Heizung…

Supposedly it should have been a quiet and an easy-going summer. Well, I was wrong. Things are going with speed, specifically after the announcement of some Expo for which our group was invited; and it is of a classy type as well. Photos must be chosen carefully. Beside this fact, I've been busy running errands to complete my Visa request to Malta. Quite pressed in time here and I've changed the plans already. Seems that I'm going to divide my was-to-be long vacation into portions of smaller ones to save days and also because of reservations problems in the chosen time. Hence, I'm going to have first a 3-day long leave (followed by a weekend holiday) for my travel to Oman with the group. Then after, I'm going to have to wait till 27^th. I got a nice offer for staying in between this time and up till October 7^th.
This Visa specifically is somehow weird for me to do, as it is a Schengen Area (Malta is a member in the Schengen). No online application, no fees, but a health insurance (!) and I have to fill it on papers. Needless to say that I had to go through a maze just to find the location of the embassy itself! (before this time, in 2010, the Visa request was attained via the Austrian embassy here). As of this moment of writing this blog post, tickets are purchased already via Turkish Airlines (Türkçe Hava Yılları), and I've taken a personal shot for the application. I'm left with the insurance and officially booking the place and, ahem, filling the Visa form!

Expo

Now back to our Expo story. As I said, we received a special invitation and hence the photo pick and sorting is a delicate matter. As of writing these words, the sorting meeting is not yet held, so probably the results will be available by next week's post. Meanwhile, I had to press myself a bit and try hard on fixing some photos and looking for those which I didn't bring to a sorting or filtering meeting before. There is one troublesome issue though: size.
Issues with size require a special crop and I do think that it is better to be done without interpolation; meaning: cropping to the required size without keeping the DPI resolution fixed. Keeping the DPI fixed will create extra pixels to compensate for the lost pixels in between. More to come about that below.

Yggdrasil

Some of the images underwent a critical fix, like Yggdrasil. This panorama was shot back in April in Al-Hamra mall and there were many projections made out of this one. However, one of the most dramatic projections of those was the one used in Yggdrasil. Previously, the panorama was deemed interesting if not for the group of people on the lower left corner which broke the symmetry. I decided to crop out this portion of the panorama ending up removing the whole ground; ironically, no one made a comment about the traces of cloning out the tripod on the ground!

Spider

The final look of the panorama became more as an abstract. Because of the colors tones and the severe chromatic aberrations on edges (mainly because of the high amount of stretch by the projection style), I've decided to change the image totally to B&W to get rid of all that hassle.
Most of the images to be sorted out are panoramas except for one single shot. I wouldn't list all the fixes that were involved with all of them, but let's hope some of them get a pass. The noise level is humongous and that lowers my expectations!

Finale

Printed and Varnished

Here it is finally, one of my favorite shots; printed and varnished! Well, I didn't print it in the original size, otherwise it should be around the size of A4 (210mm x 297mm). I've enlarged the image (keeping the DPI flexible here and not fixed) to the size of, around, A2 (420mm × 594mm). I wished I could enlarge it even further, but I feared the flaws. Keeping the DPI (dots per inch) flexible and not fixed, means that the size of the dots composing the image is changed, while keeping the DPI fixed means that the image had to be interpolated (i.e. follow a specific algorithm) to predict or generate the new dots (or pixels) which would fall in between separated dots (because of the enlargement). Notice that DPI is precisely a measure for the displayed dots on monitor, and for the printing process the resolution that must be used is PPI (point per inch), but eventually despite the difference in their concepts, the two are proportional; changing one will definitely change the other. Beside, controlling the PPI for a printer does require a special RIP (Raster Image Processor).
Changing the size from around A4 to A2 reduced the resolution or the DPI from 300dpi to around 160dpi. Doing the calculations this seemed a fair resolution to view the image from a distance of one meter or so. The print seems clean after all, and the contrast was increased by the varnish. The sepia tone seem to be vibrant even more after the varnish (was much closer to white without the varnish). All what is required now is to deliver this humble print as a gift to the celebrity! I'm not sure how to find him (and surprise him) but I will try to do this ASAP (adding to the burden on my back for this summer!).

