Category: Photography

My new camera arrived in the mail today, the Panasonic GF1 (pictured above next to my Konica rangefinder). It’s a micro four-thirds camera which mostly means it has a larger sensor than point and shoot cameras and also has interchangeable lenses. I ordered my GF1 with the bright 20mm f1.7 prime lens and I think this will be the only lens I will be using with the camera.

The reason I got this camera is because I was looking for one that would help inspire me to take more pictures. I don’t feel comfortable carrying my D90 around everywhere and the Canon G11 picture quality was lacking compared to my D90. I think the GF1 lies somewhere in between the two.

First thing I did when I picked up my camera was pass by this place next to my house and take pictures. One of my favorite features in the camera is that it allows me to take pictures in the square format. Below are some of the pictures I took earlier today.

I purchased the Panasonic GF1 from Amazon, here is the [Link]

Around 5 years ago I collected some photos of the Gulf War aftermath from various sources online and put them all up in a Flickr group. There are 48 pictures currently which you can check by clicking [Here]

The 70 colored photos were taken from 1939 to 1943 and are some of the only color photographs taken of the effects of the Depression on America’s rural and small town populations. Some seriously amazing stuff there. Makes me want to bang my head on the wall for not taking pictures of Salmiya back in the 1980’s. [Link]

I got a forward in my email today that contained a picture I had taken at the Kuwait Airport back in 2005 (pictured above). I had spotted a sign that had been placed in front of a security camera and thought that was pretty stupid and took a picture of it. Now 5 years later, it’s become one of those “epic fail” kind of pictures that gets forwarded around. Pretty cool. [Link]

Cinescape uploaded pictures of old movie theaters here in Kuwait to their Facebook group with the oldest theater dating back to 1954. I hope they upload pictures of Cinema Salmiya and the drive through cinema as well. [Link]

Thanks Mohammed

For those of you who aren’t aware of this there is, a section in the 248AM Forum called “What People are Selling”. It’s a section in the forum I created a few years ago where people who have items they want to sell can do so in that section. Since then the section has become very active and you can find a ton of good deals there. I’ve purchased a lot of items in the forum and sold a lot of items as well. My latest purchase was a like new condition Nikon 50mm f1.4 lens (pictured above next to my 50mm f1.8) with local warranty for KD70. You can find a ton of stuff for sale there from iPhones and iPads, to home furniture and high end sound systems. If you haven’t checked it out yet then do so. Here is the link to the forum. [Link]

Note: The pictures below are for people searching the web for side by side size comparison between the Nikon 50mm f1.8 and the 50mm f1.4. I couldn’t find a proper picture when I was searching so hopefully this will help someone in the future. The 50mm f1.4 is just slightly heavier and just very slightly taller than the f1.8. The build quality of the f1.4 lens is very similar to my 28mm f2.8 lens and 85mm f1.8 lens although the casing doesn’t seem to contain any metal parts.

I recently got a hold of this beautiful picture of the original Sultan Center in Salmiya taken back in 1986. Here is a link to a larger version of the photo. [Picture]

Update: This picture was taken in 1986, not 1982.

Back in April I posted about the Canon photography competition and encouraged readers to enter. Well the results are out and the grand prize winner was from Kuwait! The photographer was Sue Azmi and she entered and won with the beautiful photograph above. To check the results here is the [Link]

Thanks Sarah

Great photos from the Boston Globe. [Link]

Blogger Mathai was at the Red Bull car park drift and took some cool pictures. You can check them out [Here]

The best thing about this weather is that everyone stays in doors. I passed by Kei in Marina Crescent for lunch and it was empty, I was like the only person there. It looked like a scene from the movie and video game Silent Hill.

Just saw these pictures taken in Saudi Arabia. Looks like they had some serious flooding because of the rain. [Link]

Update: The pictures above are from yesterday. You can see more pictures, videos and even read up on it via a Saudi blog dedicated to the torrential rains [Here]

The video below on the other hand is from last year and it shows a dramatic rescue of a woman from a car that was just about to get swept away by a flood. [YouTube]

I can’t believe I slept through it!

Picture taken by Lucie Debelkova this morning via Projekt Cyan.

Fereej found pictures of Kuwait taken from old issues of LIFE magazine. The pictures are of very good quality, I love them. [Link]

Update: Check out all the pictures and more [Here] There are tons!

Canon Middle East are holding a photography competition titled “My City”. If you’re over 18 and live in one of the following countries you’re eligible to enter:

UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia.

All you need to do is register and email them a picture you’ve taken of your city and you could win a new Canon DSLR camera and an all expenses paid trip to Dubai and Beirut. The competition already started from last month but there is still time to participate if you’re interested. For more details visit their website [Here]

Thanks SJM!