+10…

So, a month now since my official request for retirement and until the moment of typing these words, things aren't over yet. On a positive note, I don't have to go to work daily right now as I'm officially off, but I'm still not completely detached from work because I didn't finish the paperwork related to my "leaving certificate". Thus, the month of November just passed me by without a salary in bank account. To add pepper and salt to the wounds, everyone is just working slowly, barely answering phone calls, and what would take a day to be done or even less, takes up to 2+ days to do, if not a week or weeks.

Anyway, away from my ranting, I've decided for this week's post to talk about 10 of my images that had been marked as "Inspirational" by YouPic. This comes after finally having my 20th image marked as inspirational. I've made a post long time ago about my first 10 images, and so this post will be about my second 10 inspirational image, as noted by YouPic. 

+10

So, here is the list and in the order of picking them up as "inspirational". I'll try to be brief as much as possible in describing each image.

1.

_MG_7671

 The first image in the list as you can see bears no title, because, well, I didn't really care much about it and I didn't think of it as something special. It is one shot from a series, when I shot the fireworks during the "Constitution Day" celebrations back in 2012. I was on the roof of Soug Sharg Mall and the location was not special or anything; It didn't provide any good perspective or foreground. Yet, I kept shooting that night and got an arsenal of fireworks shots.

2.

_MG_7773

 As you can see, #2 is like its predecessor and from the same location but with a different focal length, thus more buildings and lights are included. Again, I didn't think of a title for this shot because, come to think of it, it's a series with loads and loads of firework images! I can barely remember my own passwords at this age now (yes, 41 is old). Just to add some "dynamism" to the image, I've decided to crop it at 16:9 as if it was some wide-screen movie scene. Unlike its predecessor, I didn't work quite much on the blacks here to make it lighter. I think the tones weren't helping anyway.

3.

_MG_7751

Another one (and a favorite) from the series of the fireworks which was also marked as "inspirational" by YouPic. I like this one in particular because of the 3D-ish look that happens to be here. I was able to lighten the pitch black sky a bit and like its predecessor, it was cropped to 16:9. At that time I was experimenting with the cinematic looks, so I used this ratio quite often to mimic a movie scene or something. Well, I still do sometimes. One weird thing about this image is that the recorded f-number is f/36, while I'm sure that the max f-number for all of my lenses is f/32!

4.

Peekaboo Building

Peekaboo Building was just a random shot that I've taken in Dubai in 2013, when I was there for some ceremony I was invited to. I've stayed for 3 days but, literally, didn't find much to shoot there during my stay. This place is just not my thing really. Anyway, this is one of the random shots that I've taken as I was walking aimlessly on the roads not from my hotel. Of course, this shot was cropped and adjusted (specially to make the vertical and horizontal lines as straight and divergent as possible). It was uploaded in the abstract section on YouPic even and not in the architecture section. To me, it looks quite random!

5.

Herr Fengus

Then, we have here my little friend which showed up one morning during COVID-19 lock up in 2020, and then disappeared the next day. Well, in our garden some fungi like this show and disappear regularly (I guess they don't stay because of the water force over them). Anyway, shooting Herr Fengus was quite a challenge, because it was taken handheld and getting low. Even the focus here is not quite pinned correctly and I had to do some compromise with the f-number to let in more light. Originally, it was white-yellowish in color, but with post-processing, things flourished!

6.

Abhainn na gCuimhní Binne
(river of the sweet memories)

The next one came to me as a complete surprise. An old shot from Oughterard, Co. Galway, Ireland, which was shot with my old Canon 350D (my first Canon camera ever), back in 2009, during my first visit to Ireland ever. The scene here is quite random but I tried to make something out of it by color grading and dodging and burning here and there. Seems all that work (which I wasn't quite satisfied with) did pay off with being picked for the "Inspirational" section by YouPic. I remember some of these white spaces (the sky) needed some fixes and I'm guessing I've sorted this out by some patching work.

7.

In The Grace of The Cormac

In The Grace of The Cormac is an old panorama shot in my second visit to Ireland, in 2010, and this panorama was the beginning of a series of re-stitched panoramas done from RAW files without resorting to HDR techniques. Also, in this re-stitch of this panorama, I've included a human factor in the middle which I used to remove in the original (and I was lucky to have this lady photographer at the center). Using only RAW in stitching is not quite easy as I thought! The panorama is shot inside McCormac cathedral which forms a compound with Cashel Rock castle.
[Worth noting that this panorama particularly is available in large size for download and printing as a fine art piece from my MostPhotos profile].

8.

Il-Pixxina
(The Swimming Pool)

The next one in the series of re-stitched panoramas (from RAW) comes from the swimming pool of the place where I stayed in Qala, Malta. This panorama was shot twice back in 2015. My first trial wasn't successful and problematic because the light was changing quickly, so I tried to fix that the next day with another shoot with somewhat proper timing. This re-stitch, however, which is made from RAWs, was made from RAW files of the first trial (which I didn't delete). One element is missing from the original (2nd trial stitch done first) and that is the cat which posed for me in the scene!

9.

بَـهْـجَـةُ الـعـاصـِيْ
(Sinner's Delight)

As for #9, we have another re-stitched panorama from the old days when I was "able" somehow to go out on those cold winter nights to the seaside and do stuff with my camera. Like its original predecessor, the RAW-only re-stitched panorama was a challenge in terms of noise and details, as well as exposure. The title of this panorama can be understood in two ways depending on the perspective of the viewer; Looking at the city, this place can be the delight that the sinner is looking for, or considering the isolation from the city, this place can be the delight of repentance that the sinner is looking for.
[Worth noting that this panorama particularly is available in large size for download and printing as a fine art piece from my MostPhotos profile].

