with my group, as we have some activities going on. Majorly Al-Thani contest is a major concern, and despite the ideas for sending prints, but seems it is not a plausible idea by now. The contest ends on November 17^th (my brother's birthday as well!), and we barely have time to submit the images online. On the other hand there is even a more urgent matter, concerning some expo here for which the group was personally asked to join in. I'm not sure what kind of expo is this, but the leader is also relying on my panoramas, and gave my number to one of the organizers to discuss the matter (still waiting for that call). Also, months from now, there will be some preparations for Mawahb expo (in which the group will be enrolled for a 4^th time). I might get into it if I don't get the burden of organizing the booth or the prints; my time right now doesn't really allow for that!

In the meantime, I'm keeping my thoughts busy as much as possible, but this is not a good thing either. When my thought is active, my consumption (specifically for coffee) is also active. Despite all this activity, there remains something empty deep within. I can't deny the fact that I do feel like being lost; someone who doesn't belong to where he was planted. But I'm keeping on going, in a tunnel that I just can't realize where does it lead, or ends...

Bóthar na Scáthanna
(road of the shadows)

Sorry, No Photo...

As the title for today's post says it. No Photos. Well, not exactly no photos, but I've merely tried something with my camera, while I've spent the rest of the week simply, thinking.
What I'm thinking of might be a long talk, and probably I would shed some light on that later on. But first, let me just talk a bit about one image I've prepared last Friday after many many trials with my speedlites (580EX II and 430EX II).

Das Licht:

I did take a picture of some light bulbs before and this time I was trying to do it again. This time, however, is a bit different because of my latest reading for Cyrill Harnischmacher's book Tabletop Photography. In his book, Cyrill described some aspects of shooting glass surfaces and what kind of background and props that might be needed, beside some tricks - all of that with concentration on low costs and some DIY aspects with the help of two speedlites only. Exactly my situation.

Das Licht
Canon EF 50mm, f/5.6, 4000^-1sec, ISO200.

Usually, I've been taking some shots for regular light bulbs before in different situations, and this time I did take some shots with a translucent (i.e. not completely transparent) light bulb. Unfortunately, the translucent was not good enough to show the filament inside the glass. Later on, I've decided to exchange this bulb with a typical spotlight which was half transparent and half dyed with some reflective silver-like material. The filament might not be so clear, but with Fluorescent WB, the color compo seems to be work in a surreal way!
I did take zillions (figurative speech of course!) of pictures but this one seemed the best (and it was the last in the series). I've tried to change the WB but Fluorescent WB kept showing up as the best for such situation. The critical change and test from one shot to the other is changing the shutter, aperture and the reflectors settings, beside changing the direction of the speedlites. Maybe a diagram would explain a bit.

Simple schematic diagram of the basic setting.

What I like here about Harnischmacher's book is how he used regular speedlites (not studio flash or strobes) and few tools to make perfect glass shots without the need to use any polarizers, but only reflectors. This is what I was trying to do however but seems my luck is not as good as Cyrill's!
I've changed the reflector position to many places trying to achieve a somehow gentle light streak on the glass but, as you can see above in Das Licht, the hard spots of light were there anyway but in that specific image, they were the slightest I could make out from this experiment. My teacher, after seeing this image, said I should have stroke the black background with the flash to light the edges of the bulb, which sounds somehow a weird advice to me (specially that the black paper gives a blue streak with flash strikes).
One of the problems when using a spotlight is the fact that because of the shape of the surface, the extension or plug under the bulb was reflected upon the glass of the bulb itself! At this point, I've cut a piece of white board and fixed the light base in it and connected it in hope that this white would help on illuminating the bottom part of the bulb. Well, it did, but unfortunately, because of the glass shape, it acted as a fisheye lens reflecting much more space than the white board itself. Thus, I have to give up the idea of reflecting more light in the bottom part, and get myself satisfied with suppressing light there by replacing the white board with a black one. The filament after all appeared merely as a line because it falls approximately between the transparent part of the bulb and the reflective layer. All in all, I do like the shape of the bulb itself but working with such types of bulb is a hard task and a regular bulb seems easier to work with. But, there is a lot of innovation in the spotlight bulb if you ask me. Who knows what I might think of next...

