Posts Tagged ‘abu dhabi’
Joe in Abu Dhabi April 9th, 2010
Joe McNally, one of my favourite photographers, was in Abu Dhabi for a workshop and I missed it.
Why, you ask? Well, cause I’m out of town and didn’t hear about it, probably.
Check out his blog post (littered with awesome shots) on the workshop he conducted in Abu Dhabi here.
Tags: abu dhabi, blog, Joe McNally, photography, workshop
Posted in Interesting Stuff | Comments (0)
The Night Drive April 8th, 2010
It’s been a very long time since my last post.
I’ve been going through some stuff lately and ended up falling off the grid completely. It was remarkably easy to do, strangely enough. The crawling back is proving immeasurably harder to do. It’s not completely over, but I’m working on it. On that note, I’d like to apologise here to all my friends who’ve seen me drop off the map and who tried to raise me unsuccessfully.
The good news is that my lack of posts doesn’t mean that I’ve been idle photography-wise. That said, I can’t guarantee that I’ll be able to return to the post-every-other-day routine for a while yet. This is due to a number of factors. The two main ones are: 1) I don’t have a steady internet connection; and 2) God willing, I may soon be embarking on a month-long trip over which I will – for certain – not have any internet access whatsoever. I’ll fill you in on the details of that soon enough.
Meanwhile, to celebrate the return of the not quite prodigal, I’ll leave you with a few pictures.
These were taken one night as I was driving back to Abu Dhabi from Al Ain. I set up my D700 on a tripod in between the front seats of my car and attached a cable release to it: Voila! Simple enough, I thought.
I took a test shot or two to get the settings I wanted (lens set to infinity, Aperture Priority mode, f/8, ISO 400), and off I went. The only problem was that on turns, the setup tended to lean dangerously, Tower of Pisa-style. It occasionally even threaten to topple, regardless how gently I took a turn. Next time I try this, I’m going to look to strapping the tripod legs to something…
I’m currently trying to find my way back … somewhere. So the images have taken on new meaning for me.
I hope you enjoy them.
More pictures soon!
Tags: abu dhabi, Al Ain, aperture priority, D700, drive, long drive, night, night drive, photo, photography, pic, picture
Posted in Travel/Urban | Comments (2)
The Graveyard, a Panorama February 10th, 2010
As promised earlier, here is the panorama I stitched together from 11 pictures I took on my visit to the dhow graveyard in Mina Zayed.
Click on the thumbnail below to view the larger image.
More pictures coming soon!
Tags: abu dhabi, boat, dhow, fishing boat, photo, photography, pic, picture
Posted in Travel/Urban | Comments (2)
The Graveyard February 6th, 2010
There’s a clearing in Abu Dhabi’s old Mina Zayed which doubles as a graveyard for derelict dhows.
I recently had the opportunity to explore it. Here are a few of the resulting pictures.
The mina (port) is gradually being torn down to be replaced by highrise hotels, office and residential buildings. The first signs of the changes to come are starting to be visible.
I guess the old must make way for the new.
I did some more experimenting with HDR this round. The HDR images below were created from 7 exposures each.
The light was just perfect. It was late evening and the sun was low on the horizon.
I loved the sunlight through the window.
The hull of one dhow was ripped open, the rusted metal sheeting peeling away from the wood planks beneath.
Most all the propellers of the derelict dhows were rusted black. This was the only one which still retained its original paint – a rusty red.
I’ll be posting a panorama I took of the graveyard soon.
Stay tuned for more pictures!
Tags: abu dhabi, boat, dhow, fishing boat, graveyard, hdr, photo, photography, pic, picture
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An Experiment in HDR December 24th, 2009
Abu Dhabi is undergoing a transformation.
Its urban landscape is changing. And it’s not just limited to the skyline: The urban planning authorities have in their wisdom decided to expand certain roads, divert others and build new ones.
A pedestrian walkway was built across one of the city’s expanded arteries. I took my camera and tripod up there one evening after work with the aim of experimenting a little with HDR, a technique I’m not very familiar with as yet despite the odd dabbling, here and there.
The difficulty in getting a good HDR image in processing afterwards was due to the movement of the vehicles in the frame. I understand that creation of an HDR image from movement should be ideally created from tone mapping a single shot. Still, this is all a learning process, no?
Here are some of the results:
Each of the images below was created from 7 exposures. Overkill, perhaps? Almost certainly. 5 exposures May have been more than adequate.
Each picture was taken with a Nikon D700, with a Tamron 24-135mm f/3.5-5.6 lens set at f11, ISO 200, 24mm. The shortest exposure was 1/3 sec. The longest was 20 seconds for the first image, and 30 seconds for the second.
For the second image, I converted the colour HDR image into black and white after processing was complete and liked it much better that way.
Speaking of HDR, and photography in general, I have recently come across an excellent Dubai-based photography website and blog which I am enjoying very much. It’s called Momentary Awe. Check it out here.
More pictures coming soon. Until then, Merry Christmas to one and all! 
Tags: abu dhabi, arab, emirates, hdr, high dynamic range, image, photo, photography, pic, picture, road, tone mapping, UAE, united, united arab emirates, urban planning
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Sitting for a Portrait December 9th, 2009
So, I was featured in The National newspaper the other day as part of a story on the elections for the Board of Directors of the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce & Industry.