10.

يَـحْـمـورْ
(Redness)

The last one, came about as a surprise to me for various reasons. First, it had been a really long time since any of my images was marked as "inspirational" on YouPic. Secondly, the image is actually some neglected test shot done in the summer of 2012. I don't find anything special in this image, and here was the challenge in fact (for me) to create some interest by color-grading and other editing techniques. I'm still thinking, how come I didn't point my camera to the city on the left and take a shot there showing the reflection on water? To add more "strength" to the image (so to say) I've cropped it into a square and made sure that the horizon line is around the center of the image. 

Finale

Now, this is the post for this week. I'm not sure if I will post in 2 weeks time, but I do have some ideas cooking in my head which I hope that they would produce something to post about then.

One of the ideas that cook in my head is to pay tribute to the great Arab tenor whose songs I'm in love with: Sabah Fakhri صباح فخري. This great iconic marvel passed away from our mundane world on November 2nd; An event that poured melancholy into my life further, but c'est la vie. I've did few images back in 2016 probably trying to get some inspiration from the classical he sang on various occasions, but I think those weren't enough. More work need to be done in this aspect and I hope that my willpower is up to it.

By the time this is posted, I'm praying that my status with my workplace is finalized. I've spent the whole month of November without a salary because of that and I'm praying that it won't be another month without it. A question keeps popping up in my head now and then: What now after retirement, TJ? However, I'm trying to suppress my thoughts for the time being and just focus on the rubbish on my full plate with all these stuff related to the workplace and the papers here and there. But if I'm to be honest with myself, I really don't know what is my next step after retirement, except that I need to enjoy my life just a bit. Just a bit…
 

 

+5…

Did I pass 2 weeks already without blogging? I guess! I really didn't count the days. I've been under pressure lately which made me unable to do much even with editing my old photos. The largest portion of this stress has passed (somewhat) already, but some deal of it remains still. More about that a bit later.
I don't think I will be posting much in this post except for an announcement, and as I go on, I might think of posting a bit further about some of my latest edits!

Announcement

I think I've mentioned in previous posts about new uploads to Mostphotos. So, here it is, I've uploaded about 3 new panoramas (plus 2, adding to 10 panoramas uploaded months back). So, the total right now is at 15 panoramas at large sizes, suitable for printing as fine art pieces. I think I didn't post much about these extra 5 panoramas, so I'll try to do so here right now. 

Failakan Sunset

Earlier (as in last month or before!) I've added Failakan Sunset  to Mostphotos (exclusively), and it is an old (half-way) panorama shot over a ramp, which is used to slide boats to the water, on Failaka island. It was taken in 2012. I say "half-way" here as it was not a full panorama, but merely 2 rows was shot, and the third one was not shot (probably because at that time it was getting pretty dark on this depopulated island). Originally done in HDR, but this time it is done with singles of RAW files; All edited and stitched. Of course the colors are edited here and in fact they caused me a problem because when merging layers the appearance of the image would change drastically. I had to re-work the colors after merging (and at 100% zoom to ensure the accuracy of the colors). At 300 dpi, the panorama is close to 102cm by 36cm. I think if I was to print this panorama I would print it on a glossy material, preferably metal. Just one must be careful about the reflections from light fixtures. 

Entry
(Slí Isteach)

Then I added Entry, or as I like to call it in Irish: Slí Isteach. This is a panorama shot in 2014 inside a little defensive tower in the remains of Aughnanure castle in Oughterard, Co. Galway. It was my 3^rd time in Ireland, and my 2^nd time in Aughnanure (the first being in 2009). Generally speaking, this projection is relatively new for this panorama. I did many projections and styles out of this panorama, but this is the first time I do a simple vertical one like this, and centering it at the door. At 300 dpi, this panorama is almost 33cm by 75cm. I had to crop quite a portion to balance the image here and remove unnecessary or incomplete details. I would consider printing this on glossy metal but one has to be careful with the lighting surrounding this; Otherwise it would turn just like a reflective mirror with such dark areas. If one would want to go safe with this one, matte never hurts anyone!

Solar Towers

Then, we have Solar Towers, which took me quite some time to put the keywording for, and I'm not sure why. I think I was passing through some "mind-boggling" phase or something. Anyway, I did the keywording after all and here it is. Of course this is an old panorama and it was done in HDR before but this time, like the rest in this series, it is stitched out of single RAW files. The projection here, though, is the new thing as I didn't do such a projection before out of this panorama specifically. I had some struggles of course with the tripod and its shadows (like in the original) and I had spent quite some time fixing it. At 300 dpi, the size is about 42cm by 76cm. I tend to think that glossy printing of this one would add to the vibrancy of the blue tones and adds more overall contrast.

Beyond Abzu

I rolled back in time and checked some of these winter adventures I did back in 2012, and found some worthy stuff (but with a great deal of post-processing work and fixing), such Beyond Abzu here. Beyond Abzu was one of my first night panoramas and I still remember that cold winter night when my feet got frozen by the cold water. As the processing went on, the general tint of the image got green and that inspired a sense of mystery in me, hence the name Abzu (also Apsu) which is the name of the primitive waters, supposedly, from which the world was created in Sumerian myths. In some way, the whole surrealism in this panorama was pointing to that meaning in my head so I gave it that name. At 300 dpi, the panorama is about 37cm by 85cm, and I would go with a glossy print for this one though I would fear for the level of noise here to be exaggerated. I worked on cleaning the noise moderately because there is a limit, after which details might disappear. However, this panorama still bear some dark aspect and dark areas might work as mirrors in glossy prints,specially metallic ones. But I would imagine it would be so vibrant if printed on metal!