Give Me Wings!
Last Saturday was a time for one of our meetings in the photography group and we ran through the regular check ups for some updates and the usual complaint about the moderate efforts from the members. I think I will come to discuss this in details later but at this point I want to mention the Red Bull contest.
Almost at the end of the meeting, a representative of Red Bull arrived into the meeting to discuss a contest established by Red Bull company, and despite the fact that he mentioned it is specified for the group, a quick check up to the website made me realize it is not so and it is open to all various contestants.
The theme of the contest is Kuwait (not a weird topic in a country where most people are patriotic AND idiotic in the same time) but with a twist of a story - that is under the category of Series Photography. Every contestant is meant to give 5 images that tell some sort of a story, and I've began to think about it seriously. The deadline is the 20^th of May, which somehow gives me a little time to work. Eleven days are just not enough to create such a thematic approach unless you do have an arsenal that can make up a story, which is not my case here.
I've been trying to seriously brainstorm my imagination and get out of some theme for the story, but to no avail. Or let's say, not much advantage was there in such methods but I got out with 2 main ideas for the whole thing:

1. A Day in Kuwait: This theme should reflect a typical day in Kuwait, from the early hour of morning time up till the evening and then night time. I might have one or two images already under such story theme, but the rest needs to be worked out. Also, it sparked my imagination for some idea but unfortunately such an idea needs lot of work and probably a permission to do it near the Towers.
2. Progress: This theme would be more problematic and I would need to capture a glimpse of the past and present, and the destruction done by 1990-1991 war and then the re-building. 

After some reflecting, I think I would choose the first approach. I just need to work out what to present. Initially, I had an idea of representing 5 portrait shots, but I've changed my mind later when I realized that I can represent one of my panoramas as the opening of the theme.

Towers of The Rising Sun
The Opening?

One of the points that I'm thinking of taking care of while establishing such series is to include the sun in every shot when possible (of course no sun at night time!). My theme should progress as follows:

1. Morning time. This is reflected by the sunrise beside Kuwait towers. The only available image so far.
2. Rush time. This image should include the traffic jam that all Kuwaitis suffer from everyday. In fact, the rush hour can be significant for morning time, or (after)noon  time when people get back from work, but I don't want to duplicate images.
3. Afternoon time. This time is mysterious to me as I don't know what should be in there. An image of some nap? (typical in the life of Kuwaitis) or should I reflect on family gathering? Or maybe a stroll in some malls having lunch? That would require permission to take a picture in some public places!
4. Evening time. This time is more like it for a family gathering and visiting. It is also the time for visiting the typical Diwaniyas (beside late night time as well).
5. Night time. This shot specifically should reflect the peace and tranquility. I have a crazy idea but I would need a lot of help with it thus I'm reluctant to go ahead with it. This image is also a public one supposedly near the towers.

These are the main ideas and all what is left is work on them and even dig in my arsenal, as I might save some time with some shots (like the morning time shot). Here we go with one more burden to carry around!

Independence:
My mind had been strolling on some sensitive topics lately, specially those concerning the group that I'm supposed to work with. After Mom's problem, I've somehow lost contact except for few notifications and activities that keeps me updated from time to time. However, in the same time, I do hate being idle.
However, after our latest meeting, I've discovered that some members were "kicked" out for not being active and/or not paying their membership fees. The fees, however, are a flexible matter from the point of view of the group's management but the thing was, some of these members didn't give any explanations nor replied back to any inquiries. These events made me think for real about the validity and the usefulness of the group's activities.
From my side, I've tried to help the members a lot by trying to transfer my technical knowledge to the members (most of the members) to help them out with their images and produce a high quality images and files. A lot of the members are good photographers, but unfortunately, not so good in processing (developing) their own images, needless to say that some of them hold the point of view of Purests; photographers who believe in submitting and printing their images as they are and any editing would disturb the beauty of the moment, as some say.

The lack of such technical knowledge did already blow us into troubles with expos and other activities, and despite my work and recommendations, nothing was done in that field. It seems to me, my name is remembered when there is some job to be done, but not when my recommendations are considered. On the other hand, all what is asked is photos photos photos, work work work and contests contests contests, and boy how much do I hate contests. I had a vision for this group to be a scholastic star, but now it seems to me it is just a media player with economical revenue. I do miss those days when I was free to think and act with my own slow pace from week to week, rather than being rushed with some extra dose of hard work.

