Tracks of the Desert

The Arabian desert; a place perhaps few are lucky to visit, and the mind conjuring up images of Lawrence of Arabia are plentiful. In the 21st century however, you see a lot of tracks like the ones above, courtesy of the arabian adventure cars that deflate their tyres and roar over the sand dunes. It certainly was an adventure to take a trip in one of these, but the best parts for me were the frequent stops to take in the desert landscape, and if you were lucky, see an Oryx or 2 (we did). I took so many close up and landscape pictures of the desert that day, as I could not stop my sense of awe over the patterns of the desert.

It's almost certain that the big cars help create these patterns (like to the bottom left which I really love), but it doesn't really matter. Just to capture them in the late afternoon, as the sun goes down, is enough for me not to worry about if nature or man created them. I had to put the post-processing of this picture on the shelf for a while, as the desert mist made this look very murky and dirty, and I did not know how I was going to get round this. Then at The Photography Show recently, I saw Glyn Dewis present a technique called 'Frequency Separation' that helped me alleviate the problem to a high degree. I'll explain more about this on Thursday, or at the weekend.

Presenting the image in lo-res as it is above, is not the best way to view this picture. The low resolution does not capture the desert detail very well.

Therefore, please click the link, to see it at full resolution at HalewoodPhotographic.com.

The Dubai Life

These days I'm starting to make myself think differently about what I am trying to show in a photograph. I have never thought of myself as a deep photography thinker. I am not attracted to photographs with agendas or messages, and certainly not pretentious arty photographs. I think I instantly know if I like a photo or not, and that is usually down to the visual beauty of the picture. Of course, a photograph can be emotional, but as most of you know, I am not really a people photographer. I do like processing those photographs, but I am always much more interested in a particular scene, and if people are in that scene then great, but for me, you don't need a face to feel emotion.

One of the aspects of a photograph I am hearing more and more of though, and it is this aspect I am trying to get into my head when I take a picture, is storytelling. I'd have never agreed a couple of years ago that a photograph can tell a story. Maybe I would have said it can represent a particular time and circumstance, but it can't actually tell a story. What makes me think differently now though, is that telling a story with a photograph is different to telling a story with words. The story in the photograph does not have a narrative, and it is up to the viewer to write it. But what the photograph does give you are the elements to create that story. The story of a time. The story of a place. Not of course with a beginning, middle and end, but of a moment that has just been frozen in time.

However, you look at this picture, I always kept thinking that it tells a story. Again, not necessarily a deep and meaningful one, but of a certain place in time. The story I think it tells is of The Dubai Life, but that's the great thing about photography - a different story is created for every single person that sees a picture.

Dubai Lights II

Back in Dubai today then, and here is my second long exposure shot from the the beach of the Fairmont Palm hotel on the Palm Jumeirah. The reason I want to post a few shots of this scene, is that different exposures and different angles bring out different results. Unlike the last 'Dubai Lights' photo for instance, this exposure kept the lights largely on the sea itself rather than coming all the way to the small waves. This gives a different shape to the lights, and I think I personally prefer this version.

There are perhaps 1 or 2 'Dubai Lights' pictures to come, though they won't all appear at once. There will be something a bit different on Thursday, though I haven't quite decided what yet.

Tip of the day: I dare you to share a negative opinion about the Winter Olympics on Twitter, and watch how you get hounded out for it, from people you don't know (and some you do!).

Only in Dubai

I learnt a valuable lesson from a documentary I watched before I travelled to Dubai recently. It went something like this "In Dubai, it seems that the crazier the idea is, the more likely it is to succeed". This is very true. If you are not sure, just google 'Dubai World Islands' and then you will see the kind of ideas that get the seal of approval in this part of the world.

I am not sure if there are any other twisting skyscrapers like this anywhere else in the world, but I would not be surprised if there wasn't. I so wish I could have been at the meeting where the guy with the idea tried to sell it to the money lenders. I'm sure the baffled faces would have been numerous, and that being at the stage they still thought it was a joke. But there you have it, a skyscraper that can't figure out which way it wants to face.

Through the Arabian Desert

One of the highlights of my recent trip to Dubai, in fact one of only 2 times I left the vicinity of our hotel complex, was to travel through the Arabian desert by jeep. I'm not really one for extreme adventures, but it was a lot of fun how these jeeps absolutely motor through the desert, not fearing any steep slope or tight angle. I was in the 2nd car of 6 in our group, so there were times where we stopped for photographic opportunities of the other jeeps, which played very well into my hands.

Like my last picture, this was processed entirely in Lightroom.

Dubai Lights I

This time last year I was lucky enough to visit Miami, as part of a company partner meeting (I work for a company that deals largely in the international market), and this year the selected destination for this meeting was Dubai. I reluctantly agreed to go when I was invited, and even more reluctantly took my D700, when I was asked if I would take pictures for the company of the event. I am being terribly sarcastic of course, as 4/5 days in Dubai gave me the opportunity to picture this part of the middle east, when I was and was not working (which was not often).

The hotel we stayed at was on the Palm Jumeirah complex, which from the beach gave beautiful views of the skyscrapers in the Dubai Marina area, especially when they lit up at night. Though I did not take my real tripod for the trip, I did take my gorillapod (Joby), which though not at all designed to carry a D700, nevertheless gave me the opportunity to take long exposure pictures like the one above, which simply would not have been possible without it.

As the title implies, this will be the first of a few 'Dubai Lights' pictures, as I took quite a few at different angles and exposures. Picking a favourite out of them at the moment, is way too difficult.

So, plenty of pictures to come out of Dubai, returning on Tuesday as normal.