The Dubai Chronicles: Rebirth

about dxb chronicles

The saga of Jeff living in the City of Gold. Presently living in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, unravel his journey throughout the city with memoirs and everyday life stories.

alien eyes

shutter speed: 1/300 sec, aperture: f/10, iso: 100, focal length: 38mm, manual setting

discoursed by jeff @ 8:49 AM | 7 comment(s) | permalink

Wednesday, March 29, 2006

left behind

shutter speed: 1/200 sec, aperture: f/5, iso: 100, focal length: 190mm, manual setting using ef 75-300mm f/4-5.6 zoom lens

taken at dubai creek park. the kid was somewhat lost and later found by his parents who were in the area. i made the impression by cropping the image to feel that he's really left behind by getting the right timing of the people who were walking in the background.

discoursed by jeff @ 8:54 AM | 1 comment(s) | permalink

Monday, March 27, 2006

pump up the volume

shutter speed: 1/30 sec, aperture: f/5, iso: 400, focal length: 160mm, manual setting using ef 75-300mm f/4-5.6 zoom lens

the hand of our bassist, orlands, when we attended the birthday party. now, i've been tagged by sha with this meme on which songs i'm currently playing (actually, this will be my prep-up music before i get to work). i disregarded my buddha bar music for this since i don't know the lyrics and songs but i'll include this as the 8th song(s).

bring it on.

pearl jam - indifference

i will hold the candle till it burns up my arm
i'll keep takin' punches until their will grows tired
i will stare the sun down until my eyes go blind
hey i won't change direction, and i won't change my mind
how much difference does it make

a powerful lyric made by eddie vedder and his band, pearl jam that me inspire. stand on what you believe in and don't let them come in your way...

parokya ni edgar - chopsuey

sh*t, meron naman menu
wala namang ma-order, oh waiter
sana naman may siopao man lang o burger
pa-order, pa-order, pa-oooorder!

i really don't know what the title of this song but it's a spoof of system of a down's toxicity and chopsuey combined into one. parokya's antics are always a hit to me. a truly crazy but genious artists.

love spit love - how soon is now

you shut your mouth, how can you say
i go about things the wrong way
i am human and I need to be loved
just like everybody else does

after hearing it on the movie the craft, love spit love's revival on the smith's song made me say "whoa". unfortunately, i didn't like what tatu did.

disturbed - stupify

i've been waiting my whole life for just one f**k
and all I needed was just one f**k
how can you say that you don't give a f**k
i find myself stupified, coming back again

umm.. i just like the riffs.

john mayer - back to you

leave the light on
i'll never give up on you
leave the light on
for me too

courage, willpower and hope.

default - wasting my time

you can't stop the feelin', there is no reason
just make the call and take it all
i'm wasting my time
i'm wasting my time again
whoa again

i have to work...

voltes five opening song

borutesu faibu ni
subete o kakete
yaruzo chikara no tsukirumade
chikyuu no yoakewa
mou chikai.
on voltes five,
we stake everything l
et's do it till the last of strength
the earth's dawn
is already near.)

let's volt in!

discoursed by jeff @ 8:48 AM | 3 comment(s) | permalink

Sunday, March 26, 2006

visitor

shutter speed: 1/320 sec, aperture: f/5, iso: 100, focal length: 210mm, manual setting using ef 75-300mm f/4-5.6 zoom lens

one of the birds visiting our window. i tried not to open the window, forced to shoot from the inside with the dirty glass and opted to use the zoom lens to avoid it from leaving...

tweet tweet.

discoursed by jeff @ 9:21 AM | 3 comment(s) | permalink

Saturday, March 25, 2006

pancakes

shutter speed: 1/20 sec, aperture: f/4, iso: 200, focal length: 18mm, manual setting using external flash

when i was a kid, my cousins and i used to prepare pancakes during merienda, spilling over the table and messing the kitchen up. out of the blue, i decided to make one... luckily with minimal fuss. i love them and i prefer my hotcakes crisp and slightly burnt on the sides with butter and sugar.

