Changing Lanes

I am a huge critic of people who don’t take their photography that one step further when given an opportunity on a platter. I’ve assisted at over two dozen workshops for Gulf Photo Plus and every single time I’m disappointed by how easily the people get delighted with a rather ordinary picture they’ve taken. Now I understand if a beginner gets satisfied easily, that’s acceptable to a certain level. But if the same applies to the wannabe crowd who are going around doing shoots for clients and shooting half naked women portfolios (the wanker crowd as I fondly call them) professionally, then that is a complete disgrace to the creative err… process that photography is (I almost called it an art *facepalm*). Now I’d go on ranting about the trash some of these wankers are doing in the name of photography, but that’s meant for another post.

From what I’ve seen, people tend to approach a day of photography with a single concept cemented in their head i.e. I assume that before stepping out of the house they tell themselves ‘Today I shall shoot blurry water (for example) and that’s it’. As I had once stated on a local photography forum, limiting yourself creatively is the worst way to learn even if you’re trying to perfect that specific skill. That statement and some similar critique caused a racket and I think I was told to grow up or something along that line which is usually how they end an argument with me (my young age annoys some people).

What I believe is that instead you should limit yourself with the equipment you use. I personally own an array of lenses and also have access to some of the best Canon lenses available in the market. I instead choose to limit myself to just one lens especially on a day I’m feeling rather creative. This lens is usually a prime lens or a zoom with a specific zoom range i.e. ultra wide or telephoto. The advantage to limiting yourself with equipment is that you take that extra effort to compose your picture because you don’t have the ability to change lenses depending on the subject. This makes you rethink your composition, move around, stop and stare, experiment and get frustrated till you either give up or get that perfect shot (in your opinion obviously). Anyone who does this, irrespective of their skill level, will see a HUGE improvement in the way they shoot. This will give you the ability to work on the edge even when you’re not limited by equipment. This is something many other pro level photographers promote as well.

Let me throw an example at you.

I’ve become a bit of a sucker for prime lens. My dream collection would be a 35mm f1.4, 50mm f1.8, 85mm f1.8, 135mm f2, 200mm f2.8 and 400mm f5.6. I already own the 50 and 85 while I’ve been eyeing the Sigma variant of the 35mm (more like the 30mm f1.4) for some time. Instead I’ve landed up with a Sigma 24mm f1.8 for AED1,000, second hand. SJ picked it up for me a few hours back so I still haven’t used it but I’m excited. Next is to bribe myself with the dreamy 135mm… ^_^

Four months and around 10,000 kilometers after my suicidal intention blog post, today I managed to change the faulty tyre. Why it took me so long is completely because the tyres my car rides on (Pirelli P Zero Rosso 235/40ZR 18 95Y) are never in stock. I chose not to go for any other branded tyre cause I didn’t want to change all my tyres due to the cost (eg. Pirelli cost AED1,200 per tyre) and I didn’t want to change just one tyre due to different tread design and performance. In the end I decided to change just one tyre (bought a Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 for AED1,350) cause the faulty one was falling apart and I still couldn't afford to change them all. As the Michelin goes in the rear, I should be fine for now as there is no noticeable change in driving ergonomics. I do plan to change the other 3 tyres in another 10,000 kilometers to Michelin (hopefully the Pilot Sport 3) as a quick google search claims they are a lot better then the Pirelli tyres..

I photographed Jo while assisting Bobby Lane in a portraiture workshop in Abu Dhabi in November. While looking for some other image, I came across this one which was screaming to be processed into monochrome. Simple Adobe Lightroom split tone processing with plenty of contrast and clarity to make the blacks darker and the whites brighter. Also increased exposure for the eyes to make them pop.

I don't know how long I'll manage to keep my blood shot eyes open. I've spent 17 hours covering over 800 kilometers today with SJ taking around 1,200 pictures in total; from panoramas to 9 shot HDRs. I am beyond tired but I'm stone cold high (read: freaking excited) over the pictures we took and the places we went. This has been by far the most gruesome outing I've had with SJ. We literally sleep-drove ourselves back home.....Teaser -  below - see - elaborate - later!! ZZZzzzzzzzzzz.......