On the other hand, another discussion was opened for the third time and I have to say it made me a bit sick. A contest is sparked for the third time in, what it seems, apparent desperate trial to achieve something for someone, or so I think. The contest is one for the group members and after a weak participation from the members in the first round, it was recalled again and this time with some incentives: 60 K.D. and a patronage of a famous local coffee house; a coffee brand that I've realized later that it belongs to an honorary member and a critic in the group. In this second round, I did, or tried, my best, yet the result was a complete failure; the supposed judges announced that the level of images was way under the hoped or expected. This made me angry in fact because this is a contest among group members and the judges are also, group members - they do realize our capabilities in tabletop tools and studio instruments, don't they?
Now, it is sparked a third time with the same incentives and with a special discount for a workshop about coffee photography for those who attended the previous workshop (and I'm one of them). Besides, what is 60 K.D. (~US$210) in today's day-to-day living here in Kuwait? I know some people who recharge their calling card or pay their phone bills for such an amount. Is it possible that the group members are dragged for virtually free ad campaign, and the sponsors are dying to have a job done for free? The situation, in my eyes, seems like it. I had some time thinking about it and I've decided to not participate this time, and if asked why, I think I will have to steam off a bit. If you are a businessman and own a brand of your own products all over the country, I'm pretty sure that 60 K.D or $200 or even $1000 is not much of a big deal, is it?

Scriptures:

After finishing Cyrill Harnischmacher's book about Tabletop Photography, I've started directly with Lens Design Fundamentals by R. Barry Johnson. It is a heavy book with lot of geometry and mathematics and it seems even my background on mathematics is not quite enough while some parts need refreshing. Anyway, I'm reading on with somehow slow pace. It is not a book to finish that fast and I guess it is one of those that you must have a tutor to explain it for you - after all, it is an academic book.
In the meantime, as I've posted before, I'm planning to make a note ready for my conlangs and any additions to them. Frankly, I didn't do this so far, but my concentration now is dedicated less to this avenue, specially with the new books. I lay hope that these activities will be on my schedule soon. It's my life's problem: time management.

Now, I'm finishing this post with heavy eyes and hands, as I feel the fever creeping through my body... perfect timing...

Dubai Back and Fro...

Well, been to Dubai for 3 days this week and I couldn't have much time to take some photos or work on some pictures. I received and invitation (as I've mentioned in previous post) from HIPA to attend to the ceremony of awards giving.
The stay was fine and Dubai is a nice place to stay (I couldn't imagine there was no traffic jam!), but unfortunately way too expensive for my budget. In just 3 days I've spent what I would've spent in Ireland for 5 days or more!
Despite the beautiful atmosphere it was hard for me to take any pictures from there, and the sum was a total of 3 images only and 2 of them were, well, fine.

Dornige Schönheit
Canon EF 50mm + 20mm tube, f/22, 160^-1sec, ISO100.

I went strolling outside of the hotel after breakfast on the 18^th, first without any camera just to check my surroundings, but then I went back to my room and got my stuff and went out again to catch some weird looking plant (but then I've realized it is abundant in UAE). Weird for me at least as I'm no botanist! In here, I've used an extension tube (20mm I think) and took several shots with and without flash, but I think after all Dornige Schönheit was the most stable of all. I did took shots from above but I needed a larger zoom to hide my other hand which was holding the stem. Lately, I've been using the extension tubes a lot with my 50mm lens as I see it a nice and fast substitute for the heavy 100mm macro lens and would give a single hand the power to control the camera body properly more.

Columns and Columns
Tamron 70-300mm @300mm, f/8, 500^-1sec, ISO100.

I've walked and wandered further away and took some shots (mainly of abstract nature) but lot of them didn't turn well, and finally reached a construction site where I've noticed some raising columns under construction - probably the only thing that really caught my attention.
That night there was the ceremony which I went to Dubai for, the HIPA awards ceremony. Nicely done and I got the chance to see such amazing photos indeed. I'm checking with HIPA to see if the ceremony will be published on youtube.

I do realize that lot of people are surprised for the fact that I didn't take much pictures and I didn't go out a lot in Dubai - but this is back to the simple fact that I don't really consider it a vacation (or completely a vacation let's say). I would spend a vacation in a calmer place like the countryside or a sea village probably, but not in a big city. Also, I'm not a shopping person and I didn't go there for shopping in the first place, and photography-wise, the urban scape is not greatly inspirational for my mind. However, it is a nice city with nice people and there were lot of things to think about by observing my surroundings - Culture, attitude, and arts. Dubai is a big city but not within the same reputation line as other big cities like New York or London. This would seem hard to explain but probably easy to observe in Dubai itself!
Anyway, after a fast roll over Dubai events, I'm back to my previous regular work with my own humble photos the week before.

