+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…
 

 

Trending…

Finally! Something to call "weather" in this spot on planet Earth! Temperatures are going down and the breeze is chilling down. It is such weather that make me forget juuuust a bit about traveling and sit around enjoying my cup of green tea or coffee (and if there is rain, that would be better). We had some rains last week and, as usual, some areas had faced hard times despite the occasional rainfall in this spot of the planet. This said, I need to attend to the window in my room before another catastrophe happens like last year when rain water seeped through some cracks made a lake inside my room! Ugh... if I can just control my mood swings…

The Trend

Canister for shooting Argentum.

Well, my activity with the camera is minimum for the time being but I managed to test some aspects. The bulk of my work was posted 2 weeks ago as I was trying the "rim lighting" methods. Moreover, I'm trying further modifications on the canister which I use to cover up the subject to be photographed. So far, it seems that canisters with "slits" are better suited for the task of shooting non-flat subjects like I did with Argentum before already.

The canister in which I've shot Argentum is relatively small in diameter, so probably I need to make another one with a larger diameter (when need arises). Just recently, I've made another canister with round holes instead of slits (using usual drill bits). My current simple experimenting with this canister did not yield good results, and this is probably related to the shape of the holes. Thus, I can say with some confidence that slits or flat openings are better suited for the task of "rimming" (well, I coined that, don't know if there is any real term for this kind of photography!).

Beside working on Argentum with somewhat an innovated canister, I've worked on a little project on the side as well with a theme of security. I called the series Keyz. To make the series, I've shot individual keys, and to make sure that I get some realistic look, I've shot 4 different keys (in fact 5 originally but had to cancel one), as this will provide different serration (engraved side) for each key, and then combined the keys in Photoshop in the shape of a cross and then in a square formation. Originally, there were two versions in B&W; A cross and a square. However, later I got a spark of an idea that I would make them also in golden color, culminating with 4 images in total. Surprisingly, they were accepted quickly on Canstockphoto and Dreamstime! It seems that the security theme never dies out in time and always in demand! Hmm, that makes up for so much cliché I presume. As much as I want to study the trends and work along with it for the stock, as much as I feel empty and thoughtless when it comes to shooting a specific trend theme or subject (and not shooting models makes it worse I think). Again, mood swings and flying ideas like sparks of fire takeover the process of my mental attitude!

Another composite was made by shooting the metallic surface of a bowl (the other half of Argentum). This time, I'm using the slit-canister again like in Argentum, but the difference here is that the bowl is concave and I was trying to shoot from upper slits to let the light somewhat shine into the bowl. I could have turned the bowl over but I really wanted to see how things turn out with a concave object like this. The result was so-so but the final result, Complexionem, was reached by extensive editing in Photoshop. Without going into the details, I had to in fact "patch" up the image and replicate it and then try to hide the seam lines as much as possible and finally convert the image into an outline (or a sketch if you will). As the title signifies above, this is just the original one, and several ones were made into various colors and they are already available on, again, Dreamstime and Mostphotos. Those uploaded to Mostphotos, though, are larger in size (original size) as those in Dreamstime were minimized a bit to fit into the rules of the website for maximum size allowed. The colors range from Ruby Red to Argentinian Blue, going through Roman Silver and, my favorite, Gold. Hope those arbitrary and somewhat random art make up for a good pattern and texture and gain some stance to be sold!

Rolling Back

In my effort to focus closely and more on the stocks that I have neglected a bit when I was a member in the photography group, I'm trying not to re-check and re-edit some of these photos, and eventually re-discover some old neglected shots or go around some of these images which I deemed unsuitable before. This is normal, since what was suitable for the activities of the group (the expos and contests) is seldom of the stock variety.

Shining Xewkija
Exclusive to Dreamstime

I'm putting more focus on my photos from Malta, as I'm planning to put some of them exclusive to Dreamstime, under the category of travel and tourism. However, not all can be submitted, such as Planeta Lacuna, which I've re-discovered, so to say. This panorama was done inside Dar ta' Żeppi in Qala (Gozo) near the pool. I've done this panorama in flat (normal, equirectangular) format, as well as in Mercator format vertically, but to my surprise, I realized that I didn't make a planet out of this panorama (probably for some difficulties with the nadir point). Anyhow, I prepared a smaller version and sent it to the owner of the B&B and uploaded one to my Flickr. I can't submit this to the stocks because it requires a property release. Most probably I would be uploading to Mostphotos. As I'm uploading some exclusive images from Malta to Dreamstime, I'm trying to make Mostphotos as my base for panoramas, specially those surreal ones, since it does not strict the image size as most stock agencies do (I've uploaded some which exceed 100MB in size even!). On the other hand, photos from Ireland can be spread, probably, across various stocks. Unfortunately, some stock agencies, like Canstockphoto, removed their "exclusive" options. That makes Dreamstime, for me, the only target for exclusive images when I need to upload them (as I feel right however!). Let's just hope that my campaigns on Twitter to get more exposure will pay off soon... or later at least!