Return to Nammu

Lastly, there is Return to Nammu which I consider like Part-2 of Beyond Abzu. In time, these two panoramas are not far off; Both were shot in the same winter, and both in January of that year. However, with Return to Nammu, the sky was a bit darker than in Beyond Abzu specifically because I shot this facing the sea and the moon and the city lights were relatively further away. This allowed for some star constellations to appear in the sky in the original shots and here I tried to process the panorama and clean the noise without touching the stars. Thus, they appear in the original panorama, despite being shot within the vicinity of the city, but only when zoomed in at 100%. Unlike Beyond Abzu though, this one looks quite colorful, and yet mysterious a bit because of the dark night element and the stars, and that moon that shines like a rising sun (but in the middle of the night!). At 300 dpi, the size is about 85cm by 38cm. Print-wise, I guess it would do good in glossy as well as matte. The green hue here, as I see it, would be a vibrant one on a glossy media, specially a metallic one. 

Well, this is for now 5 new uploads to my Mostphotos, which are exclusive to Mostphotos. The links are up there to visit the profile or the specific images, in case you are reading this and wish to get one of these.
My capabilities right now are not quite aligned to provide such printing services and shipping, so I let these images to be purchased on their own as big original files in JPEG format to be printed on whatever the client would like.

Finale

Well, probably I can't get on so much with this post but I believe the announcement above and the details mentioned are just about enough in length for this post; Let's not make it longer!
I am currently on a leave from work for 2 weeks but not for resting or fun, but rather for stress and tracking. After a long wait, I've finally received my "disability certificate" which took a bit more than 2 weeks actually, and finally I was ready to submit my request for a grant of medical retirement from my workplace. But things weren't easy as I hoped for; Suddenly, solving a problem 2 or 3 more problems would occur and some more responsibilities regarding my work are added to the mix, which made every single passing day count. As I'm typing these words, I've finally submitted my papers by email (after a little adventure in going to the new campus, my future workplace supposedly) and a recent phone call confirmed to me that my papers had been signed and ongoing in the process. I just hope the big part of this is over with just before my two-week leave ends. Bureaucracy is not in a friendly terms with my time.
For this reason, and because of all of that stress, I don't think I would be blogging on a regular basis, but surely I will try as much as I can, at least once every other week. Who knows, maybe by the next blog post here, I would be completely free…

Mental Stack…

Finishing with February, and now March begins with the typical pressure and stress for the many activities I must get involved in. Now after the ending of the Italian Style contest, I think it is OK to post my work here. Beside that I've been busy with February's project, as well as working with March's project. Adding to that, a Comic Con expo which we got involved in, and submitting images and orchestrating our participation in Austria's International Photography Contest (Trierenberg Circuit). Just reading these titles makes me feel exhausted already.

Settimana Italiana

I've talked previously about this contest related to the Italian Style Week (or simply Italian Week). Every participant is allowed one image into the contest. I've posted one 3D rendering of a shot some weeks ago in this blog (in B&W) but nothing more I think, so I'm going to post more shots from a single place in which I've worked for this contest: The Scandinavian House. Well, despite the name, it does have Italian furniture!

A Game of Scopa

First comes my participation image. It was the first thing to work on as I got in, and I've spent quite a time to center and put on some props (clothing and Scopa cards), and by mistake, I've placed a traditional rosary (for men) behind the vase which made it mostly invisible from that angle. The image didn't win anyway, probably because that Italian elements are not prominent in it. Anyway, the work is still going on to render more projections out of this panorama, which I might post more of in this blog later on.

Planeta Scopa

Moreover, later after shooting this panorama, I've wandered around to see any opportunities. Just recently, I've discovered a shot that I've made with my converted camera without using any filters, which I've neglected previously for its lack of interest and other technical problems. However, I noticed that I've shot it a number of times and with some shift in perspective, which sparked the idea of creating an anaglyph out of it. Which I did!

Il Vaso (3D)

The white balance here was fixed during the edit which rendered the colors back to normal (almost) as if it was taken with a regular camera. It is a hard task to make a concrete anaglyph using a fisheye lens, thus some ghosting effect is still obvious at some areas, but probably focusing on the edge of the vase or the rosary would pop the effect out.
Another shot was taken raising my Rokinon 8mm fisheye high up above a long table, being on a tripod itself. Took several shots to pick one from and then the shot undergone a distortion fix process with DxO. Not quite to my liking though, but I tried hard to keep some lines straight and the bowl round perfectly but that didn't go well it seems. Yet the shot was too simple and I didn't submit it to the contest of course. It might serve as a concept for minimalism though!

I Biscotti

Then there is the previously posted in 3D shot, which I've re-processed from a single RAW this time. Looking at it right now, I wish that I've shot it with my Canon EF 50mm at f/1.4 or f/2.8 at least to have more of a blurred background. However, I've this shot using Voigtländer 20mm, at its widest aperture at f/3.5. Good perspective and sharpness (even though manually checked), but the background needs more blurring to reduce the distraction away from the glassware. I did crop a large portion from the sides just to reduce the distraction and balance the image more (but not perfectly).