Flora Mood:

Well, they say it is spring already but years of living here as a native, I sort of realized that Kuwait has no spring. It's simply: Winter, Summer. It's an On-Off case, so to say. However, some blooms and flowers had sprung already and I didn't want to miss the chance. I think after my last workshop with my teacher about geometrical plays in floral arrangements, it seems that I'm (or my mind is) more aware of floral arts and the inside arrangements of floral lines.

Aglow
Canon EF 50mm+ tube, f/16, 50^-1sec, ISO400.

These images were taken the week before I travel on two days, when I started packing my camera and taking it with me to work. This time, however, I decided not to take my tripod. In fact, a tripod can be a hassle in such situations specially for one heavy and cranky tripod like mine!

Quinquenia
Canon EF 50mm + tube, f/20, 60^-1sec, ISO400.

As you may notice from Aglow above, that even f/16 can have a shallow depth of field in such situations (with extension tubes in used). Lately, I've been using the tubes a lot (I've mentioned that already above) because it is fast and easy to get a close up and ALSO because I can use 50mm lens which has a maximum aperture of f/1.4. This is of course a very shallow depth of field and when you compare it to f/16 which still has a shallow depth, f/1.4 might not be that good as an option. However, adding this value to the range of stops available is pretty valuable and I wouldn't know when would I need it. Anyway, in both shots here, Aglow and Quinquenia (and also shots that would come later) I was forced to raise the ISO little bit and use the on-camera flash. Here comes another advantage for using extension tubes: the length of the 50mm lens with an extension tube (be it 12, 20 or 36mm) is shorter most of the time (I'm talking here about connecting only one tube) and it gives a good close-up abilities. This relatively shorter than 100mm macro lens length makes it feasible and possible to use the on-camera flash easily because if the lens is too long like the 100mm lens, then a shadow cast is most likely to occur. A cast from the lens itself that is. Of course, we are talking about on-the-go photography and not the precise and making-art photography in which a photographer would spend many minutes if not hours studying the situation and settling the tripod and picking the lens and then choosing the appropriate moment.

Green Ankh
Canon EF 50mm + 12mm tube,
f/22, 200^-1sec, ISO100.

The on-camera flash solved lot of problems, and mainly allowed me to use the manual mode on the camera to speed up the shutter speed as much as I like. I would say though, if I was to use my 580EX II speedlite here, I would need help or something to stabilize the plant's stem at least. In most of these situations, both of my hands were busy and the on-camera flash seemed the appropriate solution for such situation, even though a slight shadow might burst out as in Quinquenia or to a lesser degree as in Green Ankh. The on-camera flash as well helped to create that translucent look and glowing atmosphere in Aglow; but the talk about the ISO noise is something else of course.
Yes, the on-camera flash does eat out some of saturation of some colors specially if no gels are used as it is the case with Green Ankh where the plant's stem was faint in color and I had to reduce the highlights and boost the vibrancy of colors (not the saturation) to some degree. But such situations are easy to deal with in general.

Quadraspinasphere
Canon EF 50mm + 36mm tube, f/20, 20^-1sec, ISO400.

As I've said before, using the on-camera flash allowed me to work with manual mode but this is not always the case. Like in Quadraspinasphere, I was not so sure where to begin with my shutter speed so I've just turned the the dial to Av and let the camera choose the shutter speed for me (in combination with the flash). Here, I was lying on the ground after putting the car shade on the floor out of my work place (and thank God no one was there to watch me do it!), thus it was reasonable to concentrate on my approach to the plant in such a low level, rather than work or think about the shutter speed. I had to crop Quadraspinasphere to make it as a quarter of a sphere as I envisioned it, but one of the hardest points in taking this picture is the fact that I have to work in manual focus most of the time. A fact that had been persistent with using extension tubes, as the auto-focusing function seems to be baffled when it comes to extension tubes, probably!
One of the tricks that I usually do in such situations with manual focusing (and with such bad eye vision like mine), and with a shaky situation (like a plant in the wind or breeze or a shaky hand) is to do a scanning with continuous shutter speed clicks. Meaning: with relatively high shutter speed (20^-1sec seems fast enough but slower with flash turned on), I set the camera with continuous (or burst) mode/drive and check out a point where the sharp focus is most likely to occur (all within the viewfinder). After that, I get closer to the subject little bit (not much!) and press the shutter button and keep holding it while moving my head slowly to the back getting further away from the subject. This way, I get load of pictures of course, but at least my chances for getting a sharp image in between are more. It is a talk of probability and statistics if I should say. 