I was in the running as a candidate, hence my being featured. I eventually pulled out of the elections for various reasons (and indeed, had done so by the time the story ran). But anyway.
If you’re interested, you can read the full story here.
The National sent a staff photographer, Ryan Carter, for a photoshoot for the story. I must say, was odd being on the other side of the lens for once. But it was great to meet and chat with Ryan and to see how he worked.
Here’s a picture from that shoot:
The picture was lit with one flash shooting through a softbox on a light stand set to camera left. I love the effect he’s made and the richness of the red curtain behind.
I highly recommend checking out Ryan’s website here for some great travel shots and some cool photos of scenes which you don’t commonly get to see in the UAE.
Tags: abu dhabi, board of directors, chamber, chamber of commerce, elections, industry, national, newspaper, photography, photoshoot, pic, picture, portrait, ryan carter, story, the national, ziad salloum
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And Now For Something Completely Different November 14th, 2009
I finally figured out where I remember that phrase from!
It was a catchphrase used in the TV show Monty Python’s Flying Circus! It was also the title of a movie spin-off of the show. Apparently the origin of the phrase can be traced to the founding presenter of the British children’s television programme Blue Peter, who used it to introduce new segments.
Anyway, back to the point: I suppose it’s time for a break from Lebanon and Bangalore shots.
So: As you no doubt know, Abu Dhabi recently hosted the last Formula 1 Grand Prix of the 2009 season. It was an extraordinary event and I am eternally grateful to my clients and friends who invited my dad and I to attend the races and concerts with them.
I won’t go into how great the events were. There are plenty of places to read about them if you want to. 
I was lucky enough to have had excellent seats at the main grandstand by the start and finish line, which gave me the opportunity to take some (I hope) interesting shots. So here are a few pictures from the Abu Dhabi Formula 1 Grand Prix:
I don’t know why I came out with so many shots of Ferrari’s…
This is my very favourite shot from the entire event. Occasionally, a helicopter carrying camera crew or VIPs would fly over the track. I managed to time it so that a helicopter and a car were in the same frame in a composition I liked.
I managed to make my way to a spot just opposite the podium after the race, from which vantage point I was able to take some shots of the finale. I was just wishing I could get closer with my lens. May be time I invested in 200-400mm glass…
I thought the photographers below the podium made for a rather interesting and unusual subject:
And to close, the obligatory rose-water champagne shot:
More pictures coming soon!
Tags: abu dhabi, and now for something completely different, blue peter, denso, F1, ferrari, formula 1, marina circuit, Mark Webber, monthy python's flying circus, monty python, panasonic, red bull, red bull-renault, renault, sebastian vettel, UAE, vettel, yas, yas marina circuit
Posted in Travel/Urban | Comments (3)
Gone Fishing October 9th, 2009
Yay! I’m gonna be travelling for a much needed break for some two weeks or so.
My access to the ‘net may be sporadic at best, so I doubt I’ll be able to post any new stuff until after my return.
I look forward to having loads of pictures to share with you when I get back (including some underwater shots).
Until then, I leave you with this picture I took in the Abu Dhabi Airport’s Terminal 1. I love this building. I think it’s brilliantly designed. It may be a relic of the 70s to some, but to me it’s a sign I’m home. It just oozes so much character – making the only airport in the world I’ve been to (and I’ve been to a fair few) where I’m always instantly at ease. The new one may be all fancy and glitzy, but it feels somewhat generic. But this terminal well… it’s unique. Am I just nostalgic? Perhaps. All I know is, I’d rather keep flying out of it and returning to it, and I’ll be very very sorry to see it go if they ever decide to scrap it (please don’t!).
I also leave you with a link to some 80 awesome high-speed shots: here.
Catch you when I get back! Ta!
Tags: abu dhabi, airport, architecture, blag, blog, high speed, interior design, photo, photography, pic, pictures, terminal 1, terminal i, travel
Posted in Interesting Stuff, Travel/Urban | Comments (0)
Aldar HQ October 3rd, 2009
On a recent boat trip, I took a few shots of Aldar‘s new headquarters, a beautiful building currently under construction in the Al Raha Beach area just off Abu Dhabi island.
Mostly, we see it from the highway on the way to, or back from, Dubai. So I figured the perspective from (a speeding speedboat on) the sea may be interesting.
So here you go.
Tags: abu dhabi, al raha, al raha beach, aldar, boat, headquarters, photo, photography, pic, picture, sea, UAE
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The One Ring to Rule them All September 29th, 2009
For my thirtieth birthday I decided to offer myself something I’d been thinking of for a long time: a ring.
Not just any ring, mind, but something special. So when a great friend of mine suggested I take a look at Namu‘s work, I fell instantly in love.
Something about Namu’s work resonated strongly with me, in part due to my passion for all things swords, and he has a line of products that tapped directly into that – he incorporates damascus steel into many items, and in particular: rings!
So I ordered one made special for me, which arrived shortly after my birthday and early in the new year.
The story of how it slowly made its way from the US of A and into my waiting hands is a tale for another day.
A few days back I decided to have some fun shooting the ring. Here are some of the results.
Tags: abu dhabi, close up, Macro, namu, photo, photography, pic, picture, ring, UAE
Posted in Macro | Comments (3)