Now with all that fuss going on about the vacation and the Expo, it feels like events are taking place in few days from now and not by the end of September (the Expo is in August though). Some are saying the situation is dangerous with all the crazy situation world wide. Well, I will be crazy myself (if I'm not already) if I stayed here without a change in scenery. It is astonishing how your bitter memories turn out to be the sweetest after all. It is time to be isolate, again…

Bumble Bee...

Well! It is finally here! A great burden is taken off my back! The vocalization process for Alexander's story is complete and the whole 6 chapters are now represented in text, and voice. The whole story can be found here, while the Ayvarith and the vocalization can be found here.
With this project off my back now, it is time to re-schedule many things and fill the gap with many other things I need to do; reading, learning new things, or pushing myself to go outside take photos - and of course pushing my marketing trend a little bit. I'm thinking of editing my website as well and add a new tab for my services as an architectural photographer. Also, I'm thinking seriously of having online classes in ASL.
On the other hand there had been some events taking places, like the workshop that I've attended with my photography group, which proved to be a real challenge. Anyway, the talk will come to this later.
It feels that there are so much to do in such a short time before I have my vacation. If my visa request was accepted that is. If all goes OK, I'd probably be traveling to the US for the first time, for around 3 weeks. In hope of having some nice catches of photos. Yet, I still have this eagerness for the countryside and the Irish soil.
In the meantime, I do think seriously of doing a medical check up for my eyes and my back, and my heart if possible. I know I have been suffering from back pains for a really long time now, but as for my eyes, I'm not sure yet if I'm subject to the hereditary Retinitis Pigmentosa, which runs in the family. So many things to do, and it is summer, and Ramadhan is on the way in few days from now. My visa interview is coming by 31st of July, after the beginning of Ramadhan that is, and by early morning (8 a.m.). So much to do and even a bee would fall dead I believe just thinking about all these chores. Maybe, just maybe, all of this can block my heart away for some time.

Sadeem:

By Saturday, the photography group scheduled a workshop in a marble factory called Sadeem (and just a note, Sadeem means "nebula"). The factory is situated far from the city and urban areas, and around 30 minutes needed to reach the place. However, the heat was not any better away from the city in that industrial area.
After getting into the factory and after a little lecture from our teacher and the leader of the group, Mr Bahaa Al-Qazwini, we went out into the core of the factory where the marble is cut and prepared.

Hoffnung (hope)
Rokinon 8mm fisheye, f/8, 1/250 sec., ISO 200. Edited in DxO Optics.

Beside the heat that made my movement a struggle in between the corners of the place, I've forgot my vest and my VR-head. However, I don't think the place would be a good place for a full panorama, but merely the ceiling would make an interesting pattern. Because I didn't wear a vest, I had to put my lenses in my pants' pockets which made my movement awkward. My ISO was set directly to 200 since the place was not sunny and almost completely in open shade. Yet, the hot breeze of air and the dust blowing in the corners made it a struggle after all.

Mechanical Stare
Rokinon 8mm fisheye, f/3.5,
1/200 sec., ISO 200.

One of the main challenges in that place is the fact that my mind works in an abstractive way. Maybe the bulk of the photographers went on trying to use their flashes with portraiture and trying to capture facial expressions of the workers, but that was not in my interest. Personally, if I was to shoot people with true facial expressions, I would use telephoto and fix my standing point to a certain location. People usually can't keep the same expression for real when they face a camera and they have to make it up.
On the other hand, the factory was not a devastated place to add an element of destruction to my abstract shooting, not it was very well organized to help my vision on working out geometrical shapes. I tried anyway, and I've taken lot of shots that mostly didn't appeal to me.
Shots like Hoffnung were one of the earliest things to note. I'm not sure if there is another photographer who aimed at this internal side of the pipe, but anyway I've found it a good target for my Rokinon 8mm fisheye lens. Another trial with my Rokinon took place around the crane that is used to lift marble pieces around the factory, as in the Mechanical Stare.

3D Crane

The crane was a target for several shots while moving my body. My main purpose for such a movement with my body while shooting was to catch as many angles as I can and sort the angles back home to find one interesting point of view. However, I've realized then that I can try out some 3D merging and make an anaglyph from any 2 shots. Finally, I've the 3D shot opposite, which made me realize an important formula when creating 3D images with fisheye lenses. Something I needed to know for a long time!
There were many times when my 3D trials with fisheye lenses did fail because of the big distortion. However, now I can see that the closer to the subject I would be, the better it is to make a nicer 3D effect when shooting with a fisheye lens. The distance between the crane and myself was around or lesser than 50cm (lesser than 2ft).

