Like a Rocket

After nearly two weeks of annoying anyone who dared walk into my office, I am pleased to show the results.  I had set up a timelapse rig with lighting for the plants and a connection to my laptop for timed shots.  You will notice a lot of movement despite my fatherly protection.  I would have loved it more if the results were similar to 0:26 to 0:34 throughout.  However, I also wanted to capture different angles and to experiment a little.  In using a glass container I succeeded in showing the roots and the amazing early movement, but I neglected to consider drainage for the soil after watering it each night.  This, together with the unnatural light, have somewhat limited the growth of the rocket.  The glass sits outside on our garden table from today for a shot-in-the-'light' chance of the rocket maturing.

Depite all the things that did not go according to plan, I am pleased with the overall result.  The music in the backround is one of my favourite pieces of classical music: the Radetzky March by Johann Strauss (1848) and this particular one was performed by the Mantovani Orchestra.

Beetle's About

I haven't seen beetles for many years and wondered if they too had disappeared from Kuwait.  This is not the type I used to see (and catch) in the seventies, but it was interesting to find nontheless.  I circled around it preventing it from reaching the safety of small shrubs nearby, until it finally gave up and froze.  It stayed until I got my shots from both sides then speeded away to the shade.

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Eidkum Mbarak

عيدكم مبارك و تقبل الله طاعتكم

I wish you and your loved ones a Happy Eid.  May Allah's blessings follow you always.

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InZain

This is my first attempt in a local photography competition.  I've tried a couple of times online (National Geographic and British Airways' HighLife magazine) but this time I had to provide prints, which somehow made it feel more real.  I read about the competition on Mathai's blog some time ago.  The deadline is tomorrow, so if you're interested you will need to hurry up. Link.

There are three categories: Portraits, Macro and Electronics (no... I don't get the last one either).  Whilst I'm not a fan of photos taken by phone-cameras, I thought they should have included it as one of the categories - being a mobile phone company.  With the help of my family, I took the shots that I dreamt up during my flight back from Egypt.  For electronics, I couldn't think of anything interesting enough, so I went with an old SIM card.  This is my UK line which I've had for many many years.  The signs of usage add to the intrigue of the close-up view.

The gorgeous flowers above don't live in our garden;  I had to make an exception this time. Finally, a special thanks to Yousef and Noor for being so helpful in posing during their precious afternoon playtime.  Saturday was, thank God, before the dust storms.  The afternoon sun provided the perfect lighting.

Please say mashallah...

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No Strings Attached

I've been meaning to test my new macro lens for a while now.  The dusty weather last week didn't help with shooting flowers.  I want my first flower post to be from our garden.  I took a couple of test shots, of flower petals and an ugly fly, holding the camera by hand.  The results were fantastic.

However having read a bit more about macro photography, I now realise that because you're so close to the subject, the smaller apertures give better results.  This means the shutter will slow down and you need a tripod.  I will get round to it when the weather is a little less brutal.

Cicking the header photo will take you to a generously large version to illustrate the detail possible.  For scale, consider that one of those metal-framed reels has a diameter of a medium coin.

Inside the house, in the wonderful but fake cold air, I took my time to set up... and yes I did use a tripod.  The colours and textures offered a couple of hours of fun.  It was either the sewing kit or the colour pencils.  I'll do the latter another time.

I thought of three titles for this post: String Theory (a bit square - I know), A String of Errors and (cringe) Stringfella. But I went with my wife's better suggestion.

I hope you enjoy the colours and images.  This lens has certainly opened a new door for me.

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