Thoughts:

There is a hard mix in thoughts right now, specially after this trip to Dubai, and regarding many aspects. In Dubai, it seemed to me that people talk about arts wherever you go, and galleries of art are displayed in public - it was like a public education concerning arts. How was this done? What elevated the level of consciousness of the people of Dubai, at least those I've been meeting on the way, about arts. Such level of thought that I didn't encounter so far in here. Needless to say, that such big city get a traffic jam only in the rush hours time (morning and evening), unlike us with 12 hours a day.
I remember back in the 1970s and 1980s Kuwait was something like that, and the simplest form of art appreciation would be seen in the National Day celebrations, when people and schools used to go out on the streets in an organized parades with props and stuff made memorizing and emphasizing the history and the identity of this country. Where did all that go? All these parades are now replaced by a bunch of sanitarium inmates going freely outside and splash each other with water and foam and traffic jams blocking the roads. Is this the identity we are commemorating?
It is clear and evident that the foreign policies and the openness of Dubai to the world made it a global center with an elevated level in most aspects of life - but do we really need to be open that much as much as to indulge in (mostly) western culture to be elevated in the level of consciousness? Logically and from the perspective of history, Arabs did conquer such place in time and now it is gone, hence, I think building over what was achieved and not merely adapting to the western way is possible; thus, creating a self-identity awareness. The thing is, where and how to start and what could spark people about such advantageous endeavor? One particular clue lies in the ruling family of the UAE and Dubai specifically. I was surprised that HIPA (which stands for Hamdan International Photography Award) was established by the crown prince of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Hamdan and he, himself, was a contributor. He is a young man, and I thought he was old, or not-so-old type of person. I realized at this point that the upper class and those under in a community like UAE's is really entwined to some extent and the leaders themselves push people in that direction and encourage the openness of thoughts and arts. He should be an example to be followed in the region, and the ME in general. This is what I believe.

Writing this now, with a call from the main organizer in the group about another fair or expo that they want me to get involved in. I have to say frankly that I'm getting tired of this. At the time that I want to raise consciousness and arts appreciation in the group members and make them stronger in spirit facing the criticizing of their images, needless to say raise their technical skills, the management of the group on the other hand concentrate so much on the aspects concerning the group's reputation and pronouncing its name. I wonder now, how this can be done with members that don't even shoot in RAW format?!
I've been chitchatting with a friend on dinner last Friday and he made a note that he felt that the group and its responsibilities are pulling me down, and I'm pulling or carrying the heavy load of the group's well-being on my shoulders like Hercules. He suggested that if it didn't quite work well, I should quit.

I'm not memorizing all those beloved projects that I've established some time ago along with Ayvarith conlang, like the Bulughman and the Betenic for example. I need to continue and I need to spend more time with these projects that suddenly stopped in time. My Geltani project is also postponed and can barely touch it with all these responsibilities over my head. I have to say NO to many stuff just to sit down and complete some of these fantasies of my own. That might mean, for some time, saying "Goodbye" to my camera and have some rest from all the mess and confusion that I've got myself into with photography world - specifically here in Kuwait.

Maschinen Auf...

What a busy week. It is good to be busy sometimes; it makes you forget stuff you don't want to remember, mostly. The trend of such busy week is still going on and might go on for the next week as well because some group members are going to Dubai in the coming weekend and some responsibilities are flung at me. It would be my first time to organize and be responsible for a field trip to some distant area.
It seems as if this week is spreading seeds of reputation and a renowned name. I'm getting personal invitations and simple requests for occasions related to photography. I wouldn't say I'm on the road of being famous, but it does give a portion of confidence that I needed for some time. Say, would I be reading my horoscopes daily if I do have some support on my back? I wonder...

Blooming Me!
As Mawahb-3 expo is approaching closer and closer, the management of the group realizes that not many fine photos are available, if there is any, for a large number of members in the group. For this reason, my teacher and the leader of the group thought of giving a workshop (workshopS in fact, see Andaluz below) concentrating on geometrical shapes in flowers and their beauty. Personally, I'm not a flowers person but since the topic bears some resemblance and sense of an abstract work, I've decided to join in.

Silhouette in The Heart's Rose
Canon EF 100mm macro, f/16, 500^-1sec, ISO 200.

