Na Deich…

This is a special blog post for this week. Some days ago, YouPic picked up my 10^th Inspirational image. And for this occasion, I've decided to make a story of some sort and post it on YouPic. I did that a week or two ago (as YouPic allows to post Stories, some sort of blog posts, for specific users only).
So, I've created a post with these 10 images and a short story for each one of them. Even though some more inspirational images were also picked by YouPic before I even make such a post on YouPic itself, but I didn't include these images that were added to the inspirational list after the 10^th image. In the following lines (next section) you will be reading the post that I've created for YouPic, and in addition to that, you can click each image title to head to YouPic website for that specific image.
So, I hope you are all safe (and home) and I hope this posts adds something to the boring time spent indoors (but it's a must after all!). Hopefully 2 weeks from now I'll be able to make a post about some of the images that I've worked on, and been working on. I leave you now with Na Deich (the ten).

Na Deich

Well, as I received or gained my first 10 inspirational images, as picked by the editors or admins, I thought of doing this "story" here talking about these 10 images and some background story behind them. I'll try to keep it as short as possible (fingers crossed!). Notice that after marking my 10th inspirational image, two or more images were marked as inspirational as well, but these won't be included in this list, as it is only dedicated to the first 10. Since I don't remember the order of picking as "inspirational," I've decided to go here with an alphabetical order based on the image title. So, I hope you like this post.

1. Cinematic Lady Nature 

Cinematic Lady Nature

This is one image in a series of shots that I've been training myself with to create a "cinematic" look, or what is commonly known as "cinematic photography". This is an old image in fact, shot back in 2010, in the garden of "Thornbrook House B&B" where I stayed in Cashel, Co. Tipperary, Ireland, when I visited Ireland for the second time. There were many beautiful settings in this garden and it was a subject for some panoramas as well. I was a beginner back then and even at that time I had more focus on panorama-making rather than single shots (and people know me mostly for my panorama work rather than single shots). Anyway, old shots (even those neglected before) are some good targets to work, for learning new techniques in editing, like this one. I've processed this image in various ways before and called it "Lady Nature," thus I've just "cinematic" to the title here. In processing the image (which involved a lot of work with colors), I've decided to sharpen the statue only and leave the rest with a dreamy look in hope to add some depth and dimension to it.

2. Enlightenment

Enlightenment

This is a full panorama (or equirectangular panorama), encompassing 360 degrees horizontally and 180 degrees (almost) vertically. This panorama was shot inside the Chinese temple in the Scholars Garden of Staten Island, NY. I was visiting the state to meet some online friends back in 2012. Two major things that gave me a headache here: The strong highlight (meaning wider dynamic range) and centering the tripod. Despite the fact that I shoot most of my panoramas by bracketing and then merge the images into a single HDR panorama, yet, the dynamic range here was problematic as I didn't set up the range of the bracketing correctly. Good thing that some details can be observed still through the door, in the outside, but the sky should have been blue in fact. Centering the tripod for panoramas is quite essential if the place bears some symmetry like this one; And of course, I always screw that up. Few centimeters off, and you will be spending hours in Photoshop trying to balance and restore the symmetry of the place. Which I did here, though I'm not sure it is perfect still.

3. Good Morning Kuwait VIII

Good Morning Kuwait VIII

This image dates back to the time when I was more "capable" of going out alone in winter nights and shoot. The shot was taken right after I've finished working on a panorama at that spot; A spot that I've been checking for 3 months to plan for the shoot. This spot specifically was down at the beach and the only way to it was to get down some rocky slope (artificial) and to do that in the dark, with Retinitis Pigmentosa, is a great risk. Also, I had to wait for a proper time since this spot gets covered with water at high tide time, and because of that as well, I had to work as fast as I could working on the panorama to avoid the next high tide time, and the sunrise. I've finished the panorama just in time and the sun started to rise few minutes after I've finished. So, I hated to leave the place without shooting a "memorial shot" here. This shot was also printed and sent as a gift to a friend in the US. As for the title, this is the 8th image in a series of images I've taken in the morning here in Kuwait over a span of some years, and this just happened to be the 8th.

4. Greenery Lines

Greenery Lines

I remember this shot back in 2012, some weeks after coming back from my vacation in Staten Island, NY. I was then a member in a photography group and we managed to go to some mall (the Sharg Mall, a.k.a. Souk Sharg) after getting a permit. Having a permit here is somewhat hard if you are not a well-known personality or something. So, I didn't want to miss the chance. The first thing I did was to shoot a panorama inside the mall, and then headed outside trying to find some targets. This building was on the other side of the street and just behind the marina. It was under construction back then, and little did I know back then, that this building is the new headquarter for the Central Bank of Kuwait. The original shot underwent a critical work of cropping and perspective fixes to get it in this shape.

5. L-Orizzont

L=Orizzont

This is probably one of my most beloved shots. A short panorama done with a telephoto lens (Sigma 70-300mm) from the roof of Dar ta' Żebbi B&B where I was staying in the town of Qala on Gozo island, Malta. It was my last evening there as I had to leave the next day and the owners allowed me to go to the roof. I have to say it is such a magnificent view full of magnificent details. My aim was to capture the sun setting behind the church or chapel but I was not lucky (such shots need planning). The church is supposedly in the next town, either Xewkija or Nadur, but some followers on Instagram saw other images I've shot from that angle and said it is Xewkija. Originally, this panorama was wider, and colorful after tone-mapping from HDR (it had some blue tints in it as well). However, I've made another version which is seen here. I'm proud to say that I've even printed this panorama and submitted it as a gift myself to the Maltese embassy in Kuwait, and they called back to thank me. Originally, the title was "Nżul ix-xemx fuq Xewkija" (sunset over Xewkija) but I had to change the title in order to submit the photo to some contests.