Dilemma
Canon 18-55mm @18mm, f/3.5, 1/125 sec., ISO 200.

Opposition
Canon 18-55mm @24mm, f/3.5,
1/200 sec., ISO 200.

It was not that bad after all anyway. There was still some abstract shots that I can add a touch of mystery to a bit. But surely they needed a sharp eye to notice. Dilemma and Opposition were taken for footprints off the ground. I don't know how they ended up here, but as if they were waiting for me! After the shoot outside, we went back inside and our teacher prepared a studio to make some portrait session for photographers in the group who are interested in this kind of work. I kept watching trying to analyze the movements and actions.
In that very same day, and after the tiresome session in the factory, we had a little gathering party for the group. My teacher announced some goals, aiming at some contests and rewards, which made me think (and still thinking in fact) about my part in all of this. Do I really want to go into contests? Do I want to win? Or maybe I can use this as an advertising tool? Frankly, I'm not sure about my feelings about this matter, as I'm still flipping its sides and trying to arrive at some decision, when the time comes of course.

Morning Glory:

In a trial to relax within such summer (and for those from Europe and US who wait for summer all year long, summer here is some sort of a taboo. It is simply a hell!), I've settled down in one corner on the beach just before sunrise up to one hour after sunrise. My initial idea was to do a long exposure, but as I reached the place I've changed my idea and decided to take several shots like I do for a time-lapse. My idea changed from doing a long exposure to record the waves' movement, into applying an art concept to record the sun and the moon, or maybe mix the changing hues of the sky into a blend like I did once before from the roof of my home.

Cold Summer Day
Rokinon 8mm fisheye, f/11

Settling down with my tripod in a low level and fixing the Rokinon 8mm fisheye lens in portrait position, I've programmed my intervalometer to take a shot every 3 minutes. The final result was 33 shots recording the movement of the sun and the moon across the horizon. I had to study the angle of the sunrise carefully from websites like Wunderground; this angle is also called Azimuth (from Arabic: السمت). Because of the depth (or should I say the distortion) that the lens exhibits, the shape of the moon and the sun was recorded merely as moving dots. Safer for the sensor, probably?
Memory issues made me a headache as usual. Blending 33 images was a goal never achieved, and the image you see on the left is a blend of 11 images only and made out of JPGs instead of TIFFs. Even blending the images was done gradually and not all at once. However, for some reason, I have a belief that some of these errors I got while blending is not related to memory issues, but some algorithm issues and some slides could not be merged because of the movement of water and rocks (and trash) in between the slides.

Transition

Another trial to blend, but manually this time. It was an exhaustive work indeed with a lot of Layer Masks. The idea is simple but achieving it needs time. Well, some people might argue this is not photography at all, and simply "photoshopping", but as you can see... I did indeed take these shots! It is just the vision and the idea that plays the role in all of this, even in photography. The only thing I'm regretting about Transition is the fact that the moon is not visible in this blend. However, when I checked the single slides I've taken, I got encouraged for a longer exposure at that same level during a high tide time to record the advancing waves. What lens and what time it would be, this is something I need to check out and study for a while.

Long Exposures:

As I'm a member of a group right now, and as I'm trying to contribute to this community of photographers, I've decided to write down an article about my experience with long exposures. My experience is nothing compared to others I believe, but anyway, I hope it is a guide for the new comers in this community.
The thing is, I'm more fluent in explaining things in English and not Arabic, so I just hope they find this article useful (specially with the mathematics involved). I'm posting the article in parts in the group's forum, but you find it here. Pardon for the lousy format; writing documents is not my thing at all!





Remember this is all about my experience. Not a professional advice I would say, but I hope they are beneficial for other readers.


Now, with this heavy head, I'm not sure where I'm heading with my life, but maybe I should start thinking of getting busy is far better than getting wrapped up in my own emotions. Now with my chores in my work place being over with gradually, I do have more and more time at hand and maybe even reading books won't do to fill the gap in time right now. What to do, I just don't know...

