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.

bloodwork

it's now online.

discoursed by jeff @ 6:10 AM | 3 comment(s) | permalink

Saturday, April 28, 2007

f o r s a k e n - x i i

f2.8, 1/50sec, 116mm, iso200, auto wb

the drowning.

the voice of the intelligence is drowned out by the roar of fear. it is ignored by the voice of desire. it is contradicted by the voice of shame. it is biased by hate and extinguished by anger. most of all it is silenced by ignorance. - karl a. menninger

i asked my friend japs to be my model this time and visited their place. using the frosted sliding door, i asked him to position himself behind it with available light behind him. i put a tape on some of his hair to raise and have a drown in a pool effect. on fill lighting, i used my speedlight on remote and pointed on a grey wall to bounce the light (since it is a glass that sucks for flash effects when fired). later on, i mounted my tripod and used longnose for a nice dof.

pp treatment: dodge, burn, draganized, desaturate, usm, crf, sig

discoursed by jeff @ 8:50 PM | 4 comment(s) | permalink

Friday, April 27, 2007

sooo unlucky friday...

it ain't friday the thirteenth but i've been struck a series of bad luck in the afternoon.

uninspired. it was supposedly the 12th installment of forsaken shoot but i got overfed and felt sleepy. most of the shots i made were either blurred or out of composition. japs shot's were also not in his best (able to strip myself for the first time with them though).

questioned. hope that our inspirations to boost up, we went outside and looked for a suitable spot for photography instead. after a few wrong turns, an almost empty fuel and forgotten legal documents and baby stuffs at home, we were able to spot a very ideal place...

...when suddenly a police patrol approached us.

we were asked on what we were doing and honestly answered which is photographing ourselves for fun. it turned out to be that we're scouting and found a place of a very prominent sheikh of dubai. they thought that we're doing something fishy and got ourselves into trouble and invited to a police station kilometers away for questioning. i was asked many times on the same question and proving myself as well.

a two-hour hassle that we didn't get any, not even a single shot and wasted our time for nothing.

stupidity. few steps from home, after glady's parked her car near to our place i was about to pick up my stuffs on the trunk when lillian (my laptop) jumped to the concrete. i forgot to zip the bag when i was questioned few hours ago and this was the result.

f2.8, 1/40sec, 200mm, iso200, auto wb

a huge damage on the side affecting the mmc, sd, memstick, etc. slot, breaking the plastics and distorting the corner...

...ugh, what a day!

discoursed by jeff @ 10:16 PM | 4 comment(s) | permalink

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

bloodwork - sneak preview

i've been busy with it since last week. countless images and post-processes, sleepless nights, an easy gallery system for viewers and lots of blood.

will be launched in a few days. don't get too excited. :)

discoursed by jeff @ 11:39 PM | 4 comment(s) | permalink

Sunday, April 22, 2007

the waterfront

we visited a newly-opened mall in festival city called the festival waterfront centre. it's just like any other mall with signature stores and other stuffs in one roof. most of the attractions there involved water movement such as flowing water into pebbles, dripping into a mountain-like structure and this one, a preprogrammed synchronized water fountain that goes with the music. outside, there are small canals (similar to venice) that tourists and shoppers can ride the abra.

f14, 9sec, 10mm, iso200, auto wb

one lesson i learned today was never doubted of bringing some things that you might be needing later on. unwanted pov, risk of breaking the glass (your lens in particular), and an odd look from passersby for doing a strange position to get a proper focus... and that's the consequence of not bringing a tripod. :)

too tired from malling, pics soon.

discoursed by jeff @ 12:12 AM | 1 comment(s) | permalink

Thursday, April 19, 2007

constructicons

if you were familiar with the cartoon transformers, the constructicons are members of the decepticon forces who disguises as construction vehicles. they were the first to merge their bodies (similar to voltes v or voltron) and form gigantic devastator.

now michael bay's making a film out of it. just for fun, i started hunting these decepticons around town for the past week and try to shoot them only at night using long exposures.

scrapper

f16, 54secs, 12mm, iso100, auto, tripod mount, (large image)

"the leader of the constructicons, is a master designer who conceives the myriad structures the construticons assemble. although he's genuinely modest about his work, he's prone to bragging amongst his fellow constructicons. he transforms into a wheeled front-load shovel and forms the right leg of devastator."

this fella has been sitting for days in a pile of demolished building. since it's in a busy street, i asked my roomie to accompany me just in case and within 20minutes i got what i wanted.