L'Urna

In all, this might be all that have been interesting for me in this place. Now, I'm busy working with other projects still and preparing many other things.

Feabhra

February (Feabhra) was the month of the national days (Independence and Liberation days) on 25^th and 26^th. For this reason, the project for this month was to be about Kuwait in general. To roll back the memory a bit, our group now had established an activity with this year's beginning, by picking a topic (sometimes by vote) for every month, and members involved in this activity must shoot from 1 to 3 images in that picked up theme.

بلداً آمنا (Safe Place)
Canon EF 50mm, f/2, 250^-1sec, ISO160.

Flag of Kuwait

My first trial for this project was with my mother and her colored rosary resembling the flag of Kuwait. I needed an old hand to resemble the old age which, for the time being, is often attached (mentally) to wisdom and faith; beside the fact that the rosary is hers given as a gift! I've taken several shots (and had some struggles with my speedlite). At the end I've picked this shot. In all shots, I was setting the focus point at the Arabic word [آمنا: safe] and as I was changing the angles to see a better view, the word just vanished from sight at times. However, I've struggled to satisfy myself with the depth of field, and finally decided to settle with f/2 here. The critical point though came after, when friends brought my attention to the fact that the rosary is encircling the specific phrase in the page (with a meaning almost the opposite of what I wanted in the line above); which delivers a meaning not what I really wanted in the first place. Anyway, now I've been busy with other things and I have no time to re-shoot this, but if need be, and if required after the critique, I might shoot it again.

Kuwait Print
Canon EF 50mm + ET, f/22, 250^-1sec, ISO100.

My next shot was inspired by a logo. A logo which was used for the Martyrs Bureau; an institution which was established after 1990-1991 war to take care of the affairs of martyrs of Kuwait and their families. The logo was composed for a fingerprint sketch colored with the flag's colors. I've used face-painting colors here on my brother's index finger, and though I did a random sketch and splashing, it did seem appropriate to have a more organized set of colors (which he did paint later on). The  real struggle was with the bulky tripod and lens (with extension tubes). To add to my frustration, I've added a rail to the tripod, while pointing the camera 90^o down (I wanted my brother to place his finger on a table top so his muscles would be relaxed). I thought of doing a focus-stack in the beginning but shooting at f/22 seemed just about enough (using one speedlite on the side). Even though I do own a simple LED ring light, but when it comes to f/8, its maximum power is barely enough, not to say at f/22! Thus, I needed to use a speedlite with its maximum power or so, at a close distance. Modifiers here were hard to use so I had to depend on changing the direction of the speedlite and play with its power a bit to get a proper exposure (with the help of the processing power for RAWs!). Looking at it now, I think I should have made it in portrait orientation instead.

Kuwait Eye
Canon EF 100mm Macro, f/9, 1/2sec, ISO400.

RoundFlash
Source: B&H

The last one in the list was the real puzzle. Using a high power flash made the flag's reflection disappear from the eye, while reducing the power did not help with the exposure (and eventually would need a longer exposure in parts of a second and that caused shake). In the beginning, my brother was my subject, and I used his iPad to reflect the flag from it on the eye, but he couldn't cope for long with the strong flash strikes. Thus, my sister took his place. Using light modifiers didn't help either. It was obvious that I needed to take the shot with ambient light and without using any speedlite but that was hard because of the shake. By trial and error, I've finally got a somewhat better view using the RoundFlash and raising the ISO. It was a compromise, since the reflection of the light ring did fall on the eye as well (naturally) beside the flag. Up till this very moment, I'm thinking about fixing this problem but no solution occurred to me yet. Many people insist that such effect is in fact a graphic editing, but I'm sure there is a way to do it (beside having the subject wear a contact lens with specific design, which is a harder option for me of course). I'll keep thinking about that and we'll see what will be the result!

Finale

Now, many things are weighing on my shoulders; at home, work, and the group. It seems to me that those psychological tricks to do things one by one and not thinking about the overall load - seems these tricks are not working with me here. I'm slowly saying goodbye to winter, which is a sad time for me actually.
Our group is participating in a Comic-Con expo for 3 days and I will be there helping other members for some time, so I might document the event; If I had the mood to. For the time being, I have to keep thinking of some more ideas for March project: Geometry via birds, fishes or fruit. Quite challenging, but I have some ideas already. The real challenge now is actually doing these ideas and having the materials available! I'm trying to keep my mind busy here; as busy as possible. But I'm not sure I would be able to hold that for long…

Scrambled Eggs…

Been some hectic weeks, and somehow the process is still going on. Anyway, it seems I have some problems in focusing in general, as I cannot stand doing a single job without being distracted or, simply, drained. This will be a quick stroll about the latest stuff I've been working on, or will be.

TessellaQaddis

Of course, first, there is my interest in tessellations, which I've stopped running after for a while to do some other chores and projects. In my hunt for new "composites" for creating a tessellating panorama, I've returned back to block #1 as I was working with TessellaQaddis, and this time, it is probably not even quite flowing smoothly at some edges. However, I've made some thoughts and still flipping ideas in my mind to see if I can get back at it later.
One of the projects that were in my mind for a long time was a peeling effect for a human subject (no worries; no blood or violence involved!). I've finally got the chance to work with my brother about this idea, though it might be just a first trial and we might do it again later, but not sure about this possibility.