Alexander 6, V81.

You know who are these folks?

They are my future babies! If any... that is.

I just found out this one amazing site for morphing stuff together (www.morphthing.com). It is a game I used to play before with one of the softwares I had. The element here though is that, they give you a baby face and not merely just morphing 2 faces together! This is one area of arts (digital art that is) that I need to read more about for now. I might find plugins for Photoshop that would aid me with it and make it more like professional. I always wished and looked for a software to make people look younger or older. Always wished to see my face when I get older. Rather, most of what I found was tricks in Photoshop and illusions that merge 2 images together, but not much was done on let's say, an algorithmic way. I'm sure there is a mathematical logic behind the weathering of the face by age.

I stopped fasting today and I feel sort of refreshed; no napping in the office, no dehydration. And I'm planning to keep on like this the rest of the day without a nap in the afternoons as usual!

My visa is on the way to the embassy in Riyadh. It costed me 55KD not including the fees of the visa itself which the DHL will pay for later. 55KD is around 188 dollars. Just too much for a punch of papers that do not reach the weight of 1 kg (2.2 lb) even.

The day is going smoothly for now. I got me a new mouse instead of the damned pen mouse I have right now. This time, I got Logitech, which is said to be of high quality and that's why their prices are sort of rocketing! It is a wireless mouse, to reduce the fuss of the wires on my desk.

 

Now, in Amazon you'd see the price as approximately $9. If you think this is so much for this mouse, then please re-think. I got it for 7KD, that is something around $24. One day, we are going to order all of our stuff from the outside and leave the local market for the beggars.

Just before leaving the supermarket, I've noticed a book that I couldn't resist the urge to buy it. A book, that I was indeed in need of it when I was back then, a student with minor in Geology.

 

The book I have is different 

cover but the author here is the same.

One of the things that made me go into Geology, despite the bad management in this department in college, was that, I like nature, history and simply the beauty of planet Earth. I'm sure this book contains lot of information and pictures that would inspire my future shots later on. The thing about photography, is that you capture beauty (not all times of course), and for this reason I like it as well. So far, I can't say I'm good at portrait shoots, and maybe will never be because of some of conditions and laws that govern such images in the market, but I simply like the landscapes and the strange places (strange in a good way that is). Now you know why I like Ireland.

Still in the process of proof-reading, and it's going slowly so far. I've corrected many mistakes yesterday and today. My time is a bit messy now and I can't decide when to do this or that, but I do like to relax a bit now, specially after finishing the BIG burden; the Irish visa. All I have to do now is to wait for their response, hopefully. Meanwhile though, I have to make contacts with the admins in my work place. Famous people for their stupidity. I need to settle down some things concerning my upcoming vacation, and also my working time re-scheduling.

__________
1921. then Kaliván thought of an idea but was dangerous
1922. and he said to Alexander: I am a little man as you can see,
1923. I might be able to approach the tree without being noticed?
1924. Alexander then refused and said: No! This is dangerous!
1925. but Kaliván insisted and said: we will not know, without trying,
1926. just tell me O hero, what to do if I got closer to it?
1927. Alexander went silent for a moment with some meditation
1928. then he realized that it might be indeed the only way
1929. thus he said to Kaliván: if you can go around the tree,
1930. check if there is any abnormal things in its bark,
1931. go now if you like, and I will watch over your steps
1932. thus Kaliván walked slowly and tried to approach
1933. but the tree started to move its branches and pushed him away
1934. the little man got angry as usual and wanted to go back again
1935. but Alexander made him stop and said: no use of that
1936. then he thought and said to himself: how does it know us?
1937. and how it knows we are approaching or going away?
1938. then suddenly the idea sparked in Alexander's head
1939. and suddenly he shouted out loud: the roots!
1940. Kaliván did not know what Alexander meant by that
1941. then Alexander asked Kaliván to collect some of the fruit
1942. and Kaliván went on all over the valley collecting them
1943. until he made a large pile of them beside Alexander
1944. then Alexander started to test his idea against the tree

Alexander 6, V73.

