A purpose-driven photoblog and tales of an expat nurse (and her family) about her wanderings around the city of Al Ain and beyond plus anything in between. Marhaba! Welcome to my blog!
of Jebel Hafeet lies a prime recreation park called Green Mubazzah. The rock formations and lush greenery never ceases to amaze me. I can't help but admire the people behind the transformation of this natural landscape into a beautiful sight. My son once told me that Green Mubazzarah is a paradise. I couldn't agree more with him.
Clickhere if you wish to see my photos of Green Mubazzarah by day. Have a blessed weekend everyone! To my family and friends back home, please stay safe.
I've been wanting to take a picture of this beautiful roundabout along Al Muwaiji District at Hazaa Bin Sultan Street for ages, but I never had a chance to do so. It was only last night when I had the opportunity to snap it away. Perhaps my growing interest in taking long exposure shots is the mere reason why I insisted to take a walk even in the middle of the night.
Looking at the statue in the middle of the roundabout, I could't figure out what is the object all about and its signifance to Al Ain City. I was searching for the roundabout's name but to no avail. For me, it looks more of an old lamp, thus the coined title.
Have a wonderful weekend my dear friends and visitors. Salaam!
I have nothing much to say and I don't have a story to share either. My mind is preoccupied with lots of responsibilities that I have to accomplish within a week. My apologies for keeping this blog like a novel devoid of wit and inventiveness. Much as I like to wander around the city to take new sets of photos, I simply couldn't because of time constraint.
On another poignant note, if you were reading the newspapers or following the headlines, I'm sure that you are aware of what had happened in my home country. My prayers are with those of the victims of the recent typhoon. In this difficult time, I hope and pray that love and generosity in helping others will reign in our hearts.
Have a blessed Wednesday my dear friends and visitors. Salaam!
Perhaps you've already seen these flowers a couple of days ago, but this time let me give you an idea how small these flowers are....I think a quarter of an inch. I was actually looking for something bigger but to no avail. It took me about 2 1/2 hours before I have finally snapped 2 images that I thought were okay. While I was looking for a small piece of wood to hold these flowers, I saw my kit lens right beside my bag. Viola!....an instant "vase". :))
Have a nice day everyone. Looking forward to visiting your blogs tomorrow morning. Salaam!
TV: 30 secs., AV: f/20, ISO 100, with tripod, Picture style: Landscape, in AWB
Today is the start of my precious 2 days off being a pediatric intensive care unit nurse after 6 night duties with a day off in between. When I woke up this afternoon, I asked my better half to drive me to the UAE's 2nd highest mountain. At 05:30 in the afternoon, off we went to Jebel Hafeet. I just wanted to practice some long exposure shots. It took us about an hour before I have finally found a perfect place to snap this photo. Hope you like it.
I am linking this post to Scenic Sunday. Join us and enjoy the sceneries in the other side of the world.
On the other note, I have found 5 travel sites, 1weather forecast site and a Facebook fan page that deliberately used my photos without my permission. It makes me sad knowing that these people posted my photos without my consent and didn't even credit the source. Please be nice and remember that stealing photos is a crime.
I've received a couple of e-mails recently inquiring about the photography classes here in Al Ain. I believe that posting these photos might answer those couple of questions. These pictures were taken sometime in June and July 2011 at Al Qattara Arts Center during our sessions with sir Sameer. Initially, the students were taught both in Arabic and English in one class but they found it to be difficult for the teacher. The operations manager of Al Qattara Arts Center, Ms. Natalia Bets, decided to offer it separately in English and Arabic and divide the students.
The center is located at Al Qattara District, roughly 2 roads north of Al Jimi Mall. It is actually the renovated Al Qattara Fort. There are several art classes to avail depending on your field of interest for a fee of AED 300/month for 8 sessions. It is open from 9am to 8pm. Call 03-7618080 for bookings and more info.
By the way, in my own honest opinion, the photography class at Al Qattara Arts Center is for beginners only. Should you decide to take the next level, it is better to talk to teacher and he will give you some suggestions where to avail the next level.
With the recent announcement made by the Al Ain Municipality about the 1st Annual Al Ain Photographia Award, I'm pretty sure that most of the UAE-based photo enthusiasts are gearing up to visit the Garden City of the UAE to take their best shot. With the idea of meeting fellow photobloggers in mind, I can't help but wonder how many of them are using Nikon or Canon cameras? How about you? Are you a Nikonian or a Canonite?