Peeling Bro

A great deal of cloning was involved here; I guess caused by the vertical movement of his body as he rotated. The rotation was clumsy if I can call it so, since no concrete method for measuring angles were used except the convention of using the big toe as a scale: two steps of a toe at a time is somewhat visually equals to about 30° or so. The hair was a big problem too; his was so rigid and random! I've done a mistake here to forget about the top shot (for the top of the head) and the chin shot (from below that is) which could be done easily by reclining the head back and forth, but I've forgot about that completely (since I'm more used to do simple horizontal rotations). Thinking about it now, I wonder how would I be able to fit these two shots into the composition. There might not be a big deal for the top of the head somehow, but as for the chin shot from below, that would definitely be a hard task. I'll leave it at that and see if I can get the chance to do this experiment again... with a better hair!
Another project which I was so proud to do was colorizing an old photo. I've seen lot of B&W images online which have been colorized, and mostly WWI and WWII images. After asking around, it seemed that colorizing was indeed a manual task most of the time! There might be some hidden technique out there using the original B&W slides to produce colored images but I'm not sure of such possibilities. Anyway, I set out to do my own project in this, using an old photo for Dad…

Dad
Left: Original, Right: Colored Version.

I think Dad had this shot done in his 30s and probably out of Kuwait, judging from the suit. Everything here is hypothetical, i.e. I made up the colors, except for the skin tone which I've tried to mimic to the best of my memory about Dad. There were some tiny "glitches" in some areas but probably not so obvious for the first glance until one would go on a thorough inspection, with the original size. These glitches are mainly caused by the fact that I was using Gaussian Blur over Layer Masks to smooth out the edges; otherwise, the image would look rigid and not natural with hard edges between areas of different colors. Here, I had to paint the white shirt even despite being white already, but my white was a bit gray-ish as I thought it is more realistic in looks. Same thing was done to the hair in black, but a "lighter" black instead of completely pure black. After adding a color to a specific area, it must be blended with the original photo. I didn't quite make a specific formula for blending and I've actually used many blends, from overlay to soft light and even multiply and hard light at times. It all depends on the final look to be achieved. For this reason, I had to make sure to convert the scanned image to a pure B&W, otherwise there would be problems in blending colors when there is a tint overall the image. This image was yellowish a bit (but far from being in sepia). Now, this is something I would love to do for some of the major pictures I have scanned from the family collection. But this work needs patience and also information about some details. I'll look after that later on.

On the other hand, there were some urgent matters that I had to stop everything and try to get along with, like the Italian Style contest which came contemporary to the Italian Week here in Kuwait. Our group is taking this seriously and a conference was held with the Italian ambassador, HE Giuseppe Scognamiglio, to explain related issues with this contest. The good thing here is, no models or human figures are allowed into the picture. A relief!

HE Giuseppe Scognamiglio and Mr Bahaadeen Al-Qazwini, leader and founder of BPF Group, during the Italian Style contest conference.

The leader of the group held two workshops to assist the participants if they like to. Personally, I attended only the first workshop which was held in The Scandinavian House, a furniture store belonging to Al-Khonaini Group (Instagram: @domus_scandinavia). The place has two exhibitions: one for office furniture mainly, and the other one for regular house furniture. As the office furniture section was all Italian, unlike the other, I hooked myself with this section alone. My main aim was a panorama in fact but since I'm advised not to post my participation image in the contest until the contest is over (February 27^th), thus I won't be posting this now. Instead, I had some trials after doing the panorama there.

3D Urn

One of the ideas that occurred to me is this urn or big glass (whatever they call it) you see above. However, after insepcting closely, I realized that my idea is not clear; the contest required a merge of Italian goods, with Kuwaiti sense. My idea was kind of far from that concept. Thus, I decided to have fun on my own terms. I shot plain shots for this urn then found myself doing a 3D procedure on shooting and the result is seen above. In fact, I had to work it all together using HDR technique, but seems there are good slides with strong highlights that I might work on later as single images. All in all, the colors in the image are too distracting as it seems (and as I tested it with friends in the group) and the 3D effect does not show clearly. Thus, I had to make a B&W version of the image (going through the process again), and then it became a bit better when observed using the typical Red-Cyan Anaglyph (3D) glasses.

3D Urn B&W

There had been other shots for other sets but probably this (beside the panorama I've done and not shown here) are the best so far. I'm still inspecting though.
Now, even though there is a plenty of time to the end of this contest, I have to say I'm done with it and I've uploaded my participation (sent by email that is) already. I have so much burden of projects on my shoulders which need to be attended and no more time to waste!

Finale

Things are piling up and I'm feeling drained here. Is it my sleeping pattern? I don't know, though I don't think this is the reason. Something is making me lose my appetite to hold the camera and work.
I have to finish some projects urgently before the end of the month. I'm trying to be optimistic here and say that I will be posting some of my results by next week, but I think it's early to say that with my mood swings. I hate when this happens, specially in times like these when I'm overwhelmed with projects. I even forgot totally about my older passion: conlangs.
The need for a vacation is really, really, giving me more stress when it crosses my mind. I can't stop thinking about it but it is a need rather than a luxury. The noise and the troubles and problems in this house are just too much to my already-defused mind. But where to? Is it affordable? All of this and other matters are simply behind a curtain for the time being, and I hate to look behind it…

Quick Snap…

Been a while now since I posted here. I was actually busy with my other Arabic blog with two successive posts about filters and some of their various types and properties; all for beginners. With my time limitations and stress, and the lack of subjects or work with my camera, I couldn't have much to post here. This is just a quick wrap, hoping that I will get back to work with my camera soon.

