One of my best lenses fell (along with the camera.. Gasp!) on the cold harsh asphalt outside our house, and pieces of little things rolled out of it’s little body.. Poor little thing. I’m over dramatizing by the way coz I’m gonna throw it away and buy another one just like it. ThankGod nothing happened to the camera, coz it fell along with the lens, very tough camera! Mashallah.

This is the last picture I took before the fall. Isn’t it just captivating?

This lens is the best investment I’ve made when it comes to buying things for my camera. I think it’s a great lens for 2 reasons: First because it’s really cheap compared to the other lenses, secondly, I love this lens coz it makes dull pictures look good and makes me look like a great photographer, not that I’m not, but yeah it makes me look even better

I loved it and I’m gonna buy a new one just like it. it’s $99 and I highly recommend it.

I’ve taken These pictures with this lens.

LINK

My friend ½ Cream Milk just told me that the Voluntary work center (photography center) are having their 9th exhibition at the avenues mall. I went last year and I enjoyed what I’ve seen. All the photos are taken by members of the center, and my friend contributed 4 of them. Not to be biased, all of their works are great, but I liked my friend’s work the most.

Make sure to pay a visit and see what they have to offer.

Where: In and the avenues phase II near Aïshti and Samsonite.

When: Open from 29th of december to 2nd of january.

Time: All the time.

This was released by the NBK a few weeks ago. Whoever was behind this idea must’ve felt quite nostalgic for the good old days. I took pictures of every page, english and arabic, and all the pictures are clickable for a bigger view. Have fun going back in time Read the rest of this entry »

Someone told me today about this studio and how creative the guy who runs the place is. I took one look at his portfolio and thought this guy should get more exposure (not that he isn’t doing great mashallah, I was told he is booked for a solid week ahead). His pictures and ideas are refreshing.

“Hamad Alshaijy, is a kuwaiti Photographer, who has established his own Studio of Modern and stylish Photography. He has got his Diploma in photography from UK. He is One of the Memberes in the Kuwait Voluntary Work Center ( KVWC ) Photography and Documentary Team.”

His studio is located in Burj Jassim and it’s called Mémoire studio.

Thanks H

We’re in Abdali since thursday and with time you grow tired of the usual activites. Having a camera in hand and an idea in mind can lead to flying friends.

Thanks HBZ & bo9ale7 for the poses.

I just came back from a one week vacation in Paris and I miss it already.

I spent the first day of Eid in Kuwait with my family and flew to Paris at night. We arrived in the morning and we didn’t spare a minute and went straight to La Duree for breakfast, after dropping our luggages at the hotel Read the rest of this entry »

My friend brought his cubelite over to the shalaih once and we did the photoshoot for this Shake Shack burger, and I loved it. I loved how practical it is, and how it made taking the photos so easy. My main source of annoyance when I take photos of food is the lighting. I hate it, and it almost always suck. And the other source of annoyance would be the white balance. This studio solved both problems.

I asked him where did he get his cubelite studio and he said it is available in Arshraf. I went to Ashraf’s branch in Burj Al Awadhi and saw it there. It was a bit smaller than my friend’s, his studio was the 90cm cube, and I got the smaller one. It was just the right size for my needs.

My cubelite specifications are:

1 x White Cubelite with blue trim

2 x 500 watt daylight balanced fluorescent bulb

1 x Telescopic light stand

1 x Adjustable silver/white reflector

1 x White vinyl background sheet

1 x Carry case for the Cubelite

1 x Cardboard storage case

Dimensions: 60cm x 60cm x 60cm

Product’s LINK

I’ve used it a couple of times now and I couldn’t be happier. I love how easy it is to fold and tuck it away, so it doesn’t take much space when stored.

There are many other sizes. Mine costs KD 120, and it’s available at Ashraf.

The weather is amazing this weekend for an outdoor sitting. A real good tea brewing on a nicely set fire is something no one should miss out on!

I miss sitting outside and actually enjoy the weather in Kuwait.. It’s Chay dowwa’s time again!

My friend owns a ‘Cafe & Restaurant’ place in the Free trade zone near Villa Moda, and the Place is called Centro Cafe. They recently started offering food on their menu, however, the menu isn’t officially printed yet, and they wanted to have some pictures taken of some of their dishes. I was asked along with my 2 friends HBZ and ½ Cream Milk to do a photoshoot for the menu. We agreed!

I’m going to share only some of the photos we took… Read the rest of this entry »

I like buying stuff and use them right away instead of buying off the net and wait awhile to get them. So, If you’re looking for a bag for your laptop, you may want to take a look at the ones in Ashraf. I was at their Dar Al Awadhi branch the other day looking for some photography related stuff, and while looking around I noticed they had a good selection of Case Logic bags, and also some Lowepro bags. And their prices were reasonable too.

