Category: Photography

A very beautiful time-lapse video of Dubai. [Vimeo]

I’ve decided to start documenting the different types of bus stops around Kuwait. Why? Because I am pissed off. I really love the old bus stops which we still have lying around randomly in different parts of Kuwait not being taken care of and left to wither away. The new bus stops on the other hand… it’s just very depressing. In any case I don’t know what I am going to do yet with this, I took some test shots yesterday just to see if there is something in this project and I think there is. What I need is some help. Does anyone have any information about the bus stops in Kuwait, like who designed which ones or the dates the different designs were introduced in Kuwait?

I’ve had the Canon G11 for just over a month now and after using it practically on a daily basis. I did a lot of research before choosing to go with the G11 and I don’t regret my decision. I have mostly great things to say about this camera and will go through the different categories one by one.

Battery Life
I got my Canon G11 on December 11th and I charged it that same day. Its now January 15th and I still haven’t charged the camera since then. Not only that but the battery meter is still showing that the battery is full. This is perfect because it means when I travel I don’t need to pack the charger or buy an extra battery.

Usability and Feel
The camera doesn’t fit in my pocket so I spend most of the time either carrying it in my hand or in my bag if I am carrying one. It comes with a strap but it isn’t long enough to wear across the shoulder just around the neck which isn’t practical for me. The camera feels very solid and it’s also a bit heavy so it gives it a very durable feel. I love the dials on top and I use them a lot. I always keep the camera on “P” (Program Mode) which automatically adjusts the aperture and shutter speed but control the exposure (make the shot brighter or darker) I use the dial on the left to control that. On the right there are two other dials, one for the ISO which I also use a lot and the second to swap between the different programs. Other than the regular programs which you find on most cameras like aperture priority, shutter priority, automatic mode etc.. there are two custom modes called C1 and C2. These two positions contain your custom camera settings. For example I have C1 set the camera to “P”, change the format of the image to JPG, the dimensions to wide shot and the color setting to vivid. That’s the mode I use mostly when taking shots for my blog. C2 on the other hand sets the camera to “P” but then changes the image format to RAW+JPG and at full resolution (not wide). I use that setting in case there is a beautiful shot I want to capture at the highest quality. There are a ton of other settings you could also set for each mode as well but I won’t get into them here. I really wish my Nikon D90 had a custom mode feature and dials on top to control the iso and exposure.

Image Quality
It’s great for a point and shoot camera but no competition next to a good DSLR. The noise at fairly high ISO’s is pretty decent and I find myself often using ISO800 with no worries about the image coming out noisy with ISO1600 also being very usable. The only issue I have is with the white balance. Sometimes when indoors the images come out a bit too cold for my taste and that’s actually the only issue I have with the camera.

Swivel Screen
One of the coolest features in the camera for me is the swivel screen. It allows me to take pictures without having to hold the camera up to my face. I also like the fact that when the camera is not in use I fold the screen to face inwards which protects the screen while in my bag. For people who don’t like the swivel feature they can rotate the screen towards them and fold it in and keep it that way like a regular camera.

So overall I really love this camera. There were a lot of occasions where I wished I had purchased the Panasonic GF1 but in the end I realized the reason I got the Canon G11 is to use for my blog and when I travel and the GF1 although a great camera isn’t as practical (and also twice more expensive). I highly recommend this camera to anyone that is looking for small highly controllable and fully featured camera. I am going to give it a 4.5 out of 5, it looses points for the white balance issue I faced and the fact that it doesn’t fit in my jeans pocket.

If you’re interested in this camera it’s available in Kuwait for KD228 but I purchased mine from Amazon for just KD127.
Here is the link to the Canon G11 on Amazon [Link]

After my session at Core Fitness I passed by the Al Falah car wash in Kuwait City where the Gulf Run cars were getting all nice and shiny and having their sponsors decals stuck. I took a few pictures which you can check out below and a video which I will post later be.

[YouTube]

Fereej posted pictures of Ahmadi from back in the late 60’s. The pictures look like a typical America suburb with a typical American Family living in a typical American home. For some reason it reminds me of those fake homes they built in the middle of the Nevada dessert to test the effects of a Nuclear explosions. [Link]

I really like the old buildings in Kuwait and its very sad to see them crumble. So when I found out about this exhibition by Architect Deema Abdullah Al-Ghunaim I thought it was really interesting since it involved two things I liked, photography and old buildings:

|Tæ’boõq| طابوق
This exhibition is a starting study to trace architectural conceptions in Kuwait through series of screens photographed around Qebla, Merqab, Dasman, Hawalli and Jeleeb Shyoukh. The buildings studied are standing from 1960s as time sensors of placement, displacement and improvisation.