6. Nox Salmiyah

Nox Salmiyah

Just for the records, Salmiyah (or Salmiya) is a city (or an area as we call it) which is mostly commercial by nature. The city overlooks the sea and probably famous for its corniche or plage road which goes up to the capital passing through the eastern coastal line of the country. At this spot many fast food chains reside and I think in this panorama Burger King shows up. It was my first nocturnal panorama ever, done back in 2012. I still remember that cold winter night. I was wearing 3 layers of clothes and because of my bad calculations and estimations, the water level started to rise as I was working and covered my feet completely. The panorama finished in around 2 hours, and the first thing I've done after finishing was to turn on the heater inside the car and point it downward to warm my feet up. This didn't stop me from doing another one later, though. The shoot was done in ISO 800; quite high for my cropped sensor. Thus, tone-mapping and processing this panorama was somewhat of a hurdle. Some stars did show in the dark night sky despite the city light (I did realize some patterns) but they got mixed with the digital noise in the image. Thus, when I tried to clean the noise, many stars were washed away as they were identified as noise grains.

7. The Multi-Tasker

The Multi-Tasker

I have to admit here that I wished I've named this shot "Houdini." This shot (and some others in the series) were made during a mood swing merged with boredom. I had a rest on my recliner and placed the camera in front of me with the a speedlite on its top (580EXII) and started to test the stroboscopic or multi function. I was trying to find some idea to do and shoot using this particular function in the speedlite, beside studying the relationship between the shutter speed, the number of flashes, and the frequency of flashes. I was continuously making shots moving my hands in front of my face or covering my face in a peek-a-boo movement. When I checked the images on my computer, the movement of the fingers looked mesmerizing, despite not being exactly the shape I wanted (I was aiming for symmetry). However, the background was problematic with details. Luckily, my wall is green, so I converted the whole image (and the rest in the series) to B&W and worked on hiding the details in the background by toning down the green tones and other colors. However, a special treatment for the eyes was required; I had to convert them into B&W separately to keep them glowing as they are in the color version (somewhat), because toning down the Red and Yellow tones turned the skin dark as I wished but it affected my brown eyes as well.

8. Toothache

Toothache

Never, ever, in my dreams, did I imagine such a quick selfie shot with a mobile would gain popularity on YouPic, and on Instagram and Facebook as well. It was a hard time for me when I shot this, as I had some nerves issues in my gum. I've covered my mouth with this scarf and shot a selfie merely to be posted on Facebook. I'm not an addict of selfies but I do like to take self-portraits, and I have to say, the easiness in which a smartphone is used is seductive somewhat. After loading the image onto my computer I spent quite a time to process it and convert it to B&W. The highlights and shadows had to be re-built (if I can say so), and the noise or grain level was quite high (and still). Shot with Huawei Mate 9, which is at the time of shooting this self-portrait, was indeed an "old" mobile.

9. Upper Ways

Upper Ways

This shot was taken at the "360 Mall" here in Kuwait; And I have to say that I really, really, hate this place. I don't find anything interesting about its architecture, but yet here is one that apparently people liked a picture of. I shot this after doing a panorama there in the early morning hours before visitors would come in (and yet some people were already doing their "daily" walking routine there!). After finishing the panorama, I didn't want to just leave. Thus, I've made this shot with my then-new modified camera for full spectrum shooting. I shot this using Rokinon 8mm f/3.5 fisheye lens, which is completely manual and has no pocket for for infrared gels or filters at the back or front. I had to fit the infrared gel filter to its back through some grooves in the lens' back. I've placed the camera on the ground and raised the front of the lens using my mobile or some other object and made the shot. I think it was a bracketed shot but I didn't merge it for HDR and rather used only this single exposure after all.

10. Xemx ta' Qala

Xemx Ta' Qala

Another shot from Qala, in Gozo island, Malta, which I've visited only once, in 2015. Visiting Malta was tricky a bit since I'm used to a certain system in my visit to Ireland (3 times), which involve a lot of walking and taking pictures along the way, but this system was challenging with the terrain and with the ups and downs of the narrow roads of Qala. Thus, I usually don't wander far away from the B&B to take pictures, but it was that day that I've decided to really take the leap and wander off towards the seaside of the town. One thing captured my eyes there is the "fields" of cacti. Cacti is really a crop in Malta and not just some random plant growing here and there. I've took some shots at this location, through some broken brick wall I remember and I've lowered the camera down to the ground level. Made some horizontal shots but I didn't like the feel of it so I took some vertical ones, and I had no plans ahead that the sun would be in that position. Bracketed shots were taken and then HDR work had to be done of course. This image was subjected to some critique when I was a member in a photography group and I was asked to remove the sun to keep the focus on the raising cactus on the ground. However, when submitting this image elsewhere, and on YouPic of course, I didn't want to remove the sun because I always imagined the cacti on the ground making a leading line towards the sun in the sky. However, it might appear that there is a contrast and a distracting attention-seeking between the cacti and the sun. Nevertheless, I'm absolutely happy with this shot (and happy that I didn't get any thorns!)

That's it for now folks! I hope these stories added something useful or at least been amusing to read, specially under the current situation and circumstances of self-quarantine and home-stay. I'd love to give my appreciation and gratitude to all of you who appreciated my art, either by liking, sharing, commenting or starring. Thank you.

Huaweific II…

Well, I was almost not going to type this post for this week and keep it for the next week, but I think I will just do a quick wrap here.
I'm still ongoing with my trials to hunt ideas and photos for my entries to Huawei's context which will end by the end of this month, and things are up and down really. I do have some ideas but I do need some help (modeling) which I don't get quite easily here of course, as well as sketching some images at the back of my head but I'm not sure how they are to be done in reality, with a smartphone.

