Archive for category Photography
ShakeItPhoto for iPhone
Posted by allyenw in Fun, Photography on July 20, 2009
This is my absolute favorite iPhone app. It has inspired me to look for photographs again. It has reawakened the photographer in me. Thank you ShakeItPhoto!
Photograph 5 of 100
Posted by allyenw in 100 Prints Project, Photography on February 21, 2009
Fence on Cape Cod Beach
Beautiful beach on Cape Cod. My first trip to the north east outside of the city. The water was cold but great to splash around in with the kids. I hope to return to the beautiful east soon.
Dale Chihuly Glass Art
Posted by allyenw in Photography, Travel on February 20, 2009
I was watching a tutorial this morning on search engine optimization and the trainer used the Dale Chihuly website as an example. After seeing some of Dale’s glass art pieces I realized that I photographed a huge piece of his when I visited London last year. Stacy and I went to the Victoria and Albert museum and loved it. They have a wonderful collection. Dale’s glass sculpture hangs over the information desk at the entrance to the museum. I photographed it using two frames and stitching them together using Photoshop.
Chihuly Art Installation - Victoria & Albert Museum
Photographer Who Doesn’t Take Photographs
Posted by admin in Photography, Travel on June 9, 2008
Before going on a vacation I always get excited about all of the photography opportunities I will have. I try to keep my camera bag to a minimum of gear but can always think of a reason I just might need this or that gadget. I end up with a bag absolutely stuffed with everything and end up with shoulder problems in the airports. Then, when I finally get to the destination, I end up leaving the camera bag in the room most of the time. I feel like a spectator to my vacation when I am photographing all the time.
This trip was no different, I took the new video camera and almost every piece of still camera gear I own. However, when I finally got to Dubai, I did not take a fraction of the pictures I had planned to. I wanted to actually experience this trip as a participant, not just a spectator, without the burden of always looking for the next great shot.
I only took about 400 pictures during the entire 10 day trip to Dubai and London. This is laughably few for someone who considers themselves a photographer. Anyway, here is all 2 minutes and 38 seconds of video I shot in Dubai. Near the end you will see the worlds tallest building as I shoot it from a taxi.
Â
Day Three: Last Full Day :-(
Posted by admin in Photography, Travel on May 26, 2008
How many miles have I walked today? I do not know, but more than my feet would like by a long shot! After walking the city near the hotel I took a taxi to the Mall of the Emirates, the worlds largest mall. The taxi ride is 30 minutes and goes through some of the worst traffic I have seen outside southern California. The first thing I saw upon entering the mall is……SNOW! At least it was on the other side of a glass wall. The ski Dubai area is a year round ski resort. I use the term “resort” loosely. Check out the picture below. A nice view of people on the ski lift through the window of the T.G.I.F Friday’s restaraunt.
Â
The feet beckoned me to return to a stationery position so I hailed a cab for the return trip. On the way, as we were passing the worlds only 7 star hotel I asked Amman (from Pakistan) if he could get me close enough for some pictures. He obliged and we spent the next hour and a half driving around taking photos. The language barrier fell away as he bought me a bottle of water and informed me he does not like Phillipinos or Iranians. He speaks portions of 10 languages and will never return to Pakistan.Â
Â
He also took me to a beach so I could wet my toes in the Arabian Gulf, the locals do not like to call it the Persian Gulf. The water was clear and as warm as a babies bath water. I wished Stacy and the kids could be with me and we could play in the ocean. The beach was literally littered with shells. I picked the five up at my feet in one place and walked back to the taxi. Avery and I have walked a quarter mile and spent an hour to find fewer shells than I found as a second thought standing in one place! Pack your bags kids, we’re headed for Dubai!
The drive home took me by the world’s tallest building once again. The amount of construction here is astounding. We have heard that somewhere between one third and one half of the worlds construction cranes are in Dubai. I believe it! I counted 14 high rise construction cranes in one field of view.
Â
Stacy finished day two of her workshop and everything went well. We quickly made our way to the pool area to wind down. The evening was terrific, a warm breeze with the sun setting over the gulf. We had the priveledge of talking to (and buying beers for) two navy service men from the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier on shore leave. This was the second group from the Abraham Lincoln we conversed and shared a drink with. Thank you John, Luke, and Chuck, it was a pleasure meeting you!
Day One: Gold, Spice, Fabric and Food
Posted by admin in Food, Photography, Travel on May 24, 2008
Thanks to Ambien we had a great night sleep. Woke up early no problem and started day 1 in Dubai. The Hyatt Regency is very nice here and we had a wonderful breakfast buffet. I had lychee fruit for the first time and absolutely loved it. It tasted like lemonade and grapefruit to me. The cheeses and baba gnoush, foul medemas were terrific. Thanks to my uncle Aref I started early, eating and loving middle eastern cuisine.
We walked to the gold souk which is interesting. Several hundred stores filled with gold based jewelry and plenty of salespeople from every possible nation on earth to show the goods. I rather liked an $8,000 necklace for Stacy but decided to save my money for a car or a year of college for the kids. Of course this necklace was no where near as expensive as much of the wares.
After some serious gold over exposure we found our way, with many stops to ask directions, to the spice souk. Again, many shops, many people enticing you to enter their shop. The area is full of wonderful aromas, interesting sites, and friendly people. I finally found a ready supply of zatar. In Denver I always have difficulty finding it. Here it is available in every shop with a 10 pound bag of the stuff.
Finally got to see what frankincense is after hearing about it all these years in christmas songs and stories. The saffron is of the Iranian variety and much cheaper than what we can get in the US. We have learned their are a lot of Iranians here and they use saffron in almost everything. The Iranian cuisine is significantly different than the Arabic food I am used to.
We continued our exploration of Dubai with a quick, nondescript lunch at a middle eastern chain. We hired a “guy off the street” to drive us to the fabric souk on the other side of the creek. Until now we had stayed on the south side of the creek in the Deira section of the city. The fabric is in the Bur Dubai area, north of the creek.
At first Stacy was dissappointed because we learned that the stores don’t sell by the yard they sell by the roll! A roll is usually 25 yards, so unless Stacy is going to make the whole family matching head-to-toe outfits she won’t need anywhere near that much fabric. Luckily, after some diligent shopping, we found some hand made Indian fabrics that are too elaborate to sell in such bulk and are packaged in 2 meter lengths; just right for a Stacy project! We went on to find other options for Stacy to feed her fabric habit. This nice gentleman in the photo was patient with us as we scoured his store and even gave us a cold can of peach juice. A very nice gesture indeed considering the heat outside.Â
I can’t wait to see what day two will bring!
Â
Â