As ranted earlier; according to the bill my camera is out of warranty. But surprisingly (and unquestionably) according to the Canon online records, it is still under warranty. So the service centre has to fix or replace my camera for no extra charges. It’s going to take them 8-10 days to get back to me on this and I suppose another few weeks for them to hand mine back or a new camera over to me. This is me being optimistic because last time I had something fixed from them; it had taken them 3 months to give the item back and I’m not the only one who’s had such an experience. The evident incompetence on the service centre’s part is highly unprofessional and harmful to brand Canon. Unfortunately even with consumer rights, we have no rights so like every other person who is at their mercy, I shall wait for the buffoons to work out what’s wrong with the camera and then take some more time to figure out how to fix or replace it. Sigh!!

Anyway till then, I’ll be shooting with the ancient 5D that belongs to SJ as she recently bought a new camera i.e. the 5D MKII; being the full frame snob she is and therefore doesn’t need this camera. I’ve always been part of the ‘full frame is over rated’ crowd because of the hype that surrounds it though unlike wannabe experts my reasoning is totally in line to what the facts are being the photography geek I am (Oh the modesty!!). That doesn’t mean I’m a full frame hater because to me, it does have its advantages like for example the shallow dept of field. Love the bokeh you’re able to achieve with such a sensor and being the bokeh addict I am, I’m loving it!!

8,851 is the number of days I've lived in the United Arab Emirates; the country I was born in, possibly one-third of my life according to some statisticians *points at World Bank*. Today, if I plan to carry on living in this country and chase my dream, I have to spend roughly AED19,000 per annum. This may not seem like a large amount to many, but that's the amount of money I've earned since my last birthday. The next 30days will shatter, relocate or give the dream one last life line. The stress is so awesome that I’ve aged a few years over the past few weeks.

Talking about aging, my 1 year and 20 days old camera has conveniently bailed on me and I’m looking forward to a hefty bill from the rip-off of a service centre which shall obliterate whatever photography budget I had left after I managed to lose (more like left it at an event and someone decided to borrow it, permanently) my costliest/favorite lens. On the other hand, my car (more like the car my sister bought that I maintain) is dying on me as well and it’s just 10 months old (should have bought a Camry.. *yawn*). The electronics are going round the bend while the brakes are a squeak and the incompetent service centre is well useless. I should ask for a replacement since I do have consumer rights. *coughmiragecough*

At least all is not gloomy (I think), the mobile that I managed to buy with the help of my brother and some vouchers is perfect for my needs though it does seem a little pricy now with the other costs sprouting like a bean stalk.

Talking about stalk-ers, there is a specific gentleman (read: pervert) who needs to be introduced to my hand though the angry face keeps telling me to control my emoticons. Listen I shall…

Oh and for the record, I’ve been alive for 8948days. I feel old… *grabs anti ageing cream*

Even though I don't like the way this car looks, it sounds like a beast which put a huge grin on my face. This might possibly be the only Lexus model I like even though I still dislike the normal IS.

After a very long time, I spent over 2 hours editing a single car shot. Could have spent more time fine tuning it but couldn't be bothered cause it isn't a very exciting car for me at least even though I ended up with a 600MB photoshop file which is huge.

Shot these with a 70-200mm @ f2.8 with a mono-pod at sunset/night with ISO ranging from 800-1600 to give myself a bit of a challenge. Spent 5 hours taking 112 pictures of 90 or so cars in an effort to be different from the rest of the shooters. It was a hard job as I clearly was struggling in the end(read: loss of ideas) though the results I ended up with are surely something I am proud of.





Any feedback or critique for these pictures or my style of shooting is welcome.

You can't make dreams come true with empty pockets.... *looks forward to an uncertain future*

Don't you just love it when you come back from a shoot and are proud of a shot you've taken. Well that happened to me but in this case I'm proud of quite a few shots. I'm not going to upload all of them, but here's one I liked the most.