Anyway, I've been taking my mini-tripod with me to work in some days in hope that I will find some idea and shoot (but alas  I got swept by chores most of the time). Then I got this idea: What would happen if I do light painting in a not-so-dark office like mine? Huawei's camera has a special mode for light painting and when picked it shows 4 more options for recording a light painting of cars for example or doing water movement and such. It's quite impressive I have to say! More impressive than shooting even with my own DSLR camera. I think Huawei's phone here is very dependent on AI for merging the images or exposures and form one image at the end with such motion blur as you can see in Ghost Writer. And this is not the end of the story actually, as each mode of these four, do give out a different look and atmosphere than the others! Which calls for some testing and observation... hmm...

Ghost Writer

Meanwhile, I was trying hard to find new ideas after doing that Ghost Writer shot, and despite having some ideas indeed, but lot of them are just imprisoned inside my head with no chance of going out. Beside trying out the Light Painting mode on my Huawei, I've been also trying the panorama facilities in it. There is, in fact, two panorama modes: 3D Panorama and regular Panorama. 3D Panorama mode is what we (or I) typically call the Object Panorama, where the camera revolves around the object while shooting to give a whole view for the object (usually a product). However, Huawei's 3D Panorama is limited in terms of the angle span, and by the end it provides a "motion" image; An image that moves when you view it on the phone as you move the phone in your hand in various directions.

Garage Art

Anyway, skipping this mode of 3D Panorama, and using the regular Panorama instead, which I'm familiar with. Of course it is a limited mode with its angle span (even less than 360 degrees), but I'm trying to create something surreal here combining it with portraiture. Anyway, I couldn't resist shooting Garage Art, which was shot indeed in a garage under some mall (waiting for the print shop to open and having fun with my Huawei). In fact, I like this location despite the heat underground. The atmosphere was kind of still, thrilling, and reminded me of adventure games I used to play! I'm really thinking of going back and shoot a full panorama with my DSLR. As for this panorama, Garage Art, which I've shot with my Huawei, I'm still hesitant to consider it for the upload into the context. I've tried to even edit it in Pixlr but apparently the highlights are a big problem in this panorama. I had to crop portions from the left and right to keep the sculpture in the middle. Panorama-wise, there is so much needed when it comes to smartphones but well, I think it is natural to be limited in this field when it comes to smartphones.

Finale

Well, this is for now! I've made some shots after the Garage Art shot but I didn't want to talk about it here just yet, as I'm still trying to get hold of some of the shots I've made already (or maybe I would shoot them again), in addition to the ideas that I'm already trying to implement with my lack of time; Duolingo is really, REALLY, a time monster! I think I will need to change my routine in learning the languages on my list, and probably dedicate each day in the week for a specific language only instead of doing exercises on all four languages. We'll see about that later. There are other tasks in my bucket beside Duolingo in fact but more like home-related stuff. Speaking of Duolingo, I'm in fact somehow enjoying helping people who are learning Arabic via its forum for the Arabic language (they just added it and it is in Beta phase still). I'm even thinking of doing videos seriously for that purpose... maybe? Not sure. Now, all I need is to just hunt one or two more photos for Huawei's contest, upload them, and a really big deal of load is off my back for good! It is really occupying my mind most of the time and I don't know what I'm going to do about it. Such a nightmare... out of something that is supposed to be fun... *sigh*

Huaweific…

Coping with this weather, still. And yet, people don't call me a superman or anything. Ah well. On the other hand, I'm kind of running out of ideas with my camera; Well, I do have ideas, but no time or power to do them still. Specially after adding more languages to my Duolingo and taking my time in doing the exercises daily. I'm somewhat taking it seriously here, and if I have the power I would have added more languages as well. Well, who knows; I might, one day.
However, away from the bulky camera and such, I've found a vent (or maybe you want to call it a breach) in that photo-shooting activity by sorting things out with my phone. Don't get me wrong though, I still love my camera; Yes, the very bulky camera. However, there are times when we have to do things that we are usually not into just to get what we want to! (Did I say that right?)

Huaweifying

Well, away from all the fuss about Huawei and the crappy politics (and lies), I have to say that I do like my phone. I would also like to try their upcoming operating system but probably since I have a working phone here I would have to wait a bit to see how things develop in the near future.
Anyway, I'm here about art. I've discovered that Huawei do have a photography contest which is on the run for some years now. Luckily, the deadline for this one will be by the end of July (and I thought it was by the end of June actually) which gives me some time to try stuff. Of course, as you may have guessed already, the first and utmost important condition is that the photos must be taken with a Huawei phone. And that is part of the challenge for me, in fact.
I was reluctant to participate first, and with the nearing end of June, I thought "Ah well, I have no ideas to shoot anything and maybe I should pass this," but then Ta Da! I've realized it's the end of July not June! So, my engines got to work again and I'm really trying to shoot with my phone, even though I kind of never liked this process (used to the more versatile options of a DSLR) but it proved to be a fun-activity, and the main key-point that may push me to shoot further, or at least try to, is the light-weight and the easy movement with the phone. But there are limitations of course which I will try to brief out after a while below.

Macro Feather

Being creative and having a variety of options with phone-photography would somewhat require some special sets of lenses (to gain broader aspects and view, as well creativity potential). However, I've always believed in innovation. One of the most common tricks to do macro photography with your phone is to use a water drop on the lens (after covering the lens with some transparent protection like tape for example), and this is what I did here with Macro Feather shot. I've saved this feather to shoot with my DSLR in fact, but since we are at it, I've decided to work now with my Huawei. Of course it is a normal shot and not very special and I'm not expecting it to be that "attention seeker" in the contest, but after all it is a good engine grease; My engine greasing that is.

The first trial

In Macro Feather, I had a problem with my choice of crop because there was some black space all around the shot. In the beginning I've left the shot in its original orientation (portrait orientation), and cropped all black spaces leaving just vertical lines standing there, but then I thought maybe I should leave a cue or a hint about the object instead of being just completely abstract, so I re-edited the shot again and cropped some black space and left some, beside tilting the image 90^o to the right. This is just to give a hint of the edge here. However, seeing how (somewhat) the camera app on my phone is limited and looking for some more editing capabilities, specially with RAW images which my Huawei can shoot, I've looked for some alternatives and so I've found and picked Pixlr, which can get some work done, and in fact, Macro Feather also underwent Pixlr for some sharpening and contrast (and I think some Hue and Saturation fixes). But there are other options in this app that got me interested a bit further, like the "double exposure" option.