happy weekend everyone!

discoursed by jeff @ 10:28 AM | 5 comment(s) | permalink

Friday, March 24, 2006

the gathering

the gang usually hang out during "weekends" for dinner, socializing, photoshoot and sometimes, alcohol. i brought jmerts to jap's place after a little gilid talk and it's been a while since we've seen "phil collins." hehe..

spaghetti ni terry

shutter speed: 1/40 sec, aperture: f/5.6, iso: 400, focal length: 18mm, manual setting using external flash

we did a little food shot presentation (carpe diem) by using a colorful plastic plate, flowers i brought yesterday from the burj, a black veil, tablecloth and a washing machine. the spaghetti, cooked by terry was the trademark among the gang... filipino-mexican style. filipino because of the hotdog ingredient and mexican for the spicy flavor. it's all good.

good, bad, and the ugly

shutter speed: 1/10 sec, aperture: f/5.6, iso: 800, focal length: 18mm, manual setting using external flash

good because of the flower arrangement... bad because of the alcohol intake to the body and ugly... well, no need for further explanation. hehe.

crib

shutter speed: 1/40 sec, aperture: f/5.6, iso: 800, focal length: 33mm, manual setting using external flash

the girls gave me an idea that we take a shot of mak² with them inside the crib. good thing was they have an elevated bed, sort of a double decker where the bed is on the top and space for office or other furniture below. i climbed up and position on top of it and adjusted the framing via lens.

discoursed by jeff @ 1:52 PM | 5 comment(s) | permalink

Thursday, March 23, 2006

dinner at the burj

one of the privileges of organizing an event to a prestigious hotel such as the burj al arab is free food. this will be the n^th time (i lost count already) that i've been on the same ballroom, same floor with the same hotel and i haven't eaten their menu during dinner. usually, after the ceremony proper, we leave the scene and catch some rest and sleep after all the day's work rather than dining with colleagues and guests.

the event manager usually pick the same set of menu just to ease him of thinking what to eat and i finally got a chance to try them. after finishing some snapshots of guests, awardees and other prominent personalities, it's time for us to be seated and treat us to be guests of the evening. besides, big b told us to "relax" and enjoy the evening and we did as we told to. the food was served through the table and the menu course was strictly followed by the staff. each table of ten persons have three waiters serving and attentively waiting for any requests made by the guests usually making sure that the glasses of the guests should not be empty (how i wish i'm holding a wine or beer...).

menu for the evening

shutter speed: 1/30 sec, aperture: f/5.6, iso: 800, focal length: 31mm, manual setting using external flash

we chose to feast upon different kinds of bread and spreaded it with butter. to be honest, i don't how to use all of the cutlery laid upon the table wherein there are two sets of spoon and fork, two different knives, and teaspoons. i used only the bread (steak?) knife and my hands for appetizer.

then here comes the soup. according to the menu, it's shorbat addas, an arabic lentil soup with croutons. i tried it using a the wide rounded spoon (hope am right about it) and to me, it tasted like curry. i tried to dash some lemon to taste. to be honest, i don't like it.

main course

shutter speed: 1/60 sec, aperture: f/5.6, iso: 800, focal length: 18mm, manual setting using external flash

next was the main course, (corn-fed?) chicken breast with (orange) sweet mashed potato on the side plus veggies (baby carrots included) sauced with teriyaki jus. using the bigger fork and knife, i sliced through the chicken and it's well done and juicy. veggies are not overcooked. the way i tasted the main course, perfect but i don't like much the mashed po just because it's sweet (and i don't like the color either).

dessert

shutter speed: 1/60 sec, aperture: f/5.6, iso: 800, focal length: 18mm, manual setting using external flash

finally, the dessert was served and well decorated on semi-transparent frosted plate. i devoured the mango first since i haven't tasted these for months. i thought with the black round thing was a cake but when i sliced through, it was somewhat an ice cream. it tasted like strawberry and it's good... not too sweet.

