Changing Lanes

Still persisting with the Sigma 24mm f1.8 as my main walk around lens, I managed to snap up this photo of the view from my balcony while it was raining heavily last night. It took me 3 tries to get it right as I wanted to get a proper exposure of the complete scene while capturing the rain in the air.

I chose a slow shutter speed of 1/40 to capture the rain with some motion blur, combined that with the lowest possible f number (large aperture) of f1.8 to allow maximum amount of light to enter the camera and increased the sensitivity of the sensor by bumping up the ISO to 1600 to achieve a proper exposure (though I think I've over exposed the shot a little).

The lens flare wasn’t added in post processing but done in camera as this lens tends to flare a lot which I took advantage of with some careful positioning of the light source. If you look carefully at the bright white lights in the background, you’ll see a bit of purple fringing. This is the only (for now) drawback of the lens when shooting wide open (small f number) which might get distracting in some cases. It can be removed in Photoshop but it doesn’t bother me here.

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.

Had completely forgotten about the Solar Eclipse today so with a last minute reminder from SJ, I managed to capture this. Luckily it was cloudy which made my shot more interesting and easier to take. Shot this through two tinted windows of my house to reduce light along with a circular polarizer to reduce light further by a stop and to reduce reflections/doubles (slightly visible) created by the windows.

Perhaps the best sunset picture I took in 2010. The reflection adds a whole new dimension to this scene, something I've shot a million times before. A custom white balance to get the purple tone with a bucket full of contrast to get the silhouettes.

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.

Yet another moon shot taken today. It seemed like a very clear night so I had to snap one up.

Shot this while my sister was frying samosas for iftar today. Keema samosas to be exact.

Shots of the board game 'Risk' that I took today as I try to experiment more with strobe lights, soft boxes, grids and snoots. Till now I like the challenge though I need to start pushing the envelop with some more creative lighting ideas.

2010 Ford Mustang Convertible. It might look like the real thing but it's not. Had gotten a 1:18 scale diecast model free at the 2010 Ford mustang launch and so thought it might be a good idea to shoot it to make it look like the real thing especially since I had borrowed SJ's strobe lights.

My lame effort at DSLR video.

Camera Model : Canon EOS 7D
Shooting Date/Time : 04/19/2010 08:33:41 PM
Tv(Shutter Speed) : 1/60
Av(Aperture Value) : f2.8
Metering Mode : Spot
ISO Speed : 200
Lens : 50mm f2.8 macro
Focal Length : 50mm

I've been asked by tbreak to review cameras. I've never reviewed anything in my life so I'm kinda looking forward to this. The first camera I've gotten my hands on is the Canon EOS 500D (also called Rebel T1i) that was released a year back. It's an entry level DSLR replacing the Canon EOS 450D (also called the Rebel XSi) which I personally liked. I haven't used it yet cause it uses SD cards instead of the normal CF cards so I need to go buy a SD card for this. Hopefully I'll be able to come up with a decent review in the 2 weeks I have this camera. I still need to figure out how I'm going to test it. This is exciting... :DCamera Model : Canon EOS 7D
Shooting Date/Time : 03/20/2010 02:56 PM
Tv(Shutter Speed) : 1/250
Av(Aperture Value) : f11
Metering Mode : Pattern
ISO Speed : 200
Lens : 50mm f2.8 Macro
Focal Length : 50mm

Shot for the same catering company....Camera Model : Canon EOS 7D
Shooting Date/Time : 03/15/2010 03:06 PM
Tv(Shutter Speed) : 1/250
Av(Aperture Value) : f4.5
Metering Mode : Center Weighted Average
ISO Speed : 200
Lens : 105mm f2.8 macro
Focal Length : 105mm