Eye On Coffee

To be honest, I didn't think of using the "Double Exposure" option in Pixlr until my attempts to shoot reflections off a mirror covered in coffee did fail drastically (and I don't have cooperative family members to help out with the work). Thus, I thought "why not shoot separate images and combine them and see what we can do then?" And do I did! It took me a bit to figure out how to use this option in the app, but the delicacy of the work is not a match for the typical mouse and Photoshop work with layers on PC or laptop. But I think it is somewhat an acceptable degree here. There were some filters (outside the app if I remember) that I did use to enhance the looks as well, and of course there was the cropping all things related to that. The thing is, I'm not sure if this is considered legal for Huawei's contest or not! They did mention that the image MUST be taken with a Huawei phone, and it is fine to use a third party app on the phone to edit the photo, but no mention about merging photos and montage or collage! There is only one way to know, and that's to upload it!
This is it for now with my Huawei photo-shoots, and I'm still trying to do more ideas in that venture as I'm typing these words, but I got swept away with many things so I didn't have enough time to try many things yet.

Thoughts and Finale

I've mentioned earlier that I had my own thoughts about this trend of phone photography. There are definitely advantages and disadvantages here, but probably the cons overwhelm the pros for my case here. Nevertheless, it is a source of juicing ideas out of my brain somehow. Probably the biggest and sole advantage of phone photography is the mobility and the relative ease in which one can handle it. Probably, to me, this is the sole and the only advantage that I can see in using the smartphone to take photos (on an artistic level and not merely documenting).
Now, to the disadvantages, there are a number of them on my list, and probably I've always argued about the size of the sensor relative to the number of pixels and how that affects the clarity of the image and the print size in production later on (if there is need to be for printing), but I won't go to that right now as I'm speaking here solely about the "operation" of photo shooting by the phone.
Probably the prime disadvantage for me here, is the cumbersome controls and options. Like, the resolution would change by changing the mode of shooting in the camera (Max is 20MP, but it comes down to 12MP for maximum in some modes). Shooting in RAW is, also, a matter of mode changing (only allowed in the PRO mode). Ironically as well, the PRO mode does have a shutter speed control, ISO control, EV control... etc, but NOT aperture control. To control the aperture alone, one must use the Aperture mode which controls only the aperture without any other controls. It's a mess of options and I'm not sure if this is only in my Huawei phone or in other phones and models as well.
Another thing that makes it such a cumbersome operation is the flash control. One might be able to control the flash in the phone itself but usually in a "higher" level of photography we tend to move the light source away from the camera to add depth to the image. I know that there are probably some innovative lighting solutions that can be controlled with smartphones but of course I won't be venturing into that yet. Not now, not in the near future. For this reason, I've been using some external light sources (LED torches) when shooting, as in the case of Macro Feather and Eye On Coffee.
There are a number of stuff that I still didn't get a hang of them yet, like how long exposure works (there is a special mode for Light Painting) and a number of other options (and panoramas as well) but I'm sure they are not as "trendy" as a real DSLR or camera in general would be. There is also no remote control, so the timer is my only choice to take selfies if need raises. There is no "time fixing" to do long exposures, but probably there are other apps that are specialized in this process, and I do believe that most options are controlled via AI and simulations rather than real "light painting" or "long exposure" effects and looks.
Still though, I'm still trying to have fun and try as much as I can with this phone. Currently, I've been working on a pinhole made out of cardboard fixed on the lens. I didn't take any serious shot yet (otherwise I would have posted it here already), and still, I'm trying to watch videos and surfing Pinterest to get inspired, if possible!
All in all, I won''t be optimistic here at all of course. It is my first try to enter a contest based solely on phone photography (a.k.a. Phonography) and I'm trying to have fun as much as possible. There are of course those add-ons that can be added to the lens to extend its capabilities but I'll keep my approach simple and more into DIY. I would be wasting money on that ONLY if I'm taking it seriously, and that won't happen in the near future. Let's see what to shoot next now…

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

Yonder...

Not bad for a nose job, eh?

Well, a busy week that I don't have time even to upgrade and complete the settings of my new laptop here. Health issues are frequent visitors; headaches, nausea, exhaustion, and the like. Despite the hectic life pace I'm trying to have some fun, as you can see above!

G'faal

The most hectic day if I should say was last Thursday when the group agreed to go to a traditional feast celebrating the ships coming back from long journeys looking after pearls and other goods; as it was in the old days of Kuwait. This day is called Gofaal, or Gaflah, i.e. the ending.
The weather and the condition in general was a bit better than miserable, yet it was awkward anyway. The humidity made it a struggle to step every step, and my eyes started to get irritated and it was even hard to look through the viewfinder. The lenses got foggy and some time was needed so the lenses get used to the weather and the image would clear again. At the end, I got a blast from my 55-200mm which I've used for most of the shots, when it got corrupted and stopped responding in the middle of the action; here and at this moment I've decided to leave the place since it was hard to change the lens, specially in such humidity and such heavy burden with 2 flashes and a camera dangling from my neck!

The group's organizer with his nice shorts!
This image was foggy and almost bleached out completely.

However, there were some nice shots here and there I would say. I didn't stay until the end of the event like the others, but I did the best I can to do something. In such events, you can't help but to drool when you see those big lenses used by my teacher!

My teacher struggling with his camera and bazooka

Even though I did take my 100mm Macro lens with me, yet I didn't use it a lot and the fog kept swirling around it and finally for some reason it stopped responding for focusing attempts. The picture of the group's organizer was taken with 100mm Macro.
Then, I got the chance to change the lens from 100mm to 55-200mm, which was foggy in the beginning then it started to be fine and snapped many shots until suddenly, the old corruption stroke again and it stopped responding with a communication error.