One of the major reasons for this time stress is the work with my group as we are preparing for a great event outside of Kuwait, which will be announced soon during September hopefully.

They have been hectic two months but August was the worst, for being the month just before the event. We had some delays in the printing jobs and some awkward moments, but all is to be resolved by now hopefully.
After this event I'm willing to get my own rest and peace of mind. The economical situation in this country is getting below the ebb level and yet, despite being single, I just can't leave everything behind me with responsibilities hung over my shoulders. All I can do is pray for a better future, for those I care about. I need to work more on my photography as well as my other projects, like Geltani, which gathered mountains of dust by now. No traveling for me this year, but man I just need it so. I miss the Irish countryside and the cold breezes…

Success…

Phew! It's over! What an exhaustive 10-days time! I barely had time to do anything else; work, home for lunch and then out again to the expo, then back again home for a little work with some photos (if any power was left) and hitting the sack so hard with exhaustion. I think it did make some toll on my health too. Anyway, the expo which accompanies Kuwait's 40^th Arabic Book fair is now over, with brilliant success, and what is left now is some reflection and thought, as well as analyzing some events.
It was a gamble in fact. I didn't know how the public would perceive a display of 3D images in a photography expo, but my bet was on the fact that it is a new and a weird idea which people are not used to in here. The fame was obvious when I saw some people advancing directly towards our group's booth and heading directly to the 3D display. However, I did have to follow every visitor possible (not in the first opening hours in the morning though), just to check their reaction, and also provide any help needed.
Among the audience there were many types: The analytical, the ignorant, the surprised... etc. It was fun noting these types down. Probably the most mysterious type was the one which looks thoroughly through the 3D glasses, for some time, put them down calmly then, and walks away without a single facial expression to note any feelings! Some other types surprised me as well, like some of them who said they don't see any difference at all when they look with and without glasses; Not quite sure what's the problem here but noting how other people perceived it, it seems such people did have a perception problem. The most annoying type was the one which puts the glasses for a second and puts it back; apparently not interested in the first place but probably the hand has a brain of its own to move! The majority of the annoying audience was composed of kids, kids, and kids! Even though I kept tracking my glasses, still some of them just disappeared into thin air! Adding to kids, some irresponsible adults.

Images displayed in the expo.

Now, the mess is over with, it is time to re-think and re-schedule my life as much as possible. I have many ideas I'm trying to apply and test... and some will cost me some precious pennies. I do have as well some scattered ideas for making some photographs, but let's hope I get the opportunity and time to work on them seriously! Aside, there lies a long abandoned project: The Geltani conlang. I was supposed to make a web version for the conlang, and there are still some screws that need to be tightened, specially in the transliteration notation.

On the other hand, there are a number of plans and tasks to do, like making test prints, and thinking of new ways to make prints for upcoming exhibitions. Presenting prints in some unusual way can be one of the points to keep us afloat in the world of art and photography altogether. It is a matter of presenting something new to the public. However, there are some other ideas on the waiting list, like the concept of the 4D image. I'm not sure how to apply this yet but it surely needs some practical work and trials and errors to examine how good this idea could be. I did give it out a try in few months back from now, but the subject needs more testing to come out with a concrete conclusion! 

ن (Nún)

In the meantime, I'm keeping myself a bit busy with some cultural activities, like visiting the theater as much as I can since it is Kuwait's 16^th festival, and working with panoramas acquired from the Den Gallery during the Arabic Book fair back in November. I'm still trying to extract more projections and styles from these 5 panoramas as it can be seen in ن. There are plenty of possibilities, yet I cannot simply form just any projection and stitch it without a specific goal or aim in mind - something I'm learning to master from visiting such galleries and going to the theaters to understand how to read emotions and in between the lines. In The world of artists, do what artists do!

Welcome to Den!

QTVR

Speaking of a documentation of such gallery naturally brings about the topic of QTVRs. In fact, We had some lengthy discussions about the properties of QTVRs and how the gallery would make use of these. There are methods and ways to introduce QTVRs but they do require some quite a knowledge in coding or building webpages (like using Java and Flash) which I'm not acquainted with. In this blog, I do usually use QTVR (.mov) files and embed them to be viewed in this page. Learning such methods for website building with QTVRs can be quite useful, but it might be a headache trigger as well - and after all, I'm just a photographer. Anyway, I've decided to make one QTVR out of one of these 5 panoramas (and two of them are not complete panoramas in fact).

However, it seems it is about time to learn these new website techniques, but I'm not ready for it yet, as my schedule is getting tighter for the time being even after the end of the exhibition. In fact, I was waiting for the exhibition to be over with just to do other activities on hold. 

These activities within the Den Gallery were done voluntarily, as I've discovered that an old friend's brother and their relatives are involved in this prestigious gallery. Now, I'm hoping that my surreal projection styles would be inspirational to them as artists as well!

Ring of Arts

Finale

Now, I've talked a bit about what's in my list of activities, specially those related to photography, but I still have more. Well, excluding the daily routine and the bills, as well as cleaning my room! 

I'm already enrolled now in a special 3-day workshop discussing High-Speed photography and using the HSS mode in the Speedlites. In the plans as well, searching for classes for KSL (Kuwaiti Sign Language) and if ASL (American Sign Language) if possible. I really loved to learn this language in a long time now and I had some trials, but with time gaps in between trials, everything is forgotten easily! Maybe it is time to get something concrete like I did before with the German classes about 9 or 8 years ago!