After some advices and a short lecture by my teacher, the work started. He prepared a rose under a monolight with some gobo, but I picked my own rose or flower (which according to my teacher was the most expensive of them) and started  to work on it on my own. What attracted me to this flower specifically is the stems in the middle (sorry, don't know the scientific name for those!). Frankly, I don't know why or how did I forget the ISO on 200, but anyway it worked just fine with the pulses of the speedlite.

Harmonie
Canon EF 100mm macro,
f/16, 800^-1sec, ISO 200.

My 580EX II speedlite was connected with TTL cord to the camera and attached with honeycomb grid giving 16^o range. One of the hardest parts of all was to fix the flower on some stable ground and up high close to the camera's level, and the only way to do this was to put the flower into the handle of the small bag which carries my speedlites and filters! After that, I was free to move the speedlite around the flower and testing the results. Even though my teacher doesn't recommend using the LiveView feature to do the metering and focusing, I do find this way is really useful and I can almost never imagine myself without it now. With LiveView you can move a cursor to the desired location to do the focusing, and this is much more easier than depending on zones or points in the viewfinder. Metering, however, can be a bit tricky with the rectangular cursor across the display and also the possibility of leaking light rays from the viewfinder that can put the exposure reading off track, but still it can be useful to take readings from various areas in the scene without moving or tilting the camera - that is for comparing the differences in stops and so on.

Die Glänzende Finger
Canon EF 100mm macro, f/4, 400^-1sec, ISO 200.

As I've mentioned before that I was moving the speedlite (and changing the depth as well) which yielded some interesting results. It did feel like working in a studio full of diffusers and reflectors but in a macro level! Images like Silhouette in The Heart's Rose for example was achieved by using the petals as reflectors for the speedlite pulse and hence creating a silhouette out of the stems in the middle of the bloom. On the other hand, Harmonie was achieved by using the petals behind the stems as diffusers which also painted the stems in red giving something in between ethereal and a romantic look. Well, some people pointed out it is scary as well! Just worth a mention here that Harmonie is originally in landscape orientation but I felt it's more appealing to make it in portrait position.
Even though we were supposed to exchange flowers and work on each for some time, but the time was limited, and personally after shooting Harmonie I thought I did achieve my purpose for this session already.

Award:

Award to BPF
Canon EF 50mm, f/4,
1600^-1sec, ISO 200.

Just one image but it has to be mentioned here for it did take some deal of experimenting with speedlites. Last week I've received an award dedicated to BPF group (the group I'm member of) since I was the representative of the group and the middle man between the group and Kuwait University's Cultural Festival last January.
What I really loved here is the wooden texture and its touch (yes, its touch). I wanted to show an image focusing on the group's name (upper white line) while showing fine details for the rest of the shield. After experimenting which consumed a great deal of time, I've held my 580EX II speedlite with a snoot on top of the shield pointing downward, while controlling via wireless a 430EX II speedlite in front of the shield but pointing away from the shield with  reflector in front of it to spread some light on the shield. I guess I achieved the desired look little bit though I wished it to be brighter over the logo and the group's name.

Christmas in Ahmadi!
With the beginning of the last weekend, a friend in the group suggested that we head out to Ahmadi, a town or city down south with around 30 minutes of driving from my place. Ahmadi is known to be a home for many foreigners and citizens who are related to the oil industry. I dare say even that it is a town created and established by oil companies alone!

Stern von Licht
Canon EF 50mm, f/1.4, 125^-1sec, ISO 100.

It Snows in Ahmadi!
Canon EF 50mm, f/1.4,
125^-1sec, ISO 100.

We don't really celebrate Christmas in here (not officially), but Ahmadi was lighted up with decorations made of light patterns in shape of miniatures for the celebrations of the national day (mainly February 25^th and 26^th). It was one heck of a night and an absolutely fantastic spot for night photography. If only I could head there on my own I might have tried my luck often there. We had our share though from the annoying people and hooligans but around 1 p.m. it became relatively quiet.
We spent around 2 hours taking shots and experimenting on only one road, and we were leaving the place we noticed prettier scenes even but it was time to leave specially after getting a pin penetrating my shoe and sticking to my foot! This incident was the end of our journey that night and we had to leave. I didn't go to the doctor to get any injection (tetanus?) but my foot feels just fine right now and as I'm typing these words, the pain is almost gone and I don't limp as I used to when I first got the injury. Well... just in case you care anyway!