Canon EF 55-200mm @55mm, f/5.6, 2000^-1sec, ISO 400

Most of the shots were done in manual mode and by metering the sea itself. However, to do such shots like the one above, the focusing mode was set to One Shot, or else the focus would move as I move the lens. Without any need to change the focusing zone (which by default is at the center), I've centered on the boy then moved my lens away to frame. Other shots were done in the same manner too.

Canon EF 55-200mm @200mm, f/5.6, 2000^-1sec, ISO 400.

I believe the shot above would have been better with my 100mm at f/2.8, as it would give a better blur and isolation for the distant object. However, right after this shot, the lens started to be erratic and since I've realized there is no hope in making it work again, I've decided to leave the place before the boats reach the shore.
One last fun shot I did take before the boats arrival actually, which some people commented and said it is a suitable as a commercial - which is something I've been thinking of for a while beside working on architectural photography.

Contrast
Canon EF 55-200mm @130mm, f/5.6, 2000^-1sec, ISO 400

My attraction was mainly the yellow and the blue pieces here, hence the title Contrast, and I've never thought about it in an advertisement form. Only when people talked about it, I've realized the possibilities here! I've been thinking of buying some EZcube (or tent) with some lighting equipment and keep them at hand for training and for future product photography maybe, anyway, such expenses now are formidable with my traveling date coming closer. Lot of plans are delayed for now until I come back home then.

Yonder Portraiture

Well, they are no real trials for portraits just like those images taken, but along with the techniques workshop I'm already enrolled in, we came across a training session to do the manual metering. I've been already into that and I've been reading volumes and articles about this subject, however the experience is a bit difference. You got to use only the reflective metering of the camera (no light meter) and in a dark room. Most of the images came out shaky anyway but two of them were particularly interesting.

Sleepy Eye
Canon EF 100mm Macro, f/5, 10^-1sec, ISO 200.

Even though shaky a bit, I guess this one was the most stable shot in the stack of dozens of other shots that were taken successively. I've cropped it in a squared ratio since the space and the skin, as I believe, didn't add much criteria to the whole. It is still somehow out of focus in the middle I guess.
The play here is to add Two Black and White adjustment layers. The first one would control the tones of the iris itself alone (with the help of the layer mask), while the second layer on top would convert the whole image into Black and White and control the global tones. The light that was in use here is a monolight brought by my teacher to the class and the light itself was a subject for a snoot, and a bar-door to control the size of the light circle.

Yonder
Canon EF 100mm, f/5, 10^-1sec
ISO 100

Another shot here which was a trial to do the rim-light effect with the help of manual metering using the Manual mode in the camera, but maybe I've exaggerated with the effect a bit. The side facing the light is maybe out of focus a bit, probably I've should have raised the f-number. The light color is more saturated due to the fact that I've used a Daylight WB, which adds a yellow shade to the image. Lot of people commented that the face of my friend here is a critical factor in achieving the impact on the viewer due to the facial hair and the pose.
The shooting angle here is below pointing to the chin, as I got down on my knee and pointed up to his chin trying to break the boring rhythm of shooting directly on the side of the face.
I guess one of the reasons that keeps me away from doing portraiture is the fact that you need a lot of equipments; that is, lot of lighting. Things are delicate. I wish though I do have an arsenal of speedlites like Syl Arena, but thinking about it further, not all lighting conditions and solutions are available in speedlites. At some point, you would still need to have a monolight and the other junkies!

Night Time!

My favorite part is coming along in the current workshop. Night time photography, and all the accompanying hassle of long exposures. The training might have been a burden for some photographers in the group, but all what mattered for me back then is choosing the suitable spot, and whether or not filters are available at hand.
In the beginning, we had a slight training at the Scientific Center; one of my favorite spots already. After some clicks here and there as the sun was setting down and the sky turning blue, I've been fluctuating between my 18-55mm and my 8mm fisheye. Probably the fisheye in that location is more adequate for capturing the architecture of the place. There was also a tiny training for illuminating the shadows with flash strobes; something like light painting but not exactly the same concept - but merely adding light to the shadowed or dark areas to make a balanced shot. Also, our teacher taught us a funny way to partially block the highlight region by moving our hands in that portion so fast and avoid blowing out the exposure in that region (since our metering is done for midtone).

Rokinon 8mm fisheye, f/8, 5sec, ISO 100
No Correction

After correction with DxO Optics

One of the shots that got my teacher's interest is the one above. I didn't name it since most of these training shots were done merely for training purposes and not to be uploaded to stock sites. Anyway, my teacher seems like me, one fond of fisheye lenses. He likes it but wanted me to elevate the camera up a bit (probably to move the small columns level downward). My tripod didn't help in such level, and in fact this shot was taken balancing the front of the lens on a bottle of water laid flat on the ground! The body was on the ground completely. So far, I think the original version better than the corrected one: it's compact and the gate appears larger and occupies a better proportion of the image. However, it was worthy trying it out and compare.
Beside those shots done in the Scientific Center, which were done in a windy weather, we headed the next day to Shuwaikh Beach area to do some long exposures with ND filters. It was training as well but it was helpless for me as the decent angles to shoot the water splashing against the rocks needed some effort to go on down the rocks and concrete barriers; a shaky situation that I didn't like to try with my tight jeans!
However, the evening didn't pass without shots here and there. We tried doing silhouettes and I took the chance myself to goof around with some abstract and some handheld panorama done with Rokinon's 8mm fisheye lens. Amazingly though, the handheld panorama, after stitching, looked more like a single portrait shot!

