Wordless Wednesday…
Skywatch Friday…
Wordless Wednesday…
Skywatch Friday…
Wordless Wednesday…
Skywatch Friday…
Catching the aftermath of sunset skies above Paphos airport, Cyprus, 16/1/18…
Linking with Skywatch Friday…
Thursday Doors, Omodos, Cyprus, 25/1/18…
Wordless Wednesday…
Weekly Photo Challenge, Silence…
The Daily Post photo challenge this week asks us what Silence looks like in a photo.
This was the one for me.
A January trip up to the Troodos mountains in Cyprus, choosing a little used road, we came across a view point high up in the mountains with a perfectly placed bench looking across this view.
No sounds, remote from anyone else, this is my take on Silence.
The view from my seat was totally silent……
Skywatch Friday…
Weekly Photo Challenge, Weathered…
Well, for this challenge I could spend days in my photo archives of Oman creating a whole gallery of the weathered look, be it homes, people, geology, windows, doors, beached timbers, fossils and, so much more.
Oman is a weathered country.
From geology to every day living, the harsh climate of intense heat and along the coast, the pervading sea-salt in the winds leads to intense weathering.
I have so much to choose from, but for today, just a beautiful, traditional, weathered door from Mirbat, South Oman.
Skywatch Friday…
The skies above Yeronisos, or ”Holy Island”, from Agios Georgios, Peyia, Cyprus, January 2018…
Linking with Skywatch Friday…
Wordless Wednesday…
Weekly Photo Challenge, Growth…
This week we are asked to portray “Growth”. Hard in nature, clever time-lapse shots would be perfect for portrayal, but I don’t have any! So I had to think practically, what had I seen during 2017 that showed growth….
Well, Dubai is a prime example. It’s growing daily, but I really don’t think WordPress readers want to see the developments of motorways, roundabouts or building sites.
However the view from my little window in Dubai, to the left, through the small gap is quite impressive ( 35 floors up, this is not a window that allows you to even consider wriggling out much and who would want to at that height…not me! )
But it’s enough to poke a zoom lens through and my view to the left is of Dubai Marina, where the Al Ain Wheel is under construction, forecast to be the World’s biggest wheel ( of course, this is Dubai) and I have had an excellent opportunity for an eye on it’s development during 2017.
This is my take on growth…
December 2016, the base in situ…
December 2017, the wheel minus one section, plus a whole load of development behind…
It’s running a little overdue, but hopefully on my return late January I will see the completed version. Watch this space…
Weekly Photo Challenge, 2017 favourites…
I’m running a day late on this challenge, blaming the holiday period for a break away from the computer.
The challenge asked us to consider this …
“Instead of a specific theme or topic, we invite you to share your most meaningful photo from 2017. This isn’t necessarily the “best” photo you’ve taken this year — feel free to post your most technically accomplished photo of the year if you’d like, but we equally encourage you to think about other parameters.
From the photo that generated the most reactions on your blog to the one that has the deepest emotional pull on you, define “favorite” in whatever way works best for you.”
I take thousands of photographs, my 2017 files are hardly touched for filing and editing, but I know in my mind what is pertinent and where to find what I need and when I saw this challenge I moved back in my head to my India trip last February. My images from the Pune visit are still not fully edited, but I knew which photograph, out of all of them, sang out to me. I will never forget that car shot and the pride I caught amidst such poverty.
We were taking a car tour around Pune’s historical sights with a wonderful guide. We were tired, having arrived at 7.30am and hit the tour at 9am, no time to waste on a three day visit. Between sights we turned a corner and there was a whole living environment in a field on the road side with virtually nothing. I was shocked, but politically dismissed by our guide at first as it being normal, but then on questioning, understanding that the gypsy families come into the city to work in charcoal, nowhere to live, the outcasts. The caste system, whilst banned, still exists…. They had no possessions, but what you see here. Nothing more, they lived in the field, with so little.What you see here is what they had…
I caught the shot from the car as we turned the corner and headed off to the privileged and safe comfort of our hotel.
I haven’t forgotten, her pride and stature amidst the squalor made a mark on me, brought home the divide and it’s the one shot from 2017 I will never forget…car shot, on the road…
Wordless Wednesday…
Wordless Wednesday…
Skywatch Friday…
Sunset across the low dunes of As Sunainah in the Ad Dhahirah Region, Oman. Shot from the road heading back to the UAE border crossing and then to Dubai, 8/12/17…
Linking with Skywatch Friday…
Thursday Doors, 14/12/17. Door hearts…
One from the road. Sending some seasonal greetings to all….
