ePhoto

This blog been great, but I want to expand, to provide better material with a more stylish look for you my dear friends, I have made this new web site that I call ePhoto, to know more about it please visit at:

http://ephoto.wordpress.com/

http://ephoto.wordpress.com/

http://ephoto.wordpress.com/

http://ephoto.wordpress.com/

http://ephoto.wordpress.com/

http://ephoto.wordpress.com/

http://ephoto.wordpress.com/

SEE YOU THERE :)

Having a rest

Summer time is here, and we all know how HOT it becomes in Kuwait, and it is defiantly not worth going out for photos, right? wrong, that is what you'll be hearing people saying around you you, and that is all crap, it's is another excuse for not to being creative and good photographers, yes I agree it is very hot, but what should I do, put my camera to sleep till October? no way, there are plenty of thing to do, to avoid the sun just simply go out and do some night photography, another thing is shot indoors, how said that is not photography, we spend most of our time outdoor and summer is a good time for that as well, one last thing is that you still can go out and do what you love the most, but please follow the following instructions:

1. Go out ether early morning or at least after 4:30PM, the sun will be low at that time.
2. Always were a hat.
3. Drink lots and lots of water, don't become dehydrated and then blame me for it.

best of luck, and don't leave you camera away for too long.

Urban Photography

I just finished from my third "Live" work shop with KSC, it was about Urban Photography, started with a brief about what it is, then a slide show with examples about it, and questions were left at the end, time was very limited since they wanted to take the projector for some thing els, but I think it went well, since I got more experience from the previous two, the attendance was about 10 to 15 (I think), not bad, hope the word spreads and get more attendance next time.

Here I am

A lot of people ask me how did I became a photographer, and my response kind of shock them, just like every one I wanted t be a photographer since I was young, but never had how encourage me, I actually uploaded a photo I took on 1990 on my flickr, and time went by, I bought lots and lots of cameras, but never went farer than using the Auto set up, In 2005 I went to a trip to far east with my little Casio camera, the scenery there captured me big time, I wished I new more about photography to take some of these lovely place with me home on my camera, then I started playing with the set up, in Singapore, a place called Qlarck Quay (to be specific) I've set my camera to A mode (which I had no idea what was that by that time), an rested my camera on the bridge that I was standing on top of and looking at this beautiful place, and took this shot you see up there, afters I saw the results, I was astonished, "wow, I took that picture, I must get a better camera and learn more" so I did, and with the support of my wife, here I am :)

Visualized

Some times when I take a photo I see it in my mind first, even though I'm not in that location, and I'll let you know a little secret now, some of my best work is "Visualized", don't you do that?

New Look 2

Well, I'm trying to get a newer look, but I got feed up with all the hassle, so I guess you guys will be stuck with this look for some time, any way, I'm thinking seriously to shift from Blogger & Flickr to Apple .Mac account, were I'll have both my blog and my photos in the same place, what do you guys think?

and by the way that on the top is my new logo that I was trying to upload, you like?

P.S. Thanks Moayad for the help.

Were do you stand?

I found out that people who claim to be pro or amateur photographers are not really are, most are just doing it because they have spare time to waist, and they actually have plenty of it, so they go and do lot's of photography, then they say "hold on, I think I'm a photographer" and they convince them selves that they really are, I'll give you a proof, now what will happen when:

1. they were student and graduate.
2. they were single and got married.
3. they did not have a job and later they did.
4. they get a bit busy at work.

and that concludes that photography is just a hobby to most, and that could be noted on flickr, you must have noticed it's being slow or not having that photography sprite it once had, why because they are not even series about this hobby, some try for few days, weeks or even months but they found out at the end that they are not good, and instead of learning they go the easy way and just quit.

now what's in flicker for the rest of us, well except for people steeling our photos, I have meet some very good friends, and aaa.......aaaaaaaaa ........ well you get the point.

Note: Please don't be one of those people who say who the hell you are just because I'm saying the truth, and no I'm not hitting on any one coz you are few people who read here and I know every single one of you and how good you guys are.

peace to the people ;)

Damn it!