Brick Art
Rokinon 8mm fisheye, f/3.5, 200^-1, ISO 100

As I was listening to my teacher explaining some aspect of the long exposure calculations and considerations, suddenly these bricks caught my eyes (ADHD?) and I've decided to roam around them taking pictures from different angles, and this angle in Brick Art is the one that I've liked the most, and I've done some cropping on the left side to keep the bricks in one third of the image as much as possible. One of the blessings and curses of using a fisheye lens is the fact that you can get a suitable depth of field with a minimum f-number (f/8 or f/11 would be enough sometimes), but it's hard to get a decent blurred background or a decent isolation for the foreground when you use a low f-number. This is apparent in Brick Art as I've used f/3.5 with a minimum focusing distance of 30cm (~1 ft), and yet the background is blurred, but not in a rough manner. Would I be using my Canon's 15mm fisheye lens in f/2.8, I think the situation would be the same. I've tried the 15mm before as I was trying to do a certain panorama with an idea of isolating the foreground, but it didn't quite work out well.

Now, as I'm typing these words on Wednesday to be posted on Thursday, I'm supposed to go and do some long exposure on my own by at sunset time, and my teacher agreed that I would do it in my favorite location, the beach area in Salmiyah. I don't know what results to expect, as the water will be regressing then, anyway maybe I will have some results to add by next week's post. I'm planning already to use my Tamron 70-300mm, to be at a safe distance from the water and have a higher f-number as much as possible. Yet, I'm not sure what composition I'm running after. I have to be on location.

Well, this is all for now, and I'm waiting for the workshop to be over with soon, in order to have a decent time with myself to prepare and get ready for the travel in October. I've signed for the leave already and boy I do need some cash on me already.
My stuff are scattered around and it's hard to chase after them piece by piece, just like it is with my own life. I think getting busy with such stuff is far better than spending valuable time daydreaming, but I'm exhausted. So damn exhausted...

Freeze!

It has been a busy week. So busy that I've totally forgot about doing my vocalization chores for the time being, in hope that I will continue by next week. On the other hand, Google Sites service is still not working and I can't upload files to it anymore.

There is a slight work here and there but it sure kept me busy during the week, and I had to stop fasting for few days just to cope with the sleepless schedule. I can't resist the afternoon's nap while fasting.
I've been in a workshop to train a bit on the usage of Canon's Speedlites. The work is still on, and I've got some results (I will show later).
I've been working as well on finalizing my Job Request paper with my teacher and I think it is final now and ready to be used. Maybe it is time now to move on with marketing or chasing customers as my teacher put it. But I think I need some work to be done with my portfolio and need to make it ready somehow. My teacher suggested to print it out like a magazine. My teacher is the main inspiration and the source of encouragement for me for the time being - as he is in the professional field already and does the guiding with encouraging words. He says not many photographers here that do what I do, if any. Made me feel unique.

Also, I'm trying to work more with 3D images for the time being, just for fun and to put something in a new email collection. I can't think of many good subjects, but I'm doing some experiments with my Rokinon 8mm fisheye lens, which proved to be hard to adjust for 3D (anaglyph) imaging; even harder than Canon's 15mm fisheye lens which worked at some scenes. This is mainly because of the divergence and the distortion at the edges which makes a slight movement to the center of the lens being magnified and exaggerated on the edges and causing a large distance to overlap - hence resulting in a ghosting effect.

3D Sculpture
Rokinon 8mm fisheye.
Notice the difference between the Red and Cyan in the center of the image and the edges of the image.

Adding to the hardships using Rokinon's lens, there is also the fact that I'm not sure yet how to make a small different angle (holding the camera by hand) to make a slight difference in the view. For this reason, I decided to move or strife my whole body without moving the camera away from my eye and shoot several shots at different stops of the body. Later at home I would check and decide which best fits.
Another lens that proved be working fine and good with this trend of 3D imaging is my relatively-new Canon 100mm macro lens (which can be used as a telephoto lens as well). I've used it here with a subject that I've taken before with my Tamron 70-300mm, but this time, of course, with  a lesser zoom. I've attached my Vivitar 2x teleconverter to expand the focal length beyond the original 100mm.

3D Gazebo
Canon 100mm macro.

Concentrating on the gazebo itself will reveal the effect. However, the buildings at the back had some strange "block" structure with this 3D processing, which I've failed to understand, but I guess it doesn't effect the beauty of the 3D in the gazebo itself. The main key, as I believe, to have a good anaglyph is to have a nice background and a foreground, and the 3D process is naturally aimed for the foreground like the image above.

Now, I'm dragging my tools here and there whenever possible just to capture something, specially for this 3D trend. Ironically though, I've been bringing my camera to my work place and I've ended up doing more abstract work with no 3D processing in mind. Even though I did take a lot of shots around the place but I think I'm satisfied about two of them only.

Verschlossen (Locked)

Banded

Verschlossen; despite the simplicity of this image, but the work on it was not that easy. The lockers, which lie in some storage room in my work place, were so close to the camera in a narrow space, and that sparked in me the desire to use Rokinon 8mm fisheye lens once again. After setting up the camera and the tripod I've spent a significant time trying to make the vertical lines in the center of the lens as straight as possible without any inclination, but seems my tripod is deficit somehow. However, with DxO optics it was possible to flatten and correct the deficiency to a reasonable degree. While capturing the image itself, I had to put on the timer to 10 seconds, and move away from the camera to the other end of the room, to avoid my own reflection on the metallic doors.

Banded is another story of hardships. In case you're wondering, the shot is for the lower part the wall in my office. My eyes caught the weird splash (or patch) on the lower portion of the wall. That inspired me to make a simple abstract shot combining this patch, with three different colors in general composed in layers (grey which is a wire; brown and white). To take such a shot is not easy; I have to lower the camera down as much as possible to the ground level, and this is to make the look as straight to the eye as possible. To do this, I had to take out the central column in my tripod and flip it upside down (just like I did once with a bathroom panorama); it was quite an exhaustive work with adjusting the legs and expanding them accordingly, and to work carefully with the weight of the camera and lens. Even though the previous shots were taken in brackets, but after all, only one RAW shot was adjusted and processed.