At Mahout, Al Wusta governorate, Oman.
Linking with Thursday Doors…
Wordless Wednesday…
Weekly Photo challenge : Cheeky…
Hard to resist snapping this cheeky little face in full defensive mode…
Ghost crab, on the beach at Ras Madrakah, Oman. I left him in peace once captured…
Skywatch Friday…
Thursday Doors, 7/12/17. One shot from the road…
I’ve been on the road again, not much time to blog, too much coastline to cover and random wifi opportunities.
I’m sea-shell collecting around the Oman coastline, observing and enjoying the opportunities my camera finds.
This is one of them.
Just one door, all that is needed today, I’m off out for my birthday meal !
Linking with Thursday Doors…
Wordless Wednesday…
Skywatch Friday….
The night before I left for the Middle East, the sunset skies gave me a beautiful sight in Paphos, Cyprus, 20/11/17.
Linking with Skywatch Friday…
Thursday doors, 23/11/17. Al Lou’aluo’ayyah…
Al Lou’aluo’ayyah is a small town and beach on the East coast of the UAE. It’s on our stop-off list on an East coast day out, as the tidal zone on the beach frequently throws up interesting and unusual shells.
The beach is long and rather beautiful…
Jelly-fish, my first Mitra mitra shell ( I was so pleased) and brittle starfish…
In the small streets behind the beach we had a little poke around and I discovered a whole load of new and slightly different doors. All from older built properties, I hesitiate to guess the era, my gut feel is early 90’s. Metal-work with embellishment, all in need of a good maintenance work-over, but I really like them. Especially the falcon designs, one of the six national symbols of the UAE.
This one is my favorite…
Linking with Thursday Doors, hosted by Norm Frampton. Pop on over, hit the blue frog link and check out some more doors today…
Wordless Wednesday…
Weekly Photo Challenge: Experimental…
Once I have a camera in my hand, I move into an experimental mode. Finally I’m experimenting with my Fujifilm XT20.
Moving from Nikon manual to Fuji manual mode has been a step in understanding a different camera ( No M choice on the dial). I’m still grinding my way through it and “Oh, ok, I get it” bulbs have satisfactorily been flashing in my head, but I keep heading out to experiment in different scenarios, as you do, when you have a love of the lens.
At the sunset end of a sandstorm the other night, sunset wasn’t anything special. Time to experiment with natural props. Fennel plants dry out in Cyprus during the winter, virtually whole. Roadsides are full of it. It wasn’t to difficult to find an attractive one to shoot the fading sun through.
Then I saw the challenge and thought ok, lets go and be experimental with processing. I often visit some of the online photo editing sites for a bit of fun, this time I went to iPiccy and after embossing, x-raying , choosing a bit of starry bokeh and several other masks produced this little experiment. Whether you like it or not, it’s amazing what you can produce by virtue of a few clicks and dragging sliders.
It whiled away my morning tea moment and I realised I have used the word or variation of Experiment 6 times in 237 words…over-use probably, but all a bit of fun!
Skywatch Friday…
Thursday Doors, 16/11/17. A door memory….
In 1990 I purchased my first house in Cyprus in a village outside of Paphos. It was an old village house, virtually a ruin. But my dream was to renovate a village house and this was it.
In 1993 we finally moved in. I had, by virtue of lack of funds, chosen the cheapest builder and the promised 8 month renovation time dragged out for 2 years. Close to completion we realised he was spending all our payments for work completed on brandy and after a few incidents we had to find another builder to complete.
The entry to the house was via the street, and through a courtyard. My desire for the street entrance was to find some old Cypriot doors and after searching for a long time, I finally came across a pair strapped to a tree at the back of the local junk dealers courtyard. Price negiotated, we delivered them to the carpenter who renovated them beautifully. Varnished and with brass handles gifted by my father, they were my pride and joy.
But, as the children grew and the village was just a tad too far from our business, we decided to sell. My one lasting regret is that I left the doors.
This morning, having an appointment close by, I decided to go and see whether they still existed.
Yes, they are there, now a funky blue, but still gorgeous. Regrets? Yes…
The street view, just an interesting blue door glimpse on the right…
Aren’t they gorgeous…
And they were mine once! Ah, well, they look cared for and I like the blue…
Linking with Thursday Doors hosted by Norm Frampton. Pop on over and see some of the other doors featured this week…
Travels in the Middle East and beyond 