after many times going in and out of the burj, i finally have dinner and truly it's quite an experience.

discoursed by jeff @ 9:25 AM | 9 comment(s) | permalink

Monday, March 20, 2006

solution

shutter speed: 1/30 sec, aperture: f/5.6, iso: 400, focal length: 190mm, manual setting using external flash

"Every problem has it's own solution... good or bad."

that's what we always say when facing obstacles. sometimes, we find ourselves a way easily but when we encountered a tough nut, we either lay low or give up. i myself admit that i go to this kind of solution, popping some green cans or bottles filled with intoxication trying to forget or just brush away what we're facing.

yeah, i know, this is not the real answer but still a solution somehow.

on the contrary, this image was taken just during the party where everyone's enjoying. using the zoomie lens. i used a little post-processing by duplicating the image and converting it to greyscale. after conversion, i erased the "uncolored" part of the tab showing the green one.

discoursed by jeff @ 8:37 AM | 3 comment(s) | permalink

Friday, March 17, 2006

sunset @ the palm

shutter speed: 1/80 sec, aperture: f/5.6, iso: 800, focal length: 54mm, manual setting

taken on the 27th floor of burj al arab last week ago. overlooking the view is the palm jumeirah, a man-made island with a shape of a palm tree composed of hotels, residences, and resorts nearing it's completion.

have a great weekend!

discoursed by jeff @ 12:42 PM | 7 comment(s) | permalink

Monday, March 13, 2006

full of b's

i have been busy with work and helping japs moving stuffs to his new place, plus other things. anyway, here's the last week's news.

burj again. another event and this time we came only during the awards ceremony. we went early in the afternoon to prep up the venue and of course taken some pictures from inside and out. i've also met kim phuc, a girl in the famous picture taken by nick ut, who was running naked, burnt from napalm bomb during the vietnam war.

kim phuc with jepaperts

shutter speed: 1/40 sec, aperture: f/5.6, iso: 400, focal length: 31mm, manual setting using external flash

birthday. a colleague of japs had a birthday in deira. booze overflowed and it's the return of the music gig since terry's back after a nine month break. videoke, magic, and of course, photography were there. a relaxing nightlife after weeks of stress.

rock on bob, rock on.

shutter speed: 1/30 sec, aperture: f/4, iso: 400, focal length: 18mm, manual setting using external flash

interviewing the birthday boy

shutter speed: 1/30 sec, aperture: f/4, iso: 400, focal length: 18mm, manual setting using external flash

burglar? we were accused of stealing of someone else's bag... just because we're near to their picnic ground. japs, liz, mac and i were strolling around creek park and stayed near the almost-perfect family man with his daughter sitting. japs and i went for the shoot while liz and mac were sitting on a bench. when it's getting dark, we decided to go back home but suddenly stopped by this "family man." he jumped to the conclusion immediately that we took her wife's bag. tarantado is the word for him and he understands it (according to him, he stayed in the phils for seven years). tarantado. he was afraid when we threatened to call the police. actually, he's just confused whether her wife took her bag and didn't remember or he don't remember that there's one. bad approach and a bad call accusing of someone unless proven.

"family man"

shutter speed: 1/80 sec, aperture: f/5, iso: 800, focal length: 80mm, manual setting using ef 70 - 300mm lens

love of the father

shutter speed: 1/20 sec, aperture: f/5, iso: 800, focal length: 75mm, manual setting using ef 70 - 300mm lens

bugs. we've been infested by surot (bedbugs) and we just discovered it by accident. a visitor who was lying on one of the beds saw a big bedbug passed thru her face. we found out that the infestation is huge. we immediately scoured the areas and exterminate as much as we can. worse, my bed was infected as well due to the source came from the bed below me... tsk tsk. bedsheets and pillowcases were thrown, and other wooden stuffs that might be the breeding ground for it. i isolated my clothing and checked every other things that might be the nesting ground of unwanted visitors.

almost as big as a baby cockroach...ewww.