By the way, these photos were taken sometime in July 2011 at Al Qattara Arts Center photography studio. If my memory serves me right, I think these images were taken during our practice sessions, while we were discussing about the AF points and depth of field in our Basic Photography class conducted by sir Sameer.
A few days ago, I received an e-mail from one of the members of the Creative Team of Al Ain Photographia Award, launched by Al Ain Municipality under the patronage of Sheikha Dr. Shamma bint Mohammad bin Khaled Al Nahyan, informing me about the said photo competition. They stumbled upon my blog while they were looking for Al Ain/UAE-based photographers/photobloggers with an interesting portfolio of work. Thanks for the heads up, Chipo.
The Al Ain Photographia Award is set to challenge photographers-professional and amateur, photo hobbyists and enthusiasts to explore and capture the beauty and spirit of the Garden City of the United Arab Emirates. The competition is open for locals and non-locals, and to the residents and non-residents of UAE. You can submit up to 5 images until 23rd of October 2011. Prizes will be awarded on 11 November 2011 in a ceremony to be held here in Al Ain. A total prize money of AED 190,000 is set to be given for the 10 winners with a jaw-dropping AED 50,000 for the first prize! What are you waiting for, press the shutter and join the contest!!
Just knocked off from a night shift. I wanted to hit the sack and sleep until four in the afternoon but I couldn't just lay down on my bed. I have a lot of things to do. I am a deranged looking mama proudly claiming "I am a superwoman" hahahaha! Just kidding. Honestly, I'm tired and all I want is to get some sleep. To keep myself awake, I grabbed my camera out of the bag and started pressing the shutter. You see, pressing the shutter makes me happy and alive.
Tonight will be my 3rd of 3 nights. I am hoping for a quiet night shift. Will visit your blogs tomorrow afternoon. Have a nice day everyone! Salaam!
There's nothing special with these photos. I am just a bit nostalgic today......reminiscing the first few months of my eagerness to learn on how to press the shutter. It wasn't easy learning the basics, as a matter of fact, I am still on the process of learning. There are countless rules, guidelines and techniques but I prefer the trial and error. Until this very moment, I can say that I know squat about photography, especially when it comes to post processing. I simply love to snap anything and everything that I find interesting but I do concentrate on landscapes.
These photos were taken in April 2011 at Al Jahili Park when I participated in a workshop conducted by Sir Mike of Abu Dhabi Lecture Series.
I have no idea what kind of flower is this. Any idea?
Yesterday's overtime was cancelled. It was about half past five in the afternoon when I received a call from my unit informing me that my overtime is cancelled. I wasn't really prepared for it considering that I already prepared myself for a night shift ( I slept the whole day hahaha!), but of course, kids and I were so happy.
At seven in the evening, off we went to Green Mubazzarah, a prime recreation park located at the foothills of Jebel Hafeet. A nice place to practice some long exposure shots. These are some of my snaps. Enjoy!
Good day readers and followers of Al Ain City Daily Photo. I am so sorry for the lack of post for the past few days. I have been really bad keeping this blog up to date with fresh content and photos. I know this is no excuse but I'm trying to earn a living....overtime stuff, yeah right. Not to mention that I'm doing night shifts.
Starting tonight, I'll be having 4 successive night duties with a day off and another three night shifts in a row. I hope you're still with me even if I don't get to visit your blogs often or I don't get to answer your questions and e-mails often. As soon as I find time for clicking and writing, I'll be very happy to update this blog of mine and visit your sites. For the meantime, please bear with me.
Wishing you a wonderful and blessed weekend. Ciao and Salaam!
Day before yesterday's downpour came as a surprise relief for us because we were suffering from hot and humid weather for the past few days. It started at about 4:10 in the afternoon and lasted for about an hour. I was lying on my bed while busy reading some passages from a book when all of the sudden JM asked me to look at the window. I was surprised to see the date palm trees right in front of our house were swaying because of the strong winds lashing from several directions. I have noticed that there were thick layer of gray clouds hovering on the sky. I asked JM to get my camera and off I went to the main door to take some photos.
After the heavy showers, I and my hubby were lured to check out the main road at Al Mutaredh District. Some trees were toppled and uprooted and scattered all over the place, but I was amazed to see the date palm trees were still standing proud and tall despite of the strong winds, thunder and lightning during the spell of rain. Most of the streets in our neighborhood were waterlogged making it difficult for the motorists to pass by.