During this work of re-discovering my previous images (since I didn't travel in like 3 years now!), I'm also focusing on possibilities that I didn't pay attention to before, for making out some nice or acceptable 3D anaglyphs, as the Maltese home above. I did already upload some of these 3D anaglyphs to my stock on Dreamstime and Mostphotos (and few on 123RF), but it's a No-No to Canstockphoto. However, the anaglyph above is not to be uploaded, again, because it lacks the property release. Many of these anaglyphs, like the Maltese home above, were not planned to be merged into a 3D anaglyph, thus some of them can be a struggle to be working with and fit. Nevertheless, it pays off well!

Finale

I think I've posted in the previous post that I was working on writing a new poem. I was suffering from a blockade and words didn't come easily, even though feelings were there; Hovering. Finally, I did produce a piece, which I've called Rejected:

Rejected

Season, as per season, changing along,
then to number one goes the frozen heart.
A circle since the birth and never gone wrong,
carrying on the pain, like a form of art.
Encircling circle.
A daily Hurdle.
Then to the beginning, all had to start.

A last standing in the field of all time,
withered by the struggles, the ups and downs.
Innocent to be is the only crime,
A confused blind and poor, crowded by the sounds.
Innocent thug.
Urging a hug.
Dead, yet keeping the shoot on battling grounds.

Rosy, were the dreams dreamt on the summit,
but no rainbow shone nor the rain did fall.
Waiting for fate's mercy like a puppet,
and even beliefs dismissed the sacred call.
Fateful doom.
A weeping bloom.
And the rosy dreams are born to be small.

Rejected, this is all the offers to be,
what in the power that could have been done?
Then after, Death would be the only sea,
to swim in, calmly, away from the sun.
Dead, silently.
Joyful quietly.
Only then, the life of Life will be won.

One of the first problems that I've faced to link my thoughts together was what rhyme scheme to use. After all, I've decided (or rather felt) to use (ABABCCB) with a stable syllable-count for every verse as (10,10,10,10,4,4,10). Doing a bit of research, I've found that such rhyming scheme was already in use and probably called The Swinburne, but with more restrictions on the length of the lines and rhymes. So, maybe I can call my work here as Free Swinburne? Anyway, another question was raised in my mind here, as I read my own work after submission and posting: Where do I go with all of this? What is the chronological connection or logical connection between the verses? In a self-critique attitude, I think Rejected lacks such connection and it might as well be just a dumpster for my thoughts. The next question then arises: How am I supposed to organize my feelings and upon which basis? Trivial as it sounds, I'm sure there is some way to do this and if done correctly, the poems would be more concrete and strong, I believe.
Away from poetry now, I'm trying to take life on my own pace. My body is apparently growing old with some bones and muscles not functioning as they used to be, but well, we all grow old. Let's just hope this won't stop me from doing what I love to do. I'm growing accustomed to be living the life of an estranged person; No connection to anything, and almost no emotions. Where to does this lead me? I don't know, but one thing for sure: I'm tired. 

Die Spinne…

This is a quick wrap again for this week, just going over the latest on my schedule. My time is up almost and I will soon prepare myself to travel to Dubai for an exhibition. I didn't even think of what to pack yet! I just hope it would be easier for me to do some documentation.


Meanwhile, I got the chance to print (finally) a panorama from Malta and I've prepared it with varnish and then wrapped it. The plan now is to deliver this little gift to the Maltese embassy on Thursday (the day of posting this). Let's hope all goes smoothly. I know security can be a great issue around such places.

The print after the varnished had dried off.

The print is for L-Orizzont; an image that I've submitted to a number of contests already (and it was accepted like 50-50). However, it is a second version from the original, which I've processed specifically to make it look more normal, beside cropping the sides significantly.

L-Orizzont: version I

L-Orizzont: version II.

 

To my ill luck, I've forgot to sharpen the final image before printing it on canvas. I was lucky though that the print shop, the one I frequent for printing on canvas, was able to print this despite the size which was larger than A0; slightly. They charged the same price for A0 size in fact. Now, it is wrapped and kept in a box and waiting to be delivered.

On the other hand, I've been playing around with my only ultraviolet panorama so far and trying to extract some other projections. The fact that I was way off-center this time (more than the last time I did a panorama in this location), made it hard to accomplish much. Projections must be picked carefully in regard to the asymmetrical attitude of this panorama.

Die Spinne
(the spider)

The hardest part here was cloning out the remnants of the tripod at the nadir point, which was too obvious, and the ground was of mixed media and hard to be cloned out. Probably it looks fine in such small size, but definitely it won't be acceptable at large. I'm still working on this and yet have to discover new projections.