shutter speed: 1/13 sec, aperture: f/2, iso: 200, focal length: 10mm, manual setting

searching every inch for pests

shutter speed: 1/6 sec, aperture: f/2, iso: 200, focal length: 10mm, manual setting

bye blue house. japs and liz has finally moved out. we were saddened by the incident but we understand it's for their own good and ours as well. both parties gained breathing space.

brand new baby. the office acquired a new, lean and powerful machine... and it's a mac g5 for our department. the request was finally approved just because we're fighting over one mac and we're already three using the same machine. we use them for arabic-type artworks like brochures and other print materials.with a 2.5gig, mac os tiger, 1gb ram, 250 hard disk space... things will be a lot easier for us. although i'm not going to use it, i'm still happy with two machines... the old mac g4 and the old ye faithful celeron pc.

burger king. as always, our favorite ten-dirham twin whopper juniors with drink. better deal than big mac meal (sorry tet... hehehe).

dinner for the evening

shutter speed: 1/30 sec, aperture: f/5, iso: 400, focal length: 22mm, manual setting

i'll be busy again this week and hopefully i can blog.

discoursed by jeff @ 9:33 AM | 9 comment(s) | permalink

Wednesday, March 08, 2006

i w d

shutter speed: 1/15 sec, aperture: f/2.5, iso: 100, focal length: 48mm, manual setting using external flash

today we celebrate international women's day.

lisaperts is our featured subject. lovable wife and mother, crazy and joyous friend.

congrats to all the women and let me give you the kiss...hehe. now, i have to go again to burj and do the o-ty (overtime, thank you) work again.

life.

discoursed by jeff @ 3:17 PM | 4 comment(s) | permalink

Sunday, March 05, 2006

unhappy

maybe i worry too much or im just a paranoid. im pissed at work... im pissed at my bro... im pissed at myself... yes i am ranting and i'm sick of it.

everything just went down on me... ah f*ck.

discoursed by jeff @ 4:34 PM | 12 comment(s) | permalink

Wednesday, March 01, 2006

the winner

and the winner is... but wait let's pick the top three.

the first entry entitled "ballet dancer"was taken by masterbetong last december 2004 during the bride's preparation of her wedding. master submitted a lot of entries but i picked this one the most.

window lighting shot such as this is superb in making silhouette shots adding drama to the portrait. the pose of "ballet dancer" is well composed plus adding the flower curtains to soften the glare and to add mood in the scene. showing the colors of the flowers she's holding added more interest as well.

post processing is also essential in making beautiful pics even more beautiful. using photoshop, i cropped the whole picture from rectangular to square capturing only the subject and removing the edges of the windows and added a black frame to top it up.

the second entry was taken by one of my favorite photobloggers, sidney, capturing the passers-by in quiapo, manila. he entitled his entry "lola and granddaughter (apo?) or is the feminine version apa?"

this photo showed a lot of contrasts, from old to new, black to white, poor but happy among others. the details of their hair was very nice and the mood was great in this daily life shot. the guy on the left however is somewhat distracting to the subject, that keeps my eye going back on that direction. same as above, i did some cropping to remove the distraction and added frame.

the third entry was submitted by jon, my officemate, doing his self-portrait during a conference (he's kinda bored and took a shot anyhow) in dubai.

left background is somewhat washed out (overexposed) but the details and position of hands is crisp clear. added plus to this composition is the colorful reflection of the lens. this self-portrait would be better though if the shooter didn't closed his other eye but since it's an action also, it's fine.

this photo will improve more by cropping the left washout part and converting it to bw using photoshop or any image editing tools (though eliminating the nice colors of reflection) since he's wearing dark clothing. here is the makeover.

thank you for participating and giving me a chance to put honest and constructive criticism with your photos. although im also an amateur in this field, i hope this helped in improving your skills. to me, all of you are winners but there can only be one...

and now, let us congratulate masterbetong for winning the contest.

discoursed by jeff @ 8:53 AM | 10 comment(s) | permalink

The Dubai Chronicles