Not photo related ( my fav movie scene )

Ok this is not at all photo related , so if u dont feel like watching the vid u dont have to . Oh and its also in arabic so u have to understand that prob .

Below is what i consider one of the best written , best acted , best directed movie scenes in the history of egyptian cinema , not to mention the music ( soundtrack if u may ). Its from a movie called Kitkat ( named after of one of the poorest slum areas in egypt ) , and the movie tells the story of a blind man named el Sheikh Hosney . Yet there is a strong symbolism carried within the scenes and characters of the movie . The clip is from youtube uploaded by a user called EKNOWLEDGER .



A lot of people miss the symbolism in this scene . But i loved one of the readers comments to this vid on youtube , very very true , very artistic vision to the depth of this scene. Heres the comment by a user called AMRVAMP ---> مشهد فى قمة الجمال و الإتقان , حوار رائع و مؤثر و موسيقى جميلة.
البيت فى القصة هو مصر , و (مجاهد) هو صديق الأب الجيل القديم الذى حارب فى أكتوبر و إنتصر.

Some of the things i love about this scene:

a) The man ( am Megahed) whos lived all his life selling fool ( beans) , died doing what he lived all his life doing .
b) His cart that carried him during his life ( by carrying what he sold ) also carried him during his death . ( Symbolism ? )
c) When am Megahed died , the only person ( or the first person ) to realize it , was Sheikh Hosney , the blind man . ( Symbolism ? )
d) In the music Notice how the church organs come in at min 3 :45 right about the time he accepts the fact that am Megahed is dead and starts preparing to move his body , notice how at 3 : 50 the music starts changing to a peaceful serene tune as if saying , its ok hes in a better place now . Notice how near the end of the clip the music stops , and all u hear is birds chirping and pigeon sounds , as if its the peace of accepting reality or maybe the sounds ud hear at a graveyard.
e) How he moves between the narrow buildings and sinks in as if sinking deep in a grave .
f) How he covers am Megahed with his shawl , how its black , how his dress is white ,( symbolism ?) , life and death ? , right and wrong ? , angels and graves ? ..... SYMBOLISM... !

Either way symbolism or no symbolism , its an amazing piece of work . I just felt like i had to share this with u .

The "festival" , thinking the total opposite

About a week ago this celebration was held in a place here called Korba , so i had to be there to sort of "capture the moment " .


Ofcourse we all know that when it comes to festivals and crowded open places , a wide angle would be ur best friend . I unfortunately , didnt have that best friend with me . I had to think different . I took a few "normal" shots to capture the spirit of the event , but i wasnt happy .







Then i thought im going for the total opposite of the mood we have here . Im shooting faces in this carnival that have nothing to do with the "festive , happy " mood . So i challenged myself , and started hunting .

Full frame digital cam sensors

This is the first post following the moment of silence . Its been a tough week for my friend , may God be with her , and rest her fathers soul in peace and forgive him .

A couple of days ago , a photographer friend and i were discussing different wide angle shots , and the topic of full frame sensors came up and how that reflected on ur wideangle photography , so i thought id talk a bit about that .

So i went surfin a bit and found this simple post on LeggNets digital capture ( another blog that ive become addicted to) , so heres a teaser , and the rest is there ---->

In digital cameras there is a sensor in place where the film used to be in film cameras. The light passing through the camera's lens projects the image onto this sensor which then captures it digitally and records the image to memory. These sensors vary in size in both the number of pixels they contain (megapixels) and their physical dimension. Most digital SLR (single lens reflex) cameras bear a strong physical resemblance to the 35mm SLR's we shot in decades past. But a difference between many of these cameras is the size of their sensor.

The rest is HERE .
Photo and teaser are from LeggNets digital capture .

A moment of silence

Yesterday , a good friend of mine lost her father . May this blog have a moment of silence . I shall not be posting for a week in remembrance of this good man .

Worst thing about such shocks in life, is that it never waits for u . Ure expected to go back to work , resume ur life normally after such an experience , and thats extremely hard . The world doesnt wait for anyone , but this blog will . It will pause for a while .....

I just hope that everytime anyone of u logs on , and finds this blog in a halt , that he remembers this man , and prays for him , and for my friend , and for his family .

Thank u all .

Not photo related : Random thoughts ...

Random thoughts :

@ I think its great being an elephant . U can be as overweight as u want , everybody else is ..
@ The best thing about living under water , is that u can never slide and fall down . Thats why its rare to see fish with broken necks or ribs ...
@ I wonder what a giraffe's definition of tall is ....

Not photo related

Ok , by now u all know that every once in a while i get sidetracked and write some not photo related posts . So .. here it goes

@ Try ur best not to judge people , cause at some point in ur life ur gonna wish people wouldnt judge u .

Desert Scapes

Our camera club had this assignment about shooting desert scapes , so i thought it would be a good occasion to talk a lil about that . Its a pretty tricky area this desert scape or scenery thing in general , cause :

a) Just like still life , its really hard to compose and put a sense of life in .
b) Its been done over and over , so topping whats been done is hard .
c) U find urself standing in the middle of the desert wandering , with no particular theme or idea in mind .