Ever felt that your brain is melting, or let's say you have no brain at all? This is exactly the situation we are having today. Hours roaming in the sun here and there to get things in order with a black shirt and a white sport-like suit, while fasting and not willing to put that down just right now, all of that made me just like a dizzy fly hitting the walls while walking.
I've discovered, or let's say re-discovered, that my passport is to be expired on September 26th, while my flight booking is for September 28th! Hilarious! I had the whole year but I didn't realize the situation except at this moment! This morning I had to go on taking photos of myself and running to the nearest place to place an order for a passport. When all of this is done, I will be able to complete my visa procedures accordingly.

Away from the fuss, I've been working little bit on my MySpace just to show some samples of what I do. Been doing some photos again but in different settings for HDR and tone-mapping, because some of them, or many of them, were done at the time when I didn't have most of the tools I have now nor the knowledge that I have now. One of these new-old images was the panorama for Soog Sharg with the marina façade:

Soog Sharg Marina (new)

The main changes to this one is that the temperature of the colors were set to fluorescent before combining into HDR, and also, the color profile to work with was set to ProPhoto. Personally, I was afraid that ProPhoto profiles won't be viewable by web browsers, but it was all OK. I had some problems with Photobucket with uploading files and I thought it is a problem with the color profile as well, but it turns out that it's just some glitch in the website itself. Morever, the picture was cleaned of noise and sharpened with NeatImage and Noise Ninja. For the time being, I'm inclined to convert everything to ProPhoto, because it is the color profile with the widest gamut or space. Just for a comparison, here you go with the old paniorama:

Soog Sharg Marina (old)

The difference is clear. More contrast for the new panorama, and sharp edges (on a large scale), and also, the tone-mapping is more "wild" if I should say in the new one, while the manual tone-mapping in the old panorama makes it more like dull bright. Is it the time to go over some old shots now and try to fix them? Hmm...

Beside working on these photos for my MySpace account, I still do work slightly on some images from Ireland and trying to use those who were corrupted somehow (shaky or the like) and find them a place in my collection. While some photos were there, was like it is the first time I've seen it at all, even though I'm the photographer!

Winter Garden - Brigit's Gardens in Co. Galway.

Now with this fuss I'm in right now, I don't think I would be able to work more on anything related to my Ayvarith, but before I go on with my tasks this morning, I've thought of some words to write. I called it Glutching Ghetto. It is a reflection on memories I had, and how some of them are hard to be just left alone. I'm trying to move forward from the phase of writing poems to more flexible lyrics, and it is hard to do with without a background in music or anything related to music. All what I have is my brain and imagination and writing down these words.

I think I will drop for a nap in this office, again, after the noon time prayer just to cool down this body after being grilled in this sun...
__________

1729. the hero lost the count of time when he slept
1730. then he found himself in the darkness under the tree
1731. he realized that he fainted rather than slept
1732. and beside him was the Cadid sleeping as well
1733. Alexander checked the chain and it was broken
1734. seems the Cadid broke it by his fierce power
1735. he raised his eyes up to heaven so slow
1736. and there lied the three moons on the tops
1737. each moon of them took his own mountain top
1738. he got his bag of food and had some as he was starving
1739. and he put some food for the Cadid as well by his side
1740. he felt calm and felt restful because he is on the path
1741. he checked his feet and found out no blood was there
1742. but only scratches and injuries on his skin
1743. in a hurry then he made a fire from some woods
1744. because he was afraid of other creatures in this land
1745. while the Cadid woke up and started to eat
1746. by the light of the fire, Alexander started fixing his sandal
1747. and explored the place with his eyes, left and right
1748. he started to think about his next mission
1749. what Biryári meant by coming to help?
1750. the thoughts raced through the mind of Alexander
1751. until he fell asleep back again under the tree
1752. and the Cadid stayed beside him to protect

Alexander 6, V66.