Damn it! I've been waiting for the new "MacBook Pro" for some time now, more than 3 months, and what they give me (apple) a new "MacBook" that have almost similar specs to what they have now on the "MBP" but with a lower price, well why I waited for the "MBP" in the first place? well, I'm interested in new tech stuff as you know, and I have a very good feeling that this next "MBP" will be something BIG, not in size, altho is is bigger than the "MB" but it will be something different, and I hate to buy something and after few days a better one comes out, I know thats how it is with tech stuff, but thats how it is with me too :P

if you look at it from saving wise, if I buy the "MB" now, it would save me not less than 300 KD than what I would have spent on the "MBP" but I hate that ugly looking B&W laptops and with time that matte look, fades out as I noticed with people.

conclusion, I won't buy any thing till I get what I wont Apple (thats if you are listening)

Q&A

I'll start a new episode here on my blog which I'll name "Q&A" were I'll ask you a question and then I'll give you my answer after you do, so should we start? (No, that was not the question) Here is one to all photographers, now think about this very carefully and then answer, ready? (still not this one) OK, Were do ideas come from? (what are you waiting for, that was the question ;)

The Great Escape

This is what photography for me, it is the place I go to when I want to escape from the whole world, don't get me wrong, I love my life, my family and my job but some times little or big problems here and there, you start feeling like you want to go some were no one can find you, and that place is photography, for me at least, wether it is going out taking photos or working on them on my computer. I'm away from home at the moment and I'd rather spent my time here on photography than going out shopping or watch a movie at the cinema.

any way, I got to go back to my escape place now, see you guys later.

Gulf Photography Gallery

Hello my dear friends, I know It's been some time since I wrote any thing here, but I ashore you it was for a good reason and one of them was preparation for up coming "Gulf Photography Gallery" which gathered talented photographers from all around the gulf as well as our photographers friends from KSC.

I promise you that you'll see some of my best work (things I hide from flickr) that you have never seen before.

Your visit will make us happy and it will be our pleasure to meet you guys.

It starts tomorrow at 6:30 PM in Kuwait Since Club located at the sixth ring road.

Note: there will be 2 major galleries, so make sure you visit both.

In Dubai

OK, I want take much of your time now, I'm in Dubai, and here are 3 things about it:

1.I'm Bored, and I have a reason (I wont say what).
2.Flickr is blocked, booooooooooooow.
3.I got my 10-20 mm Lens, hooray!

to be continued ;)

Open minded

Yesterday I got a great comment from a flickr user on one of my photos on my flickr account, and it says:

"Parallax1, You are a very unique photographer, you have nice photo stream, but the problem is, that you are shooting from the same angle ! try to create something else, all your building photos are taken in same way, all the photographer are saying that, but not in front of you, and i am telling it finally. Thanks for sharing, and letting me critic the photo."

I was surprised that some one was that honest, don't get me wrong I know that some of you will tell me what they really think by not saying any thing or if I ask for it, the thing is we will always be learning, we will never reach a stage that we will think of our selves as THE photographer or what ever, so guys be open minded, I always welcome the good suggestions and comments, I new that I have a favorite angle but did not know that people thought that my ability was limited to that one angle! and that flickr user opened my mind to it, I know there so many thing that I'm missing, and without your opinion, I will not get to a better stage.

so please have you say any time you feel like it and I'll replay on it and tell you why I did it like that or agree with you if you are right, and thank you all for your support.

Sick Photographer

It's Thursday night, my kids and wife are out, and I'm alone and sick at home, don't want to read a magazine, work on photos or do anything, I'm bored, no let me say that again, I'm very bored, sorry to waist your time, but there is nothing really worth reading here today, unless you have something for me today, OK I'm feeling bad now for wasting your time so I'm posting a photo up there that never been seen before, now how about that!

Please Tell me

I just came back from KSC, and as some of you might know I was presenting today a lecture about Photoshop Lightroom, how did it go? I really don't know, it is hard to judge when the people are very quiet, they did not interact with me much, few questions were there, why? maybe they are shy, maybe they don't want to, I don't know! here is what happened,

I prepared my self very well, printed my notes and the points I was going to talk about, unfortunatly my PowerBook G4 (it's a mac laptop) is too slow to run Lightroom, so I had.... I don't want to say it.... yes, I did use windows :( but what to do? any way I borowed my fathers laptop, fixed it to the projecter, and it refused to work, the freaking Vesta did not work! so I had to borrow some one eals laptop (thanks Sulaiman) to make my presantaion, well if that was not enough of imbaresment guess what? when I treied to do some thing as easy as importing photos it did not work, imagine some one is lecturing you how can't import photos! well thankfully we fixed the problem and I had to lead that behind me to at least give some thing useful to the people how came, and I did my best, I think I did good, but some might find difficulties because this was not basic.

