Camera Labs

Deira's one of the old areas in Dubai, by the creek and coast. The area is full of older buildings with a bit more character, souqs and bazaars. It is also where the dhows moor to load and unload products for transfer between the UAE and other areas of the Persian Gulf and Indian Subcontinent. Here are a few from the area this morning (and a very hot morning at that!)

1. Looking more like Baghdad that Dubai



2. Slow boat to India



3. One of the entrances to the Spice Souq



4. Lonely benches outside the Heritage House Museum



5. Gold Souq Trader, waiting for opening time

C&C more than welcome - are they really THAT bad? I know this forum has always been more gear oriented but the areas for actual photography are really dying nowadays

Time to move on, I think

I think I'll just start taking photographs of walls...

i like your work very much photo No. 3 looks live a painting to me would you mind tellin me how you took your photos i really like to improve mine

I like very much #2, 4 and 5. I don’t think that I’m qualified for an apt C&C, but 1 and 3 seem to me with an undecided subject. That is, I’m not sure what you saw in the composition. I live in Israel so the views are quite familiar, the harsh light and oppressive heat, so I understand the situation. In #1 I would have concentrated on the guy with his cell phone against the background with the slammed on technology advancements on the old wall. I would also caught him with his leg forward in his stride, this posture is more motion suggestive than the one with the leg behind as in your shot. Because I’m such a slow learner it took me some time to be able to catch them with the leg forward, but now I’m able to do it 10 out of 10 within the region that I want them in the frame. It’s not that hard really.
#2 is simply beautiful and the B&W is very well motivated. I really like this one.
#3 left me undecided too; I can’t honestly point what is that I object, it seems to me that it’s too much to look at in the shot. The pair is well shot and the motion well suggested, and the building behind them is interesting too with those beams poking out and contrasting with the sky. The right side of the frame catches the eye too as the point where the pair is looking and this (in my view) splits the composition.
I would have tried to catch the pair from a closer range, but I suppose that wasn’t possible. I’ve done many shots in the shouk but there are regions, especially the butchers’ section, where you may catch an axe flying toward you in the frame if you’re not shooting with an almost invisible range finder.
I like the rhythm in #4 and It’s a very good one too. I would have blackened the shadows in PP to have a more graphic look, but that’s just me.
The portrait is excellent in my opinion. Full of character and very well shot.
I hope that helps. I’m far from being qualified but these are my thoughts.

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Radu
Canon PowerShot S100
Canon 50D , SIGMA 10-20 f3.5 ,Canon EF 24-105 L IS USM, Canon EF 100/2.8 macro Canon EF 50/1.4 ,Canon EF 85 f1.8,Canon EF-S17-85 4-5.6 Old Tamron 28-300 inherited from my Canon Rebel G film camera
Canon580EXII
http://www.errre.net

I love the portrait, but perhaps tone down his lower lip a bit? Doesn't quite seem right, but toning it down might make it worse, still worth a try though...

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Flickr

Thanks for the feedback, Radu. I've yet to get the hang of the decisive moment for people in scenes, but I'm learning slowly.

For the 1st and 3rd shots, I was trying to convey the scene as a whole, and the busy-ness within it. No 1 isn't a view you'd think came from Dubai with all its aggresive marketing and tourism, so the view of the empty block in the foreground, chaos of the architecture, DIY installation of a/c etc should be taken as a whole. The pidgeons on the left were supposed to be balanced by the man on the right, and he was fast disappearing and I needed a human element.

For the 3rd scene again I was trying to capture the scene as a whole, with the architecture, stall, spices drying on the pavement. Again, I was waiting a while for the human element to come along and got them in the right part of the frame.

Thanks cam83r

This was with a Carl Zeiss 35mm f2 lens, which has great microcontrast and is very sharp. The shot was converted from a RAW file into Photoshop, and then initially processed in Colour Efex software to boost the tonal contrast. Then I used Silver Efex to convert to monocrome.

Phil, your photography is awesome, if I see your name in the posts I always check to see what you are up to! Don't be down, I think you actually deserve a category of your own! Keep up the fantastic work - you are a true inspiration.

Phil, I agree entirely with audioman, just keep going.

I don't feel able to give any c&c yet, may be in a few years time...

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Dent, Arthur Dent.

Pentax k-30 and k-x with DAL 18-55mm and DAL 55-300mm, Tamron 18-50mm and Camera Labs Straps.

Yep i agree with the above, great shots as always lovely to see them. So glad you decided to keep posting on here.
Sue

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canon 400D
18-55 lens
tamron70-300 lens
sigma 18-200 os lens

All my photos are clickable
my flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/27828538@N03/

Thanks audioman, Arthur and naniani