Depicting the view of a cockroach

Back to my workshop with the flashes. On Monday we've conducted the first practical work with high speed photography. However, the work was not as stable as it would have been done with a sound trigger, and also because of the lack of tripods from my part and the shaky hands, all of that contributed to the hardships of taking such images. Timing the shot was another issue. As we helped each other in shooting the scene, timing was a big issue.

Dipping

Pouring

Liquid Metal

The critical issue in all of these images is that, unlike my usual situation, there were more than one flash unit in the scene to be used, thus lighting the scene was not an issue (of course they had to be fixed in proper locations and at a certain power). My flash was set as a master and another two were fixed on special flash tripods as slaves, and their positions were changed frequently and accordingly. The main aim was to develop some sort of sense of a workflow, I presume.
The background provided, however, was not completely black, and with flash pulses it tended to turn bright and sometimes grey somehow. Thus, after getting back home and uploading the images, I had to work with the Curves adjustment layers to set the black point (by the black dropper/picker) and that made the foreground more pronounced. I have to say though that this technique doesn't work in all conditions.
I've found myself, again, using Noise Ninja more than NeatImage in cleaning and sharpening the images here. I think the power lies in the fact that Noise Ninja profiles different areas of the image instead of one block from the image, as it is in NeatImage. However, NeatImage still has its virtues with a ready-made profiles for sharpening at different levels, and those are quite useful for not messing up the sharpness too much. Also, NeatImage as a stand-alone software which can be used to do a batch cleaning when needed. Noise Ninja, with me, is only a plugin in Photoshop (I didn't check if there is a stand-alone version). Most of the images above were taken at 1/1000 of a second. The hardest part was to focus and remain stable pointing the camera to the bowl. With a tripod (and a remote) it would have been a single man's job!

Now, it is time to think more about the upcoming days and business trends, if any. I'm not sure where to start, but I still do think that I need more leisure time with myself to free my mind of many things. This said, I'm missing the joy of doing some panorama, somewhere...

Alexander 5, V4.

 

This image, tells what kind of camping tools I was carrying with me up to the roof of my own house. Filters case, Camera and its tools, a book (under the filter case) and the chair is put up from the last session, flashlight and all is carried in this handbag (crushed beside the chair!). Ah, I forgot the tripod. It was a heavy load to carry and go up that ladder to the roof, and with my fear of height, it was unbearable.

I made out a square black card (from the large hard papers I bought yesterday) by the same size of my filters to be fixed within the filter holder to block the light when unneeded. Anyway, my trials were not successful at all to get a glance of the sun. I ran in buLb mode and minimized the aperture as much as possible (f22), and for all over the 30 minutes, the black card was covering the lens and I moved it for ONE second only and put it back and continued the counter above 30 minutes even. Yet, the image was so bright and features cannot be recognized at all, although I even fixed my ND8 and ND4 filters as well. One second of sun in its height made a fuss for the image. At the end when the sun was gone and I had nothing much to do up the roof, I decided not to leave it just like that, so I made this shot. After gazing for some time into the sun (not directly of course but almost), I did have problems concentrating on whatever I have in front of me. Thus, I was trying hard to focus the lens manually but I couldn't, and fortunately, the auto-focus capability worked just fine even though it was dark already.

The image above is Pseudo-HDR by the way and not a real HDR. Despite the fact that I took 3 images already but I was so careless about the settings of my camera that evening that I did't fix anything, but shot the image directly, and hence, I had to make up some effect with one of the RAW files (i.e. one image only). Some manipulations and noise removal were used as well, but the original image was way worse than it appears here in this small version.

I've really started to like to sit there on the roof. Quiet (despite some children noises from neighboring houses), and fresh, although it is tiresome already to climb to there; specially carrying all these tools. I spend the time there reading my ghost book that I got from Ireland. I'm just afraid that some of the neighbors would reckon my position there and ignite some problems, claiming that I've been spying on other homes. I know the mentalities of my surroundings, trust me.

In some weird spark of thought, I find myself (again) attracted to astrology and the calculations involved. I realy can't say whether I'm fascinated with its history, concepts or its calculations and usage for the human beings, but in general, I'm just chasing after it. Specifically for the time being, I'm running after what is called the "Arabic Parts (Lots)". I found some calculator for these parts (as they are not heavenly objects) but, the main part is, what do they mean when found in some place? The calculator can be found here.

Despite the name, Arabic Parts, these aspects of astrology were actually much older than the raise of civlization in Arabia, dating back to Egyptians, Greeks and Babylonians as well. They are mainly named like that now because Arabs made an extensive use of them and because of the Arabian scientist back then, Al-Biruni, who derived many parts of those. I'm not a keen lover of prediction, but as an Arab, the topic attracted me as well to see for myself where and what is that. I used to read a lot of astrology and palmistry book before for my interests in occults, but now, seems my scientific brain occupied the most part of my life because of my studies. However, I go back to these for fun from time to time... there are certain degree of occuracy within such things and within some limits that would make you surprised sometimes...

__________

73. Alexander's hair stood up like pikes when he heard of Zimúrá
74. because he tried it wityehnot h his men and he knew the pains
75. and he told the old man his story from Caqobia
76. up to until he reached this strange village of the old people
77. the old man then shouted: you are the promised then!
78. Alexander was surprised for the answer and opened his eyes
79. and asked the old man about the other stories of the village
80. the old man continued the stories of this strange village
81. and he told him that this village is called Hoshea
82. and his name was Nertus, the elder of this village
83. no one rules them and all of them are equal
84. they plant together and eat together and trust each other
85. their graves in the homes to remember death always
86. and no doors to their houses because no thief exists
87. and one day their prophet long time ago foretold them
88. a yellowish warrior will come and save the village
89. from the beast of Tawyátá, the bird that eats humans
90. and in every year the bird eats a young man or woman
91. or eats what they plant for food or drink their waters
92. and only when one man and his faithful nobles come
93. they will save the village from the claws of this bird
94. and their names and numbers are mentioned in the books
95. the old books of the village of Hoshea
96. and the talk of Nertus the old was over

Alexander 3, v5.