Feeling like chilling out today. No work on my Ayvarith, no nothing. Well, except of some sample preparation, so just to say I was not idle all the day actually.
Generally, the paperwork for the Ayvarith part of Alexander 6 is over now, i.e. I don't have to face the papers and type down words and other stuff into my documents. But, I have to refer back to them from time to time to correct some mistakes, and not only in papers, but even in the transliteration that I've made already. The document that I've just made right now, contains 12 pages of new words and additions or fixes notes for the present dictionary, but before adding that, as I said I have to correct the main thing in Alexander 6 transliteration, and also, I have to change the transliteration system in the already existing dictionary, where I'm starting to use the letter "ŧ" and "ħ" for the usual Ayvaric words, instead of borrowed words. That also means I have to flip back the words that already use such characters for other sounds, and make them use the underline instead.
Too much fuss going on and just thinking about it now makes me numb really. I want to relax now. But my relaxation is not so complete, because I have to plan for my vacation. I'm putting the pieces together and I don't want to push my luck further like last year when I was in a hurry to catch up with the trains and spent more than 20 hours without a decent nap! This time, I'm spending one day in every stop, and also hoping for more views to enjoy. Although Co. Tipperary is south a bit from Dublin and the distant is not (virtually) as far as Galway, but the trip to there seems tiresome. I've made my mind to settle in a B&B like the last year, a place called Thornbrook House. It is a place around the village of Cashel, and as the description says, it is few minutes walking away from the Cashel Rock, where one of my teachers told me and showed me some old castle there that went into ruins. My plan, if gone correctly, should be like this:

• 28/9 - To Dublin - rest.
• 29/9 - Railway to Cahir - rest. (a junction change is required as it seems and the way is not directly to Cahir).
• 30/9 - Going out by a cab or something from Cahir to Cashel where I shall stay.
• 14 days shall follow.
• 14/10 - Leave the place and head back to Cahir to stay.
• 15/10 - Get from Cahir to Dublin and stay for a night.
• 16/10 - Fly off.

Beside this plan, I must make out some essential papers for the visa and that thing is getting on my nerves a bit. Why it's not easy to get a visa in this area? Anyway, I'll manage.

My car is still in the garage after one month and one week, and one day. No news about it at all, and every time I call the sickening garage, no one answers. You think I will get it after getting backfrom vacation? I hope so...
Did you notice that the title is composed of "666" ? Yep, that's how I feel today...
__________
1561. Alexander then asked the old man of the white beard
1562. "and how this Cadid became like this? and why he attacked me?"
1563. thus Biryári answered: Cadid lives within you wherever you go,
1564. it only leaves your body in two ways known to me,
1565. either you succeeded to conquer your cruelty,
1566. and that made him mad so he attacked you,
1567. or he can be out of you with rituals,
1568. but sooner or later he shall be back to the body
1569. Alexander then asked: and what shall I do with him now?
1570. the old man said: killing him is the solution as I see it
1571. but Alexander refused and said: no, something inside me says no
1572. and Biryári then smiled and said: it is but your kind heart that said no,
1573. and after defeating your own Cadid, thus you are free of darkness,
1574. I see you tightened him like a slave already,
1575. thus I suggest you take him as a slave for your ways
1576. and Alexander thought that it is indeed a good idea
1577. then he said to the old man: but is he safe to be with?
1578. and Biryári answered: with some time, he will be tamed,
1579. just like your own twin walking with you wherever you go,
1580. but his animal side shall remain as it is I presume,
1581. but at least he can be of no harm to you later
1582. and Alexander accepted the advice of the old man
1583. and decided to make his own Cadid a slave
1584. he might be of enormous help in this world

Stress

Trying to compensate and to manage between the various stresses I had about work, so I'm concentrating more upon poetry and writing, and trying to find a career within that field. Many people advised before to find a place in that domain since they read my poetry before.
In the time being I just finished writing my newest poem, Take Me. It is weird how one, or me at least, writes a poem. you don't feel anything... only words flow through your fingers. You smells things are not there, and see things you never did see before. A world of imagination and dreams (not necessarily happy ones) and then, tata, you are finished.
On the other side, I'm thinking also of stepping into the designing world, specially in the field of educational posters. I made some posters already for work, I believe I can handle that... all what I need is materials and ads.

Still writing on the story of Alexander and might as well soon finish, or let's say, get into the last scenery or last patch of the story. In the same time, I'm working on with my previous recordings to add some effects and change the pitch of my voice. Although I previously decided to do everything in Flash format but, seems I'm not gona use it completely... and I'm gona add the contents of the chapters one by one.

I think it is the time to prepare for my vacation in October now. I should start filling my visa application!