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Upon roaming through the shops at the Iranian souq I came across this Dikkan – one hell of a find. It’s a tiny store only about 4X4 square meters but it’s packed full of random stuff from Kuwait’s past. To tell you the truth there were many items in there that I couldn’t recognize, items that go as far back as perhaps the early fifties. I’m sure many of the older generation would find this post nostalgic and would probably find the store entirely enchanting. The rest of you children of the Nido can take a look at the 40+ pictures and maybe get your parents to read this post and see if they recognize anything.
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As I told you on my earlier post, My friend was bent on having a fake shack burger this weekend. The recipe had main things to follow: the meat type, the veggies, and the sauce. We didn’t follow the recipe a 100%, But tried the best we can to not totally stir away. We bought all the needed stuff and headed to chalet. I didn’t care much for the Read the rest of this entry »

This is interesting. I think I’m gonna go. From facebook:

The Sultan Gallery presents Contemporary Iranian Art Photography curated by Simin Dehghani and in association with Assar Art Gallery, Tehran.

The exhibition will feature the work of seven contemporary Iranian artists from three generations using photography to capture and reveal the truths of their society.. The artists include; Bahman Jalali, Sadegh Tirafkan, Mehran Mohajer, Arash Hanaei, Dadbeh Bassir, Mohammad Ghazali and Babak Kazemi.

When:
Opening on Tuesday 6 October

Timing:
On the 6th it’s from 7 pm-9 pm.

The 7 October, 11AM-2PM and 7PM-9PM

From 8th to 27th of October, 11AM-2PM only
(closed on Fridays & Saturdays)

Location:
Sabhan, Sadeer co., block 8, street 105, building no 168.
E-mail: sultangallery@sadeer.com

Or check out this MAP (taken from Mark)

While we were on Sharm AlSheikh last month, we were told not to miss a place near Sharm, called Dahab. The place contains one of the best diving spots in the world. It is called “The Blue Hole”. It is a hole right off the shore, the picture below might explain it a bit, as you can see, it look somewhat like that, a solid ground, reefs and corals, and then chuk bom a hole. You dive in this vertical narrow cave till you reach an arch; an exit to the open water.

The Blue hole at Dahab is infamous for being dangerous, and could lead to deaths, it had led to the deaths of many divers actually. Make sure you have a good guide when you’re there, since a there is no need to worry when you have the right equipment and a guide to show you through, And also to let you know when you need to ascend. It’s beauty is fatal, and thats why many people have drowned over the years (or at least that is one of the reasons), because of how exceptionally beautiful it is down there. It’s color, it’s steepness, it just allures you to go further down, kinda sucks you in, makes you want to get “just a little deeper”.

For me, the thing that made this spot the best spot I’ve dived in so far, is it’s steepness, it feels like you’re diving next to a huge & extremely vertical mountain, which provides a perfect flying illusion. It kinda feels like you’re flying next to mountain and when you look down, trying to get an idea of how tall this mountain is, the bottom is no where to be seen, and what’s below just fades into darker shades of blue & feels bottomless. It is that way because it’s 800+ meters deep.
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We went to lebanon this past weekend. We had fun and did a lot of things in a very short period of time. It was quick but we needed such a getaway. Below you’ll see 20+ random pictures I took while I was there.
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I was invited by friends the other day to go to Jaber stadium, to take pictures of the first match to take place there. Ofcourse it’s an unofficial match between friends, but nevertheless, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity.

The stadium is big and beautiful (I thought it would be bigger though), plenty of parking space and many gates to let the cars in, and many ticket kiosks scattered around the parking area. I think they did a good job avoiding future congestions.
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Do you remember my post about painting with light? It’s all about having a camera where you control it’s shutter speed, a torch and some creativity. check out my old post, it was fun.

Well now a french designer, Aissa Logerot, designed a torch that look like a spray can for an added graffiti-effect. I think it’s very clever!

Thanks Amani

I’m done with the Nitrox course and ready for Sharm AlSheikh, I also tried to use a camera underwater for the first time. I used my brothers digital camera and I have to say that I need a lot of practice! It’s extremely hard to take decent shots down there. You have no control over the distance between you and the thing you’re trying to shoot, no control over the lighting, and I can’t see the thing I’m shooting through the LCD screen! it’s pretty fuzzy down there.
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We went to Garoh island last weekend, it was my first time to go to Garoh, and let me tell you how would you feel if you ever went there:

1-On the way there and just before you get to the island, the sea will smell like you’re at a gas station. The sea reeks of gazoline. Big circles of transparent oils are floating everywhere. And just so you know, thats why it was called Garoh. Garoh is a word derived from Gar, which somehow meant Oil/Petrol long time ago.
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I enjoy using my Macro lens every time I get the chance, but its annoying when looking at the results. It doesn’t have the image stabilizing feature, so I always end up with shaky and blurry images. To deal with this major flaw, I make sure not to use this lens when there is no enough exposure and light. A sunny day would be a perfect opportunity to use this lens outdoors.
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