A day marked with sluggish movements. I'm kind of used to sleeplessness by now but today was something different. Wherever I go, I must do something wrong; wrong movement, crushing into something... you name it. Thank God I didn't bring my camera with me today. Although I don't know what I was thinking and I did not have a clear plan on what to snap, but I just felt like taking my camera with me (and that means lot of stuff to carry out with me as well).
Worked on 2 verses so far with my transliteration, and worked in the lab for some time to prepare and can the fish sampled that I've grinded before. I was working under the hood for the first time. This device is amazing guys... you MUST have it. I should keep one in my bathroom really... (just kidding, I'm not an oil tycoon).
I have some ideas for in-home photography and also I left my PC work on stitching again overnight, since I discovered that I saved the previous file as a .HDR format, which tends to be sluggish and literally, my Photoshop stopped responding when I opened the file. I know the file size is big as well, but EXR is better for handling this I would say, and also it supports transperancy, which I need highly.
I've noticed one more purchase for one of my photos in canstockphoto (via fotosearch). A little amount to be added to my balance but anyway, it makes me happy at least that my photo is getting some attention after all. It was an old photo though (most probably taken with my old Sony, I can't remember!). The image is "A Busy Day in My Life".

I'm having some busy day by tomorrow with some tasks to do here and there and picking my sister's laptop to some workshop for upgrading... let's hope it all goes well. I hate going into that area where all computer shops scatter around and the streets just STINK big time.
__________

97. in that situation and fear
98. Alexander drew something similar on the ground
99. like the shapes of those beasts
100. and they yelled with fear in one voice
101. Jawgá! Majawgá! Hayhókhaman!
102. just then Alexander remembered the legends
103. legends was told by his late father
104. about sons of the demons and sinners
105. when they met together and gave birth
106. he remembered Jawgá Majawgá
107. children of doom, children of hell
108. then once again the command was revealed
109. from Heavens down to earth for Alexander
110. "Alexander, you are victorious. Go ahead!"
111. it was then when Alexander called the men
112. the courageous generals of all times
113. and he divided them into three divisions
114. Chirán, Tólímí, Shakrashom and Galgalom
115. four generals with thousands of men
116. these will block the way from the valley
117. Érán, Kahrími, Dartalom
118. these with workers from invaded lands
119. shall dig the ground and take the ores
120. and a dam they shall make over the valley

Bét Harrá...

Been some days away from work and away from most of the activities in my life and for the day of Ashura (which I took a single day leave for yesterday), but today, which happens to be a Monday (yes, a Monday) is a day that should not be considered in a life time. For some reason, I did not hear the alarm and thus, naturally, woke up late at 7:15! Moved out in a hurry and I joined the road's carnival! Almost around 45 (or more than 30 minutes a bit, I really lost my track of time), just to reach my work place, with all that pain in my feet! Now after arrival, I need to find something to eat!
Lot of people mix up between the term "Ashura" and the month of Moharram (first month in the islamic calendar). Thus, just to elaborate a bit about it: Moharram is the first month of the islamic calendar, and Ashura is the term used for the 10th day of Moharram ONLY. It is the day mostly remembered for the Battle of Karbala, where the grandson of the Prophet was massacred with his companions and his household, and the women of his household were taken like prisoners of war. Some people call this month "Ashura" which is wrong.

During the last few days I was busy with scanning some old photos that belonged to mom's collection and most of them were in black and white. I didn't finish though but I finished the majority. I just realized how beautiful mom is. I think by now, I want a girl that looks like her, in everything! I had a problem though after scanning that huge amount in TIFF format; I can't covert them back to JPG. Should've scanned them in JPG in the first place but I was thinking of some "compressing" that might make some data loss here. I hope there is some way around this problem! There is no way I'm going to scan 47GB back again in JPG! Never!
I discovered also that if I scanned the negative form (those negatives from the analog camera exactly as they are), I would be able to flip and inverse the colors back and I would have the original image just by scanning the negative! But, this is not a complete experiment... I need to do further investigation because flipping the colors produces a very bright image which needs some corrections in color to make it normal looking. Let's see what we can do later on!

It had been some days now without snapping anything, and mainly because I'm concerned about the dirty spots that I get in my images. It is clear that I need sensor cleaning. So much to spend on for now and just remembered some promises I made for some people, to lend them some money. I guess I have to rely back on my visa for a while, again. I might try to go to Canon's headquarter for services, and ask them to clean the sensor, but I just hope that doesn't take a day or two, because I'm totally out of mood for such a task.

I was doing some surfing the other day and I've discovered that I might indeed have what's called "ADHD" or the (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder). I don't know if it is that bad, although according to some "screening" test (that should not be taken seriously), I do have some of this ADHD. Maybe this is obvious in my lack of patience specially when it comes to focusing on doing a task for a long time.

The yield for today is 3 verses, reaching line #2232. Can't wait to finish all of this! However, the word for today is "bét harrá" [Ankh: beyt hurWa] as you can see, which stands for "sail" (of a ship). The literal meaning is "house of air" and it points out to the mission of the sail of collecting the air to push the ship. Beside this word, I had to make out a word for "sail" as a verb, which I modelled after the word "sea" and became (baħam) [Ankh: buxuM]. Notice that the word for "sea" is (bħím) [Ankh: bxyM]. Also, the noun form of "sail" was modelled after "sea" and became (baħámah) [Ankh: buxamuH].
I can't imagine the amount of words that I've made up so far by translating this last part of the story of Alexander, and that makes me think of the hard work needed to put them down in the dictionary!
Please, shoot me...