Time
From January 5th to January 7th 2010
January 5th from 7pm till 9pm
January 6th from 9am till 4pm and from 7pm till 9pm
January 7th from 9am till 4pm only

Place
The Sultan Gallery
Sabhan, southern entrance, Sadeer Co., block 8, street 105, building no 168
Telephone: 24714325/26 ext 110
Here is a map [Link]

You can find out more by visiting Deema’s blog where she also has scans of the invitation [Link]

via ProjektCyan

Blogger Patrick sent me a link to a page on SkiLeb.com with pictures of the Faraya Mzaar ski slope in Lebanon. Whats cool about the pictures is that they were all taken on December 30th but each picture was taken on a different year. 2009 is the worst year with practically no snow. It’s pretty sad. [Link]

Thanks Patrick!

Always wondered how they made the curvy part of the building. Judging by this old picture it looks like they put them together like Lego. [Link]

Picture by Eng.Aljamea

I have a ton of cameras but recently I noticed I had a gap in my collection. I didn’t have a digital camera that fit between my Nikon DSLR and my Sony point & shoot. It’s not really a problem but since I love cameras it gave me an excuse to buy a new one. After a bit of research I had two options, the Canon S90 and the Canon G11. I passed by the local Canon dealer in Kuwait City to check them out and right then on the spot decided to go for the G11. The S90 is a great camera but it felt flimsy and it was too similar to my Sony W300 as in they’re both pocket cameras. If I got the S90 it would compete against my W300 and I wanted a camera that would compliment it instead. The G11 on the other hand was love at first sight, it felt indestructible and I loved the way it looked.

The dealer was selling the G11 for KD235, so I checked Amazon and noticed they were selling it for KD127. That’s over a hundred dinars difference!! So the same night I placed an order for the G11 from Amazon with one day shipping and the total came to KD133 (I sent it to my DHL mailbox so I didn’t pay the 8% NY tax). I received the camera today and it cost me KD14 in shipping and custom fees bringing the total cost of the camera to KD147. Thats still a HUGE difference compared to the price of the local dealer. I really want to buy stuff locally but some local dealers over price their products.

I’ve been playing with the camera all day and I love it. The camera is very solid, very well built and it sits really great in the hands. I love the old fashioned dials on top which makes setting the ISO or exposure extremely easy. The camera also shoots in RAW format which is one of the features I was looking for when researching cameras. The screen on the back also swivels so if you want to shoot something over your head or from your waist you can. The only downside to the camera is that it doesn’t fit in my pocket but I knew that before I bought it.

If you’re interested in this camera it’s available on Amazon for KD127.
Here is the [Link]

I am always on the lookout for photos that were taken either during the 1990 occupation of Kuwait or after the liberation and with flickr finding them is pretty easy… if they’re tagged properly. Below are a few links of photo sets I found that were mostly taken by soldiers during Desert Storm. If anyone has photos they’ve taken and would like to share them [Contact Me]

Desert Storm Set 1
Desert Storm Set 2
Desert Storm Set 3
Desert Storm Set 4
Desert Storm Set 5

On Friday morning I went to the junkyards to sell my old beemer wheels. Once I was done I decided to drive around and take pictures since the weather was good and the sky nice and blue. I really love the place, you can find everything there from the old double decker buses to broken down tanks. There was this one place I found which I think was a huge government impound lot that looked really cool. It was surrounded by a barbed wire fence but I managed to sneak inside from a hole in the fence and walk around a bit. The place is amazing, I found a lot of old trucks and cars, it was beautiful. If anyone can help me get in there legally again so I could take pictures that would be great. If not I guess I would have to jump the fence again.

Update: Higher resolution pictures now available [Here]

This is a new photo Eng.Aljamea has uploaded onto his flickr account. The previous one was the Gulf Road picture and this time its a picture of a gas station. There is no date mentioned but I guess it could be the 60’s. [Picture]

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A reader scanned and sent me the old pictures below of Kuwait. A lot of them are aerial shots most probably taken from a helicopter. On the back of the photos there is a stamp that reads “With the compliments of the Ministry of Information”. Is the building in the picture above still around? The file name says it was museum.

Thanks Khalid!

Update: I’ve reuploaded all the photos above in high res and you can view them here.

I like how the sea and beach were right next to the road. [Picture]

A reader sent in pictures of the Chairman’s Club which is located on the last floor of the Burgan Bank building. The Chairman’s Club is an invite only club where they supposedly have a KD35 burger. Check out the pictures below.

Thanks Alex!