I'm not sure how necessary is this; I mean going into activities like that. However, it is probably an unconscious trial from my side to escape my reality? Trying to find myself a name? I don't know. One thing for sure though: my tired body will take the toll for sure; but I'm hoping it will be like the case with muscles: The More weight you take, the bigger the muscles grow! 

I was wishing to display my panoramas from the my first commissioned work in Bait Al-Othman museum, which got me a tiny stream of extra income, but unfortunately, I cannot do much right now until they publish the images on their own. They didn't buy the right of these images (which should cost more of course!). Now I'm thinking of how to expand the circle of customers, and probably my work in Den Gallery would be a spark in that road.

Golden Times

Wara Malta…

Here I am. After some long journeys and so much fuss and hassle in life! I think there's so much to be talking about right now, specially that I didn't write any blog posts when I was in Malta (from September 27^th until October 8^th), but thanks to my laptop, I couldn't do that and now many things and many details escaped my mind. However, processing images and some panoramas is ongoing.
I have to say that I didn't get into the maximum of my efforts in Malta, specially after being struck with a serial bad luck, starting with my laptop stopping to function in what it seemed back then to be a short circuit in the motherboard. Luckily I had my tablet to do some of my business and when I did a search about this problem it seemed that most people suffered from this problem owned a DELL like me! And it is noted that most likely it is a motherboard problem. However, when I got back to Kuwait, the laptop worked just fine as nothing happened at all! I'm still trying to figure out what was going on exactly and learn, so I can avoid this problem in the future! Malta's and Kuwait's electricity are almost the same (230V for Malta and 240V for Kuwait, and both run on 50Hz). It sure gave me a hard time, but thanks to the owners of Dar ta' Żeppi who allowed me to use a laptop to transfer my files from the camera to my external hard disk.
I'm not sure what came over me but something out there turned my ambitious venture around and made me dormant. In fact, I didn't go to the typical tourists attraction in Malta, and specifically in the island of Gozo (Maltese: Għawdex), and I had just my share of walks in the narrow roads of il-Qala, the town where I was staying. The weather is nice but it's not as cold as Ireland in October; a typical Mediterranean weather. Thus, walking around had its toll on my body. In fact, I was literally "climbing" in some of these roads!

 

As you can see in the video, this is just an example of some portion of the roads. There were scenic views however. The owners did indeed offer me a ride to some of these tourists attractions but I was on hibernating mode and all I could think of is relaxation. I got tired of carrying my gear with me wherever I go, hence after few days I've totally abandoned the idea of doing panoramas out of the periphery of the B&B. I took strolls like in this video above, simply carrying my camera and 2 lenses maximum (typically the Canon EF 50mm f/1.4, and Rokinon 8mm f/3.5 fisheye). In the beginning I was wandering around with my full gear (plus the VR-Head for panoramas) but it proved to be a killer specially in such roads. Not only you will get tired going up a road walking but also going down from the same route because you will need some power and force (while you're exhausted already) to brake your body and avoid falling down!

Is-Sema li Jaqgħu
(the falling sky)
Canon EF 15mm fisheye, f/9, 18m, ISO100.

Beside regular shots and panoramas there were infrared trials of course. I wasn't always lucky in this matter in fact (seems luck was always down in Malta!). I tried to take an infrared shot with my Rokinon 8mm fisheye lens in front of Kbir Qaddis Ġużeppi church, but the wind direction was always driving the clouds away from the scene giving me at the end a clear sky (those exposures took around 40 to 42 minutes!). I might though work on those later, but probably the best infrared shot I've taken was done with my Canon EF 15mm fisheye lens (the one I usually use for panoramas as well); Is-sema li jaqgħu. The clouds here served me well but the composition isn't quite right and somewhat "barren."  The sun provided a strong flare and had to be cropped out as well. For infrared shots with Rokinon fisheye lens (which has no socket at the back like the Canon EF 15mm fisheye), I've decided to do it the hard way by sticking it using a duct tape to the back of the lens. It is a long process and wastes time but I think it is worthy after all, specially with exposures lasting for long time like this. 

Fuq L-Għolja
(above the hill)
Sigma 70-300mm @300mm,
f/20, 4s, ISO100.

I didn't have to wander off far away just to snap some shots anyway. Some of the brilliant shots (to me at least) were snapped from the top of Dar ta' Żeppi itself. I noticed from the top of the roof how people are dependent on solar energy! However, I have to say that the lighting in the place was not giving me any easy time with my eyes. With this I have to say I'm not very optimistic about adapting to this technology! 

On the roof, I've waited specifically for the sunset time and I did take a lot of shots that need to be processed and checked for further manipulation. The one like Fuq L-Għolja was shot after the sun disk disappeared below the horizon. One thing I feel sorry for here is the fact that the sun disk was not going exactly behind the church (Nadur church here) but beside it. However, I did snap a lot of shots which I might work slowly on them later on after finishing essential key images.

Panorama-wise, I didn't wander off far to do them. The furthest point at which I did a panorama was at the piazza in front of Kbir Qaddis Ġużeppi church (a landmark of Qala town). Even though I processed this panorama (and I've planned it in 3D anaglyph format) but I'm still perplexed about its arrangement and is it really good enough to be a 3D image. In the meantime, I've worked on the rest, specially those taken inside Dar ta' Żeppi, mainly for writing a review in TripAdvisor, and to send a smaller version of those to the owners as a little gift. I doubt I will make any prints this time. To myself, two panoramas were really interesting for me.