scavenger

f22, 25secs, 10mm, iso200, cloudy, tripod mount, (large image)

"unashamedly pathetic decepticon, scavenger is desperate to prove his worth to his team-mates, he uses his one true gift - his shovel's ability to detect various magnetic, ionic, electrical or gas readings - to locate items of value, although invariably, all he can usually find is junk. he transforms into an excavator, and the right arm of devastator."

i came and gatecrashed to a construction site nearby my place and found another member. inside the perimeter i had no choice but to barge straight into place. the labourers were puzzled on what im doin' inside the site and did a quick two or three snaps.

hook

f16, 12secs, 10mm, iso200, cloudy, tripod mount, (large image)

"hook is the team's perfectionist second-in-command, who considers himself far too elite to deal with most of the 'ruffians' that call themselves decepticons. he is excellent at performing tasks which require extreme precision (including surgical operations), but the time he takes to perfect his work and his arrogance are his weaknesses. he transforms into a crane, and forms the head and shoulders of devastator."

i got lucky that another member came by to deliver some goods in the area. instantly, i positioned myself to the entrance of the construction site and took the snap.

mixmaster

f16, 30sec, 10mm, iso200, cloudy, tripod mount, (large image)

"he might have a few chips loose in his logic center, judging by the cackling with which he undertakes his role of materials fabrication. Although manic and erratic by nature, he is a genius of a chemist, able to mix chemicals in the drum of his concrete mixer alternate mode. (He has also been known to insert solid objects -- such as cars -- into his mixing drum in order to turn out new building materials.) He forms devastator's left leg."

few nights ago, i was asked by my officemate to teach him to shoot nightscapes. since i'm also in a hunt for the other members, we went to a nearby construction site. we were allowed to take photos (though the foreman's curious of our presence). the usual school project trick was applied for the previous evenings that got us the go signal for it.

long haul

f22, 50secs, 10mm, iso200, cloudy, tripod mount, (large image)

"he is not fond of his role as transport, ferrying construction materials to and fro on a constructicon building site, and although he accepts its importance, he would much rather be a full-time warrior. He transforms into a dump truck and forms devastator's lower torso."

i called this last member as the unicorn since it's soo elusive and hard to find here. this machine is working day and night and finally got a shot of it when the driver took a snackbite. although i have a window of few minutes to take a shot of this...the floodlights almost killed the exposure.

bonecrusher

f22, 3.5secs, 17mm, iso200, cloudy, tripod mount, (large image)

"bonecrusher is a brawler by nature and specialises in demolitions work. under this vicious personality is an underlying motive; he is a perfectionist at heart and wishes to destroy all he deems imperfect, including the autobots. he would enjoy the extra potential for destruction as devastator if it didn't mean sharing the same mindspace as his fellow constructicons. he transforms into a bulldozer, and forms devastator's left arm."

discoursed by jeff @ 9:32 PM | 2 comment(s) | permalink

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

b o t t l e . d r o p

a couple of photography friends in the internet talked and made a little contest. the theme of the contest was "bottle" and whoever wins will get a beer binge for free plus a goodie holga camera. kicking the idea and my trademark of photographing jumpshots, i tried it on the bottles.

f4, 1/500sec, 80mm, iso200, auto wb

i prepared the scene by placing a monobloc table and dark backdrop. later on, i mounted my tripod and popped up the internal flash and set the camera on commander mode using cls (creative lighting system). i placed my sb-800 flash unit in a little front and right (facing to camera) and bounced the flash away from the subject to get the ambient lighting effect.

f4, 1/500sec, 80mm, iso200, auto wb

i poured a little water in a plastic drinking bottle to make sure that it will bounce. next was placing the bottle in a middle of the table and prefocused it and set the camera to manual focus and set the wireless remote. loosening the cap, i lifted the bottle vertically and mentally count and released my hand and simultaneously triggered it when it dropped the "ground."

f4, 1/500sec, 80mm, iso200, auto wb

it took me more than 30 shots and got a couple of satisfied "jumpshots" in the process. :)

pp treatment: converted to bw, usm, blue hue, crf and sig

discoursed by jeff @ 6:44 PM | 8 comment(s) | permalink

Saturday, April 14, 2007

portraits - ii

i thought i was going to put off my photography but it seems to be can't get enough of it. this weekend, i was practicing myself photographing models in the fashion scene. going back for the bridal show for the second time, i was able to correct my errors and i'm happy with the results than the previous shoot. plus, i did some "jumping" photo and this time there's no human subjects.