To know how I really did I have to ask some who will know that I won't be upset if he said his honest opinion, were to find such a person, I don't know?

So if you were there today and have some thing useful to say, Please Tell me.

Lightroom is in the house

Hey guess, I've been testing Adobe Lightroom public beta version for some time now, till they released there 1.0 version more than a month ago, and they give you 30 days to test it, well I did, and with a blink of an eye those 30 days flown away, and I was left with nothing, it was locked and I could not use it any more, it was like taking a fish out of the water, now I had 2 choices, 1 is getting a pirated version, and 2 was buying the original, which one should I get, I thought about it, I'm spending a fortune on my photography equipment, the software is a vital element of my photography equipment, so I decided to pay the people that brings pleasure to my hurt.

and today I received it :) that was the BIG smile on my face, It's like breathing again, I can't talk too much, I have to go now and do my thing, C Ya ;)


one more thing, it is my pleasure to invite you to the KSC photo exhibition in Marina Mall on the 4th of April 2007, see you all there, and for my friend out of the country, don't worry, I'll cover it for you.

It's a Joke

I was going to write a whole editorial about this subject, but I don't want people to hate me for it, it just doesn't worth it, so I'm just going to say that "Photography contests in Kuwait is a big fat joke" :)

New Look

I wanted to change the look of my blog, but never had the time to do it, till recently my friend Moayad gave me the push I needed, so thanks my friend, any way this is the initial look, please tell me what you think, I'll make it look better later (God knows when) ;)

Standing Tall

Most of you know what happened recently, the photo theft I mean, it hit me very hard when I saw one of my photos in a magazine, it was used with out my permission, I did not know what to do, weather I should go to the magazine editor and break his head or stop posting my work on the net, as you have noticed I have stop posting my work for few days to clear my mind about this matter, and this is what I want "No one will stop me enjoying what I like to do, I will do every thing I can to stop these people from stealing my work, and I will certainly be post more and more photos"

Spatial thanks to:

kuw_son

mr.bloshi

athoob

(JA)

P.U.R.E

scale 1:100

sramyan

7oO7oO

Daddy's Girl

Heba _ photo

Light Rain

Fstop_mathai

and to all the people who care,

for there support, I really apretiat it my friend, if it wasn't for your support I would not have posted any thing any more.

and for the guy who stole my work, If you are reading this, we photographers, spend time and money on these photos and the equipment we use, to make these art possible, were I could have spend them with my family instead, so we ask you not to do this and think about it 1000 times, it is not any different from putting your hand into my pocket and steal my money.

Alone

When do you think,you become more creative, when you go out to photograph alone, with few friends or with groups? I prefer the first 2, alone you become clear minded, it's only you and your camera (well, and all the other people who are staring too) when you are with few friends, it becomes more challenging (In a good ay) when they choose an angle, you don't go there and take a shot of the same, but you go and search for a different one, that way you make your mind work over time ;) and it's funnier, much more interesting, plus if you were with the "right" people you could exchange informations and techniques. Now say you go out with groups 10+, man that is a mess, you wont take your time at a cretin spot they will ether want to take shots of that same spot or they got sick of the place and they don't want to wait for your creativity, and I don't blame them, oh! did I mention that in every photo you'll take you'll find the face of one of the guys from the group in it? even in Macro!

Summery, The best way I tried it to go out with friend not more than 3 in total, and you all have to be at the same level of standard, if that was not handy then go out alone and forget about groups cos they are a wast of time.

I miss her

I'm in London, and I left her behind, It was really hard for me that morning when I left home, she looked me in the eye and as if she was saying to me "Take me with you and I will make sure you have a great time there" I said "I can't, I have a lot to do there in a very short time" I felt pain, but it had to be done, I left her behind with tears. Now I'm here, and sorry I did not take her along, and enjoyed all the beauty of London together, but being busy, I know I would have not touched her if she were here. call me crazy, but I miss her, my camera.

Digital vs. Glass

Filters makes our photos Incredibly beautiful, but does it make less of the photographers ability to take good photos, certainly not, they need spatial knowledge about colors and mixing them and how to focus manually on your seen, and which color match that time of the day and this particular seen, so it is really a tough job, thats for the glass filters, the new age now is digital photography, and with digital photography comes digital editing (more about that later) which is essential, now you can add these filter effects digitally, which means you can test all kind of filter colors on your photos, till you hit the color you really like, if after some time you changed your mind about that one color, by all means go ahead and change it, now what about if I don't want the filter effect, well your original copy is still available to you.