Kamra tal-Banju
(the Bathroom)

One of these panoramas is Kamra tal-Banju, which had a dark atmosphere with those yellowish energy-saving lamps on the wall. I was baffled in the beginning whether I should do this panorama in daytime or nighttime (because of the window which leaks daylight into the bathroom). In fact, in daytime, the view is brighter to my eyes without even using the wall lamps. However,I've decided to do this one at night and depend on the wall lamps to make the lighting unique and avoid patterns of light on the walls. Thanks to the HDR technique, I was able to elaborate this more and also thanks to my white balance disk, I've calibrated the white balance before the work resulting in (almost) pure white tiles with brighter look.

L-Orizzont
(the horizon)

Probably the most brilliant panorama for me so far is the one taken from the roof (and in non-conventional panoramic way!). L-Orizzont was shot using my Sigma 70-300mm lens @225mm. No VR-Head was used here since it is not about doing a 360° but it's about catching a moment in the horizon and to show the elevations of hills and valleys against the bright horizon. The shoot was, of course, done in HDR technique, which allowed a lot of control. However, the sun disk was problematic that's instead of cropping it out (and the panorama then was already cropped after adjusting the tilt), I've cloned it out. In order to increase the contrast (after increasing it already with Curves and Vibrance layers), I've decided to add a Photo Filter layer to add a bluish streak, specifically to the lower part of the panorama and hence making a contrast on the basis of Complementary Colors (Blues and Yellows are at opposite ends on the color wheel).

L-Orizzont makes me feel happy when I look at it. In its original format, this panorama is 6.5 meters wide (~256in). I do wish if I can make a print of it in that size one day instead of shrinking it to few centimeters in one of those miserable exhibitions we have here.

Finale

That was briefly what was it like in Malta. Many details and events I've skipped actually, trying to keep it to the point. Strangely though I've got struck with some tearing feeling of loneliness more than I usually get when I travel alone. I get that feeling often, but not like this. For some days I was really pushing myself and forcing myself to go out and at least enjoy the weather (a weather type seldom I experience here in Kuwait). There had been few days when all I desired was to lay in bed and watch TV, specially music channels. They played a great variety to my liking. One of these songs got stuck in my mind up till this very moment.
It's a trip that made me shuffle my mind about many things and re-think of many things. It would be some time until I can go ahead and continue with whatever is there of unfinished projects in my list, but hopefully I've persist on. One thing I can't deny for sure, and that is, my life is such a great mess… I even can't imagine myself traveling again any time soon…

A Sad Week…

It is a sad week here after the terrorist attack targeting a mosque on Friday (holiest day for Muslims), and in the holy month of Ramadhan, while people were praying already. I believe there won't be a further clue beyond this event to prove that these creatures have no religion at all, whatever they call themselves.
To think about the events that took place in such period of time, and to see people stand up against terrorism as one hand despite all the different backgrounds, all that gives me pride in what I am.
My activity has been minimum this week. All I could do so far is a simple design and a poem, in hope that I do contribute something to the main stream. I called the poem: The Blooming Iron Fist.

We are the Rose,
and from ashes we rose.
The sparkling hue,
that faces life's blows.
We are the daring heart,
the valour, forever it flows.

My darling,
in peace she falls asleep.
And by the sun above us,
the hearts she set a sweep.
While in a darkling night,
never, my darling was to weep.

We are the Rose,
by the darling we rose.
The sparkling hue,
no poet could ever compose.
We are what we are,
the bloom, by iron fist,
it grows.

MonoContest…

Well, it's finally here! The expo of the Monodrama Festival. Which means I can finally share my pics on the so-called "social" media; and here of course.
However, before proceeding to the slideshow, I have to mention the winners of this contest. The committee only provided 2 places for winners, and by luck, both of them are members in the same group I work with (we worked together in fact).

Ibrahim Al-Erady with his shot of the Kuwaiti actress Ahlam Hasan.
First place.

Jassim Al-Saffaar with his winning shot of the renowned Iraqi actor Sami AbdulHameed, PhD.
Second place.

Meanwhile, unfortunately, not all photos from the contestants were printed as we, or I, thought. Thus, one of my most favorite images was not printed and displayed. This shot is from the stage with the first performance (in the opening ceremony), for the renowned Kuwaiti actor AbdulAziz AlHaddaad. The title of the play was The Story of Yesterday [قصة الأمس], which is in fact the title of a famous poem written by the late Egyptian poet Ahmad Fat'hy [أحمد فتحي] (whose role was played by AlHaddaad) and sung by the renowned Egyptian singer Um-Kalthoom [أم كلثوم]. In this scene specifically, the apogee of emotions was at its max, with the poet holding a portrait of his daughter whom he didn't see in years after his separation from his English wife and coming back to Egypt. He was building his dreams on the future and on this scene specifically, Haddaad was portraying how the poet would have been playing with his daughter and singing for her… something that never happened, for his ill luck. I called this shot Tomorrow, as a reflection on the hopes that were built upon an unknown dark future…
Anyway, I've made a short video here with all my shots for the contest. There are other shots of course and processing them is still ongoing. However, the ones in this slideshow, are the only ones that I've included for the contest. Hope you enjoy the show!

Music: By Grace.
By: Podington Bear

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