Finale

Everyday now sounds like it's a race against time. But for what? I'm not sure. Though everything is ready for the flight, yet I don't think I'm psychologically ready yet. This said, I had to put some stress on my budget to make this work. Mood swings have been severe lately, and it definitely is putting some blocks on my way of thinking, creating and working with what I'm planning to do. What can I say anyway; had not it been like that for years now? My last hope is to have some "fun" in this upcoming travel to Dubai, despite the hard work which I know is awaiting for me. Maybe a busy body, means a thoughtless mind…

Schnell…

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

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



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

Kbir Qaddis Ġużeppi - BW

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

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

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

The Rant…

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

Architectural Anatomy

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

Backbone

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

L-Orizzont

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

Easnacha

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

TJ,

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

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

Thank you for your nice comments about my book!

Bruce Barnbaum

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

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

Triq tas-Sema (road of heaven)
طريق السماء

Sewing…

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

Sewing Matters

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

Maltese Abstract (3D)

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

Maltese Delight (3D)

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

3D Prints

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

عين السلطان (Sultan's Eye)

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

Finale

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

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

Għajnejn Miftuħiet Wiesgħiet…

Here I am, back to work and the daily turmoil; traffic jams, turbulent home, and turbulent sleeping pattern. Despite some of the problems I had in Malta, I do feel like doing back just to relax even more. I can get very lazy, I know, but who wouldn't be, with a continuous headache like this.
My sleeping pattern is not fixed and I've been going to work all week being awake since midnight or around that time (and sometimes before this time even). All that leaves me too exhausted and paralyzed with not much work done to my newly-acquired photos from Malta. The only time available for me in the meantime is after waking up in the middle of the night, and not much is done during these hours. I'm trying to organize my life a bit (starting with my room cleaning) but I think I will need few months to do this instead of some days or weeks!

it-toroq kollha jwasslu li Ġużeppi
(all roads lead to Joseph)

In the meantime, seems I've stitched all my arsenal of panoramas from Malta. What is left now is doing various projections of them. Some of those though won't have any other projections since they are just simple panoramas with few shots and not full space panoramas. Also, there should be a lot to be done in inspecting other single shots taken around Qala, where I stayed. I have to inspect these single shots thoroughly to find possibilities for 3D anaglyphs processing; some of those I did intend to make them into anaglyphs, but sometimes single shots taken from the same location repetitively can have a difference in perspective which would help in making a 3D image after all.

Kbir Qaddis Ġużeppi
(3D)

Unfortunately for me though, the panorama taken in Qala Pjazza where the church of Kbir Qaddis Ġużeppi lies, and which I've shot twice intending to make it as a 3D panorama, did not work quite well for many factors, specifically the change in the lighting conditions and the movement of the clouds (the two reasons are interconnected anyway). Thus, I've abandoned this idea.

Infra Ġużeppi

One of the interesting panoramas that have been stitched lately as well is the infrared panorama taken from the same pjazza (or piazza) in front of the church. Despite the shining sun, I had to raise the ISO value to 400 to shorten the exposure time down to ~1m20s. In the beginning there had been problems in finding matching points between many slides specially those where the clouds line occupy a large area of the image. However, removing the zenith and the nadir points seems to have worked wonder somehow and the problems were reduced to only 1 or 2 slides that needed control points to be specified manually, and what caused this was mainly a difference in levels or tones between the two slides caused by the movement of the clouds in the sky which turned the sun on and off and probably the angle at which some features are shot with do affect the direction of reflection of infrared radiation towards the camera (but I'm not sure about that, but this is the case of using a polarizer, hence it's no good to use a polarizer to shoot a panorama). The hardships in this panorama though started with the processing endeavor; it's infrared, i.e. no real colors. I was fluctuating between having a reddish look or a bluish look; should I apply a channel swab or not? I've tried many aspects for this but at the end I've decided to settle down with the black and white look (adding a tiny bit of bluish tint). My work was not over at this, but I had to crop away some of the annoying features, which means the panorama is not 360° any longer. I had to do this mainly to crop away the flaring sun. A typical annoyance with panoramas shot outdoors, and the annoyance increases when doing an infrared panorama (with an unconverted camera which requires long exposures). Now all what is left with this arsenal is to be sorted out and to see which one can be uploaded to stock sites, and which ones would be beneficial for the group's usage in contests, and let's not forget my website which settles there, idle…

Finale

For this load and this sleeping pattern, not much could be done this week I suppose. Well, many images were processed already but I don't like to put all the eggs in one basket here. Beside this, there might be a re-visit to some of the shots taken in Oman back in September to extract more of them. The matter of QTVRs from my panoramas from Malta is abandoned in the meantime. Probably if I know of a good (web) location to host these and display them easily for regular users, only then, probably, I'd like to create more QTVRs, or upon request.
This is my life right now: work, chores, and more work. Probably my long sleep since I got back from vacation is just a trial to escape reality? I'm not sure; I'm no psychologist. Least I'm hoping for is an end for this damn cough, which seems to get better by now - a good sign on top of all the black endeavors…

3D Giovanna Debono

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…

Malta fil Orizzont…

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

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

In The Court of The Sultan

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

Architectural Journey

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

Sultan's Eye

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

Finale

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