Star Spangled Kuwait
Canon EF 50mm, f/1.4, 25^-1sec, ISO100.

Candy Clock
Rokinon 8mm, f/3.5, ISO 100.
HDR

One of the significant features in Ahmadi's general design is the light miniatures in every roundabout you go around. I think it works so good as a land mark! Other areas in Kuwait would resemble just one big maze for their roundabouts within the area.
One of these roundabouts did fascinate me the most though; it was one with a small clock tower which carried lighting tubes and lights were going on and off like a running fluid. A long exposure for this clock tower didn't give much beauty for the lighting conditions there, thus I've decided to go on to the roundabout itself and do some HDR shooting right in front of it. There was a total of 6 images taken in a range of -6EV up to +2EV. Despite the usage of a tripod that was flattened almost to the ground level (and I had to clone out a portion of the leg out of the image), yet the image on 100% zoom seems to be shaken and because of the long exposures taken here, the merged HDR had lot of noise specially after tone-mapping, and some portions looked shaky as if the camera was shaken. I don't remember any staggering wind that night despite the cold weather! The final result is, after all, an image that looks like a sweet candy in small size, but not suitable for printing as I believe.
Too bad I won't be able to go out there this weekend because my friend is going to Dubai with the rest and I have yet also to process some images from that night that I haven't touched because of the events that followed after that night!

Andaluz:
It was place that I could spend my week taking photos inside without being bored. The ideas in that place are just, simply, abundant and there is a chance in every moment, in every corner. That place was called The Arab Organizations Headquarter (AOH).

A La Luz
Rokinon 8mm, f/8, 10^-1sec, ISO 100.

As part of the efforts by our leader to increase the amount of publishable works from members of the group, as I've stated before, more activities are on the run, including a trip to Dubai this weekend. For him, it was easy to gain access to the AOH, as he said. "I just needed to do a phone call," he stated! This is the good thing about our group - not only we're trying to do the best we can, but also we are under the leadership of a renowned photographer that got access to many places I wouldn't even dream of.
As soon as I heard about the plans, I've prepared my VR-head and made it ready for panoramas. As soon as I got into the place, my mind was completely boggled for all the fine crafts and the handmade wooden decorations along side with the Andalusian style of architecture. It was indeed a dream! However, because of the time limit and the practicality needed (along side with cautions and precautions for walking around such a paradise!) I couldn't just walk and do panoramas wherever I settled with my tripod. Thus I've just wandered off to take some shots from various locations.

Anti Gravitatis
Canon EF 50mm, f/1.4, 320^-1sec, ISO 400.

One of the first locations to be visited was the reading hall or library. Once I got in there, my teacher told me to be careful for the high contrast around the elliptical stairway because there is a light fixture on top (in shape of a chandelier). I was looking for such structure because I was thinking of some sort of a shot for some long time now - an abstract shot with an 8mm fisheye lens from the ground level of the stairs. First, I've used the tripod but it was not so flat and the framing was not appealing much, thus I had to use my hand and lay completely on my back and take few shots, most of them are shaky. I was planning for HDR merging because of the high contrast but A La Luz was made from a single shot while the others were shaken and unclear. This experiment sparked some ideas for improvising something or making something already to handle such low-level shots.
When I wandered into other rooms, I've found a fountain with some faucets that were somehow a good target for a long exposure. However, I've found out that however stops I add to the shutter speed (with the help of ND filters), the water's outlook does not change drastically despite the speed of the water, thus I've concluded that the turbulence in the water waves or currents (including changing directions) is essential to long exposures done for the water to show some dynamic attitude for the image. Otherwise, The long exposure image would look just like Anti Gravitatis which was taken as a test shot from the very beginning. And by the way, when Anti Gravitatis was taken and then viewed on monitor back home, the image was not in portrait position as it was taken originally (this is because I turned the rotation option in my Canon EOS 7D). However, I liked its look and how the water is like flying in the air!

That One
Canon EF 50mm + 12mm tube, f/1.4,
25^-1sec, ISO 400.

Enlightened Curves
Canon EF 50mm, f/1.4,
100^-1sec, ISO 400.