Allow me to share these photos taken during and after the torrential rain. If you wish to see some more of my photos, you can check out Al Ain City Daily Photo's Facebook page.
during the downpour, in front of our house
hail
toppled trees, broken branches fell on the ground
waterlogged streets and residential area
and these 2 pairs of feet belongs to hubby and I, we're just too glad about the
rain that we couldn't help but capture our soaked and "happy feet" :))
Word of the day: matar is the Arabic word for rain. Salaam!
If you're a regular visitor of Al Ain City Daily Photo, you have probably seen several photos of Al Jahili Fort. Most of the photos that I've posted were taken by day or before the sunset. This time, allow me to share these photos that I snapped last Tuesday night. It was quite difficult to shoot these photos without a remote shutter release or a remote control but the tripod and timer worked quite well (which reminds me to buy a Canon remote cable release ASAP ). I know that these ones are way too far from a postcard quality, but just the same, I want to share it with you guys.
After pressing the shutter for nearly 2 years now, I came to a conclusion that I am still a newbie when it comes to photography. I have tried doing the macro, some portraiture, some still life and landscape but I do concentrate more on the landscape because I find it fulfilling. Being a photo hobbyist, I can say that I do experiment most of the time even if I have attended some workshops and classes about basic photography. You see, even my shots can tell how naive I am especially I know squat about post processing.
The other day, we've been to Dubai to watch the sunset at Jumeirah Open beach. Dressed with my usual jeans and shirt, off we went to hit the road with my camera bag and made sure that my ND4 filter is attached to my ever reliable camera. I was a bit worried though because of the humidity. Dubai's weather has been unrelenting in terms of humidity over the past few days.
We reached the place after 2 hours of long drive. I was right. Visibility was reduced to about 30%. My eye glasses can tell how humid the weather was hahahaha! I couldn't see anything. Despite the hot and humid weather, I have tried everything to take some decent snaps. Here are some of my shots with and without ND4 filter. Bottom line: I simply wanted to see the effect of ND4 filter on water. I have tried it twice. One with clear, blue sky and in broad daylight and the other one was during my vacation; a dusk at Bagasbas beach.
without ND4 filter
with ND4 filter
with ND4 filter
Conclusion: I will not use my ND4 filter again when I'm shooting sunset at the beach. I'd rather play with the shutter speed and aperture value. Oh yeah, I know that you might chuckle after reading this post especially if you're a PRO, but this is me; a NOOB and a photoblogger.
Last Sunday, I've been to a hypermarket along Al Sarooj District to buy some ingredients for a dish that I've been wanting to cook for a long time. I saw this bunch of tomatoes from Holland and immediately picked them up. I took it to the counter to be weighed and priced. To my dismay, these tomatoes costs around AED 14/kl. Yeah right. I didn't check the price because I find it visually appealing. I am a bit stingy when it comes to buying ingredients, but this time, I bought these tomatoes just to satisfy my curiosity.
Rice fields are common sight in the Philippines. It was one late afternoon when I asked my hubby to drive me to Brgy. Borabod. I wanted to take pictures of Bagasbas Beach during the sunset. On our way to Bagasbas beach, I saw a vast view of green rice fields. I couldn't help but admire the beauty of rice fields, clouds and trees. I asked hubby to pull over and I snapped it away as soon as hubby stopped driving.
This post is linked to SkyWatch Friday. Join the weekly gathering of sky watchers and sky lovers and have fun. Salaam!
I have nothing much to say and I don't have a story to share either. My mind is preoccupied with lots of responsibilities that I have to accomplish within a week. My apologies for keeping this blog like a novel devoid of wit and inventiveness. Much as I like to wander around the city to take new sets of photos, I simply couldn't because of time constraint.
Perhaps you've already seen these flowers a couple of days ago, but this time let me give you an idea how small these flowers are....I think a quarter of an inch. I was actually looking for something bigger but to no avail. It took me about 2 1/2 hours before I have finally snapped 2 images that I thought were okay. While I was looking for a small piece of wood to hold these flowers, I saw my kit lens right beside my bag. Viola!....an instant "vase". :))
A few days ago, I received an e-mail from one of the members of the Creative Team of Al Ain Photographia Award, launched by Al Ain Municipality under the patronage of Sheikha Dr. Shamma bint Mohammad bin Khaled Al Nahyan, informing me about the said photo competition. They stumbled upon my blog while they were looking for Al Ain/UAE-based photographers/photobloggers with an interesting portfolio of work. Thanks for the heads up, Chipo.
). I know that these ones are way too far from a postcard quality, but just the same, I want to share it with you guys.