the series of portraits was done on the first week of april. i used a dragan effect in the post process (google it: dragan or draganizer). enjoy!

dark bride

f2.8, 1/1250sec, 125mm, iso400, tungsten

veiled

f1.8, 1/640sec, 50mm, iso1600, cloudy, -0.7ev

mr. tunak tunak

f1.8, 1/40sec, 50mm, iso400, cloudy, -0.7ev

discoursed by jeff @ 9:01 PM | 1 comment(s) | permalink

Friday, April 13, 2007

dubai bride show

the event said to be one of the largest bridal exhibition in the mideast region providing a direct route to a multi-million dollar wedding industry. i just came there not to browse my own wedding gown but test "longnose" on low light conditions. it was a four-day event but we managed to attend for two sets of fashion shows.

im having a hard time to position myself since i'm using a long range zoom lens. instead i went near the backstage where the models exit from the catwalk. good thing here was, i got a comfy spot. :)

f2.8, 1/400sec, 125mm, iso400, +0.3ev, auto wb

stagelights and spotlights made the camera exposure metering go ballistic. some of the pics will be overexposed and have different white balance output. i adjusted most of them from raw to get the desired effect.

this shot however is not and decided to keep the warm tones and shadows.

f2.8, 1/500sec, 200mm, iso400, +0.3ev, auto wb

wedding is gold

f2.8, 1/400sec, 120mm, iso400, +0.3ev, auto wb

cleo's gown

f2.8, 1/125sec, 78mm, iso400, +0.3ev, auto wb

discoursed by jeff @ 1:54 AM | 2 comment(s) | permalink

Thursday, April 12, 2007

daddy's wish

my dearest julia,

by the time you were able to read this, i hope you'll understand what am trying to say. after a few years being together, watching you since birth and taking care of you, we were glad that you came into our lives. although, i'm only with you on your first birthday, i apologize for not being there and failed to be around.

i wish you all the best and stand up in your decisions in life. believe in your dreams and dont not let others be ruined by it. be honest not just to others but to yourself. dont hurt someone unless you really mean it.

mom loves you so much... listen to her. miles loves you too... he's your best friend. and i love you... i'd just hope you do.

happy birthday, my girl.

daddy

discoursed by jeff @ 1:11 AM | 0 comment(s) | permalink

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

l o n g n o s e (other tests)

nikki with longnose

going for the first baby day out, i brought along with me to office with my new baby and tested it in the real world scenario. in my observation, this lens is a heavyweight, a real burden if you carry plenty of gear. attached to body, the weight will wear you down easily (especially if your flash unit attached to body plus battery grip) unlike the smaller lenses and may require a monopod. with the exception of the weight and bulkiness, it performed really well on different situations.

note that all the images were resized (large images still have exifs attached). here are the scenarios:

dof test on bright daylight

f2.8, 1/160sec, iso200, 200mm large version

dof and sharpness test indoor with artificial lighting

f2.8, 1/60sec, iso400, 90mm large version

paparazzi test

f2.8, 1/500sec, iso200, 160mm large version

disadvantage: having a very and bulky lens is an attention grabber. every passerby we've met usually looked on the black thing hoisted in my shoulders. when spotting, most of the heads turned to the direction where i am at.

advantage: mistaken as a paparazzi or photojourn itself.

low-light test

f2.8, 1/8sec, iso200, 86mm large version

with the help of vr (vibration reduction) and a big opening (2.8), no more problems taking snaps on alleyways, underpasses, etc.

quick-draw test

f2.8, 1/3sec, iso200, 80mm large version

while making dinner, we heard and saw fireworks nearby. instantly i drew my camera from the bag but it took me a long time to snug it off from the bag due to the size. fortunately, i was able to shoot at a very low shutter speed (whoppeee for vr!) while doing it handheld since there's no more time to mount the tripod in an instant.

i already appreciating it's worth :P

discoursed by jeff @ 8:24 PM | 2 comment(s) | permalink

Monday, April 09, 2007

l o n g n o s e (vr test)

after months of savings, earnings from clients and selling some of my lovely gear, i finally got hold one of my dream lenses... the 70-200mm f/2.8G ed-if af-s vr zoom-nikkor. a member of the trinity lenses (17-55mm, 28-70mm and this), im glad that i acquired this one and will push my photography to the next level.

fresh from the box, i attached "longnose" to nikki and tested the vr (vibration reduction) capabilities under low-light conditions. i did some tests using different focal lengths on similar settings. i used an external flash just to fill-in the background (pointing towards ceiling, ttl mode). note that these were unedited files except undergo to raw conversion and saved for web option.