After settling in a place above the reading hall (seems to be a cafeteria or a reception area) and doing a panorama there (see below), and after having a break with a cup of coffee and a chitchat with my teacher, I've resumed shooting at some details of the miniatures and the fine wooden work like That One and Enlightened Curves. These two images specifically were supervised by my teacher. In That One, I've decided to use the 12mm extension tube along with 50mm lens to reduce the minimum focusing distance and I was surprised for the magnificent isolation of that piece of the rail. I can almost say that even in regular circumstances and under f/1.4 this would be hard to achieve in such a way. Anyway, the image was good as my teacher said but it does not have that touch of light that makes it special, and he's right. So, he guided me to my second shot, the Enlightened Curves. In a hurry there were some long exposures for a fountain outside as night befell us already, but the framing was done in such a haste and apparently, the final results could not be adjusted properly. They might be a subject for some work later on though!

Panorama and QTVR

The day I've received the news about going to AOH, I've realized it is a significant chance for a panorama, and the first thing I would grab was my VR-head. Even though I didn't see the place before but my friends who had been there before assured me that it is an architectural gem and a good spot for panoramas.
When I got there, I started to wander around and in fact I've found 2 suitable places for panoramas just at the reception place inside! But if I was to start to work on panoramas in every location I'd get to see, I would not give a chance for single shots. Thus, I continued to wander around taking photos until I arrived at a place just above the library (and can be reached from different entries) which was, as I believe, the cafeteria. Such a vast place with Andalusian designs in marble and wood; it was an architectural heaven!

Tiempos Andaluzas

The wooden decorations were intriguing indeed. I still need to test my lenses against these structures but unfortunately, I had to leave, naturally!
When I started to settle down in this spot, I've started to take general readings from my lightmeter in incident mode. I was going in a circle around the tripod and camera set and pointing the lightmeter towards the camera as I was circling the tripod and measuring the light at different angles. It is the first time I apply this, since I usually prefer shooting my panoramas in Av (aperture priority) mode, which specifies the shutter speed automatically for me. Now, I'm working in a completely (M)anual mode, and I need a starting point for bracketing my exposures for the HDR technique. After completing a full circle around the tripod, the average reading was around 6_1/3EV, corresponding to something around 1 second at f/8. By the way, f/8 is one of my own personal favorite f-numbers when doing panoramas because I can easily gauge the depth manually on the focusing ring of the Canon EF 15mm fisheye lens, and next comes f/16. Thus, bracketing the shutter speed for HDR in the range of -2EV to +2EV would be something like: 4^-1, 1, 4 seconds respectively.
In this panorama, the zenith (topmost) shot was not hard; the ceiling had enough details to be stitched easily within the rest of the slides. The nadir, as usual, was a big problem.
I didn't bring extra tools with me to take the nadir (and I was standing on some tiles with decorations) thus I had to improvise something. I've tilted the set a bit (and almost fell to the ground!) but back at home when stitching, this method proved problematic and not suitable enough; probably my shot was far away from being flat. However, I had to render the QTVR putting my logo after all, after a long fight with the stitcher!


for a larger version, you can download it here

The Hanging Andalusian

One of mistakes that I've done while doing this panorama is picking such a location between two distinctive features, making the flat version of the panorama having two focal points, or two points of interest for the viewer: the fountain, and the wooden decor. However, I was afraid that if I situated myself behind the fountain I would lose some details from the decoration itself. Hence, I've decided to work on a vertical panorama in which both features are aligned vertically. It still might be competing for interest that way, but usually in vertical images the eyes would scan the view from top to bottom!
Yet there is more to work on with this panorama, and more points of view that might be intriguing still. All of that, beside working with other images taken from Ahmadi last week, and from AOH as well. All of that and more to come probably after Saturday's trip to a reservation down south. I'm not the kind of person who shoots for wild life but it is something I have to take care for with other members.

Finale:
Here I am again, busy all over again with projects and barely have the time to think of my personal life. Can be good and bad in the same time. The heart is swinging in the current time; it says something, and the mind says something else - isn't it always like that?
I've been thinking a bit about Geltani and trying to complete some aspects about it but with such a fuss of projects and the pressure with the group I couldn't really collect my thoughts about some aspects. And still the problem of ambiguity in between words of similar letters and different meanings persists. I've collected my leaflets on which I usually write down my thoughts about the Geltani conlang, and brought them all back home with me so I would stay, hopefully, calm and meditate into them and think of something. On the other hand, the chart of sounds for Geltani is still not complete, and the syllabary system for writing foreign words is not thought of yet. I'm surely lagging behind with my ideas and achievements - it does sound like a time for a vacation to work more, rather than a vacation to rest...