Digital filters, Positive:
1.You have literally millions of filters on your computer.
2.They come for free with your editing software.
3.You can add/remove them any time you want.

Digital filters, Negative:
1.ahh... I don't see any.

Does that mean I'm against Glass filters, well, lets say I don't want to use them OK, but I'm sure for some they find an enjoyment using them and I wish them all the best, but if you use digital you should go digital all the way, after all you cant play a betamax video tape on your HD receiver right ;)

Flickr Addict

Hi, I guess you already know what I'm going to talk about :) yes, it's about our beloved Flickr, Flickr users might have noticed that recently my activities have reduced on Flickr, thats because I have reached Addiction level with it, how? I'll tell you, what is Addiction? I have seen on TV once (can't remember which program) some one was talking about addiction, and he said "When some thing interfere with your Job, family and friends, then you are addicted to it" and thats what happened to me, should I care about all those three which is my LIFE! or Flickr, well both, but I have to give more time to my life and less, a lot less, to flick.

so guys take it easy, and don't become addicts to flickr or any other hobby, and pay more attention to your life.

It's a Beautiful City

It is 7:02 AM, the temperature out side is-7 degrees, New York City, the city that never sleep, I wanted to do some photography but did not know were and the cold was a big factor to stop me, any way got my camera ready but not sure that I was , half way in the hall way between my room and the elevator I had doubts about taking my camera, "I have photographed almost every thing in NY, should I go back and leave my camera in the room and walk light, beside it's freezing out side" I said to me self, after few seconds of thinking, I decided to take it with me, I enter the elevator with a women and here daughter (I think) she said good morning, I replied the greeting, then I asked here "Going out in this cold?"she said " Yes, It's a beautiful city!" a big smile came on my face, I remembered how much I love this city and that there are endless places to photograph, Thanks to the lady I added few great photos to my photo library. Keep checking my flickr, thats were you will see some of them.

Two Million Miles

Andrew Macpherson is a professional photographer, he has been photographing for 10 years now, very well known man, from a fashion photography to celebrity portraits, some of his client are Britney Spears, Charlize Theron, U2 and many many more, he's lates book is called "Two Million Miles" which you fide all these celebrities in it in a way you have not seen before, for portraits freaks this book is a must, any way I have read an article about Macpherson in a photography magazine and I was amazed how professionals work, I'll summarize the quotes that shocked me which I think it will have quiet an impact on you too:

When he was asked about digital cameras he said " It sees in the dark, which to me is magic. I love low light photography and struggeled with it for years on film. Digital has opened that world up for me"

A lot of people love the camera brand they use, and they keep using the same brand over and over again, I kept asking this question to so many people, Why do you love this brand? and no one gave me a satisfying answer, when they asked Macpherson he simply answered "It's just like writing with a pen you've written with for ten years"

I thought I do lots of photography, well this guy really does read what he said "You have to put everything onto hard drives, for digital archiving and I'm generating about 14 terabytes a year" so if you think you have lots of photos, think again :)

If you are still lost in what format to take photos with see what Macpherson have to say about it. Images are shot in JPEG + Raw: JPEG to provide a rough sketches for his retouchers to show how he want the image to look. they will then go on to provide the final polish, working the RAW file. "I'll smudge it, and then they'll perfect it," Macpherson Smiles.

To Read more about Macpherson, cheack out "Digital SLR User" magazine, February 2007 Issue No.4

wish you all the best.

Ignorant Friends

I went out camping yesterday with my "Ignorant Friends" as usually any time I go out to interesting places I take my camera with me, but what happen is when you go with people that know nothing about photography? every one was trying to be funny at first, then it got more stupid to a point where I almost picked up a fight with one of them! why does people try to always be funny when it is not? (especially Kuwaitis) why don't they realize the fact that they are a bunch of "Ignorant @#%$"?