100% crop @ 70mm

f2.8, 1/15sec, iso200, 70mm, full image

100% crop @ 105mm

f2.8, 1/15sec, iso200, 70mm, full image

100% crop @ 200mm

f2.8, 1/15sec, iso200, 70mm, full image

at 1/15secs on a handheld basis will normally cause a camera shake. with vr on...it reduces it a lot. there are traces of shake on a longer focal lengths if you viewed the full image. apparently, this is better than any glass around with fixed aperture on different lengths. the sharpness is evident (i have shaky hands though) and with a silent motor to boot, this is an exceptional monster.

...and i'm loving it. more tests for portraits. :)

discoursed by jeff @ 11:32 PM | 2 comment(s) | permalink

Saturday, April 07, 2007

portraits - i

i was wrong about taking a rest on photography this weekend. in fact, it was three separate photo ops. we visited the naif/gold souk area once again and the place never ran out of subjects fit for portraiture and street photography. plus, we discovered a new location for glamour shots and mood portraits.

one of the friendly people in the neighborhood

f8, 1/80sec, 145mm, iso200

later in the afternoon, we thrashed the place of one of our closest friends and did some more photography, fooling around and pizza.

latest self-portrait

f1.8, 1/100sec, 50mm, iso800

the next day after, we visited the "ruins" and brought along a new friend with us.

taken at the "ruins" with a new friend (and subject... hehe)

f4.2, 1/40sec, 122mm, iso400

more portraits...

discoursed by jeff @ 11:54 PM | 0 comment(s) | permalink

Wednesday, April 04, 2007

preparation

i got into design mood last night and fulfilled my promise to my former web hostess, nikki. i was asked months back and just got the chance to design her splash page. she is fond of angels of any sort. while looking for a suitable pic, i stumbled upon on this overexposed, yellowish yet calm and expressive pic. i played with it by using vector ornaments, textures and various brushes from deviantart. this is the outcome:

in other news, i now officially started doin' my portfolio site and asked orly, a fellow photographer from ksa, to help me pick from tons of tons of photos i've taken for the gallery. out of 300+ we ended up to sixty (60). the launching of my portfolio site and the new look of tdc will be simultaneous.

hands down on photography for a while... :)

discoursed by jeff @ 11:21 PM | 3 comment(s) | permalink

Tuesday, April 03, 2007

safa park in bw

i was invited by japs to go with him together with his family for a picnic at the safa park last friday. together with yoyen, we pitched tent and stayed from morning till sunset just to relax, talk, shoot and eat. the weather was perfect, giving us a cool temperature and nice clouds (for my backgrounds).

it was a relaxing moment and somewhat missing something when i was there. a "bachelor" misplaced in a family-driven place. anyway, here are japs' and his family portraits...in black and white treatment.

f14, 1/320secs, 10mm, iso200

f14, 1/200secs, 80mm, iso200

f14, 1/160secs, 80mm, iso200

f14, 1/160secs, 70mm, iso200

all the shots were taken between 12noon to 2pm (harsh shadows!)

discoursed by jeff @ 11:37 PM | 1 comment(s) | permalink

Monday, April 02, 2007

nightscapades

last two week's experiment with ed's d80 made us travel to the 2nd interchange of sheikh zayed road. bringing my trusty manny along the way (which is very essential for night shooting), we risked ourselves to get a nice view and a goodie shots.

we were lucky hehe...

f22, 15secs, 20mm, iso100, tungsten, tripod mount

f11, 4secs, 18mm, iso100, tungsten, tripod mount

after we're done on the bridge, we went to the construction site near burj dubai and hopefully we could get an interesting view for another experiment. it turned out that the building lights were dull (flourescent) and seem to be flat. instead i walked towards an abandoned payloader truck and did my usual light painting using my speedlight (i forgot my flashlight!)...

f16, 45secs, 12mm, iso100, auto, tripod mount

f16, 54secs, 12mm, iso100, auto, tripod mount

next, a day at safa park...

----

finally, i got a wireless internet connection at my flat! more time online..hehe.

discoursed by jeff @ 8:51 AM | 4 comment(s) | permalink

Sunday, April 01, 2007

weekend jumps

my weekend were preoccupied with impromptu getaways. i wasn't able to do my street shoot assignment since my friends asked me to come with them at safa park last friday and abu dhabi the next day...

...all we did was jump, jump, jump and jump. here are some pics:

the safa park jump experiment