It won't be long....

"Not long now..." I keep telling myself as our stay out here beneath the desert sun draws to a close. This is my penultimate blog from Arabia and one that has seen me playing with old images in Lightroom - giving them a new lease of light and enabling me to realise their potential at last. Many times I looked at the original files and thought... "Hummm, what was I trying to do here?" well now I can see the image that was there all along...

A couple to begin with...

So this was the first I started to play with - the original had little sky detail and the boat was washed out - courtesy of my old Nikon D50 which was and still is liable to over cooking the exposure - albeit by only half a stop - an issue that showed itself time and time again. However, if you know it's going to happen it can be easily changed in PP - especially if you shoot RAW - which I do... With this shot I used a graduated filter to give the sky some punch and then another to increase the saturation in the boat... Compositionally this works as the orientation of the boat makes a great diagonal lead-in-line taking the eye from the bottom left to the top right... Finally the two main colours - blue and yellow compliment each other making the shot pleasing on the eye for many reasons... I knew there was a reason I took it...

This shot is becoming one of my favourites - even though it has been languishing in a "holiday" folder for 6 years. It was taken whilst on holiday (hence the folder) in France - on a farm near where some friends have a cottage in the Limoges region.  The trailer thing is a manure spreader - not the most common subject for photography. For this shot I increased the brightness and exposure whilst reducing the saturation, which gives the washed out, retro-look. The more I look at this, the more I like it...and it is currently adorning the header of my Facebook page...HERE

One final shot that has had a new lease of life this week is of the French farm itself...

The retro look again, with muted colours; only the TV aerial and relatively modern tractor give the age away... I'm pleased with these last two...

BUT, have I taken any new stuff this week? And what have I done anyway? Well the Mosque Photo Competition Awards ceremony was on Monday night at the Emirates Palace Hotel... An entertaining evening - needless to say, I didn't win anything but that isn't surprising - never mind, there is always the next one to enter. The winning shot was disappointing - I found the runners up and other images in the exhibition better, but photography is so subjective. I did, however find it amusing that the judges received prizes...!

The new pictures I have shot include:

This shot of a corner in the Central Market... I liked the way the sun picked out the wooden paneling with the complimentary colours of the stained glass window behind. In case you don't know, the Central Market is a modern take on a traditional souk - this one designed by Sir Norman Foster. Personally I find it lacking in atmosphere, but it is quiet and cool in the heat of the day... Another shot showing one of the "streets"

These shots are part of a plan to ensure I have shots of all the places of interest we visited whilst we lived here - mainly for Quinn's sake but also mine. I have done this wherever I have lived - makes a good memory jogger... 

Most of the shops tend to sell trinkets, baubles, bangles and beads...

Like these lamps... great for tourists... I did however, get a new pair of spectacles from an optician there so not all the shops are wasted...

One final, recent shot is one of the ornamental grasses they plant all over here - I have shot this grass before, but like this version from Wednesday morning...

My penultimate trip down memory lane out here brings us back to Abu Dhabi - obviously the place is known for this...

as well and the sun, but when you are here what you mostly see is this...

or this...

or this...

or this...

... I will prefer to remember it for this...

The last one of these shots is one of my favourites taken here and is my image on my TWITTER page - taken early morning at the fish harbour it does illustrate the contrast between old and new, rich and poor that is here...

Now for the packing and trying to get all my gear safely home. I would imagine next weeks blog to be full of invective as I struggle to get 4 camera bodies, 7 lenses, 3 flash guns and all the rest of it packed... I get the feeling this last week will be stressful...

So my blog friends hope you all have a good week, see you next week - wish me luck and all..

TTFN