رحلة سوق المباركية

أقام النادي العلمي ورشة عمل تصويريه في سوق المباركية يوم الخميس الموافق ٢٥/١/٢٠٠٧ كان التجمع صباحا في الساعه ١٠ و قد حضر العديد من الأعضاء، هذا مو موظوعنا :) الموضوع أهو الصور ، ماذا تصنع في صورك كهاوي (والله كسره) فأنا شصيا لدي أكثر من ٥٠٠٠ صوره، نعم قريتوها صح "خمس آلاف صوره" نعم فلكر مفيد ولكن، هناك قيود، مثلا، تعود الناس أن يرو منك الصور الجميله و قد تعودوا على مستوى معين من الصور، فلذالك لا تستطيع عرض صور عاديه دون المستوى السابق، و إن لم تفعل فلن يرى أحد أعمالك الأخرى سواك، فما فائدت ذلك التعب، هل تخش الباقي من الصور، خنقول إن عندي ١٠٠٠ صوره ممتازه و ٢٠٠٠ صور عائليه (لاتعرض) و ١٠٠٠ مالهم داعي فماذا تعمل بالألف الباقي؟ الي نص و نص أو تكون صور تثيقيه؟

قيس الموضوع على نفسك و خلونا نناقش هالموضوع، شرايكم؟

و بالمناسبه من الصور إلي نص و نص هذي الصور من "رحلة سوق المباركية" إستمتعوا

Things That Make Me Happy

I made this blog streakily for photography matters, nothing personal at all, but my dear friend kuw_son tagged me with "Things That Make Me Happy" I can't say no to him, and I guess a little bit of fun wont heart, so hear we go:

1. a good massage.

2. When ever my kids are happy.

3. Carrot cake.

4. A vacation spent in Kuwait.

5. Spending some time alone on my Mac at home with a hot cup of tea and biscuits.

Thats all my friends.

سوق الفقع

أمس رحت سوق الفقع و القصد الأساسي كان التصوير مو الفقع، أول ما دخلنا كانوا البياعين بنفس و الواحد مايبي بعد يتناجر عشان صوره، بعد ٧ أو ٨ بياعين مريت على واحد شان إقول "إشدعوا يابا هاي ماترييد إتصورنا؟" قلت في نفسي "حبيبي إنت الله يابك" إهني تشجعت و قمت أصور و وعدت هالشخص إني أييبلا الصوره، و عقبه عاد طحت تصوير في العالم و الله إن شاء الله يسامحني كلهم قلتلهم شوفي صوركم في الوطن :) بس صراحه حصلت كم صوره طيبو خاطري، كنت أستخدن عدست الماكرو للفقع، وحده من الصور في الفلكر مالي والثاتيه الي فوق والباجي بعدين، المهم قلت حق جمال خل أصورك (جمال صاحب أحلى صوره لبياع فقع) شان إشيل سلة الفقع هذي لقطه و الثانيه ماسك حبتين قع يصور معاهم و هذي كانت القاتله إلي أنا طحت بالأرض من الظحك لا ويغمز حق الصوره بعد، المهم لا تخلون كامرتكم في البيت هالأيام التصوير مايتطوف.

There is no spoon

when you go out to photograph are you thinking of what would people think about your photos? or this particular angle or composition? well I have news for you, if it does then your creativity is blocked if not then your on your way to be one of the best photographers if not he best.

Three things get me out to photograph, first thing, is some thing I imagined in my mind and go out to capture it with my camera, second, is a place I've seen and want to explore, last but not least I'm in what I call "my photography mode" you might be asking what the hell is "my photography mode" ? well I can't explain that, but what I can do is show you some of the photos that I get when I'm in that mode and amazingly I get some of my best on that mode :)

Summary:
-Don't think of what others might say about your photos
-Don't go out photographing if you don't feel like going out.
-There is no spoon. (from the Matrix)

So how was Malaysia?

So how was Malaysia? (Photography wise)

Malaysia is a very photogenic country, it is very colorful, and it has very nice architecture, both modern and old, there living style inspire you, you can come up with lots and lots of great and new ideas, there were times I just wanted to stoop the taxi driver and start shooting, the thing that stopped me from doing that was my kids, you can not do any thing with kids, especially photography, other wise I totally recommend it for photographers, I had only few minutes alone, and thats when I got all my Kuala Lampor photos, I'll be posting some of them on my flickr account, and the rest (the good ones) will stay with me for...., I wont say.

What can I do?

A friend of mine is new in photography, he's actually the one who bought my Sony R1, any way he took some photos and asked for my opinion and said "see what can you do!" man this is my game, so I took his CD, which have lots of good photos and did some touches to them, OK more than touches, and here is an example:

The Original:



The Modified:



The Extreme:




This is digital photography it is not complete with out the computer work.

so good luck my friend, and tell me how did I do?