So here are a few ideas u can use when ure stuck in the middle of no where and expected to take competition quality pics of a barren landscape ... Just some things ive noticed by experience ..


a) Keep an open eye for shapes and patterns created by the sand and rocks , like the patterns created by the wind when it blows on sand dunes , shaddows , light .
b) Look for strange shaped rocks , or lonely trees , or dead tree trunks , to put in the foreground.
c) Try to have a foreground and background to give a sense of distance in ur picture , the foreground like i said in b , can be a rock or a tree or a person , or an animal , which brings us to d .
d) Look for desert life , small lizards , even insects , those always make for interesting shots , and give a strong sense of life in the pics .
e) Shooting at the magical times (sunrise , sunset) always works for scenery , they bring out texture and distance , and shaddows, but dont limit urself .
f) Always try something different , crazy , be creative , dont worry about rules for a while ,dont even worry about shooting the best pic or a good pic for that matter , sometimes loosening up may be ur best way out of a mental block .
g) Move around a lot , scout the place from different angles ,views .
h) Infrared . Shoot in infrared or convert it to infrared on photoshop . Infrared can turn the most normal of pics into very impressive shots , esp if there are trees or bushes or interestings clouds in the scene .
i) Panoramics . A panoramic is always interesting to the eye , it could be a good way to escape hours of searching for the perfect composition . And photo stitching software has made it much easier to make those now . Below is a panoramic i took a coupla days ago .
j) The sky can sometimes make all the difference in ur desert life pics esp if there are interesting cloud patterns .

The pics in this post i just took a couple of days ago on a trip to a mountain/ beach area , best thing about beaches is that sometimes when u give ur back to the sea , u have ur desert scape waiting right for ya ... :)

Neutral density ( ND) filters

A lil more about Neutral density filters "BrO" , im glad u asked . I was actually planning on writing a post on that . Heres the wikipedia definition ...

In photography and optics, a neutral density filter or ND filter is a "grey" filter. An ideal neutral density filter reduces light of all wavelengths or colors equally. The purpose of standard photographic neutral density filters is to allow the photographer greater flexibility to change the aperture or exposure time, allowing for more control, particularly in extreme circumstances. For example, on a very bright day, one might wish to photograph a waterfall at a slow shutter speed to create a deliberate motion blur effect. In order to do this, one would need a shutter speed on the order of tenths of a second. There might be so much light that even at minimum film speed and a minimum aperture such as f/32, the corresponding shutter speed would still be too fast. In this situation, by applying an appropriate neutral density filter one or more stops can be taken out of the exposure, allowing a slow shutter speed and more pleasing effect.

GRADUATED ND FILTER : A graduated ND filter is similar except the intensity varies across the surface of the filter. This is useful when one region of the image is bright and the rest is not, as in a picture of a sunset.

That was the wikipedia definition , but in the simplest of meanings an ND filter is like the sunglasses u wear but for the camera , they just allow less light to enter ur cam ..

For more on that visit wikipedia .

Longer exposures during day

A quick post , stuff u prob know , but a reminder ... A relative of mine asked me how to take longer exposure pics ( half a second to slightly longer ) in the day .

So here are a few useful tips :

a) Smallest aperture possible .
b) Lowest iso/ film sensitivity possible .
c) Neutral density (ND) filters .
d) Dont pick an extremely bright day , a cloudy one will be good .
e) Go somewhere where there is easily noticable motion blur , like a highway or beside running water which will still look blurred at slightly faster shutter speeds .

Joe's Photoshoot

So last Sat i had a photoshoot with a friend of mine . Hes a doctor so the main theme was supposed to be something revolving around that .

Equipment :

1) Camera : A panasonic lumix fz20 .
2) Location : hospital ward ( will easily provide nice smooth leading lines ) .
3) Lighting : hospital ward windows on a sunny day ( i still dont have any additional lighting equipment , still saving for that ! ) .

Theme one : ( First pic up there )

A sort of doctor in control theme . Thought id give him the " I OWN THIS PLACE " look in one of the pics . I had the window as the main light and the light colored walls reflect light as fill . I intended a good contrast ratio between dark and light ( or main and fill ) to provide a sort of dramatic lighting effect . The tilt was put there to add a lil dynamic edge to the pic .


Theme two :

A fun pic , still tellin hes a doctor , yet in a playfull manner . In this case making it nice and bright would nicely serve the mood .












Theme 3 :

Totally different from the previous 2 . I thought id move away from my normal flow of ideas and do something unlike the previous themes . Just give him an album cover sort of pic , aimed mainly at the aesthetic portrait side . U know , a pic hed enjoy watching cause he looks good in . High key was my best friend here , i had him wear his white coat , stand beside the almost white colored wall which was brightly lit by the windows , and then i set my cam to a slightly overexpose the pic ( u know , big aperture , slower shutter speed ) . His skin is kinda dark colored so this helped achieve a nice contrast to bring his face out in the almost totally prevailent white .






Photoshoot surprises :

1) The original locations were cancelled due to the heavy hospital flow .
2) A couple of his friends comin to the shoot , they were being noisy , but i got them to nicely listen by shooting a couple of quick frames for them too ( u know the safe portrait style , headshots shallow DOF , just to get my photoshoot undercontrol, thats the one down there ) .


Conclusion :

Satisfied friend , and lots of fun in only a 20 min photoshoot .

Lessons learned :

1) Always be flexible .
2) Have several themes and backup themes set before a shoot , but also go with the flow , and make the best out of the available environment , it doesnt always have to work like the themes .
3) A lil more props and some extra lighting wouldave added a whole lot more to the shoot , but until then im gonna have to do with what ive got .

Not photo related : Random thoughts

I know this is supposed to be a place to learn photography , but everyonce in a while i get some thoughts that want to come out , Just short random thoughts . So forgive me for that ....

@ Its really hard to be a racist , if ure a zebra ....
@ Worst thing about motorbikes is that u cant drivem in reverse gear...

Interview with Sherif Karas Part 3

Dont u feel working on an assignment , makes u do works that satisfy the editors standards not urs..

My job is to shoot a good picture considering the basics in photography like lighting, composition & image quality, respect the basics & satisfy your client too.

Now that weve brought editors up , tell us a lil about ur experience with them , what they want in a pic , and how do foriegn mag editors differ from local ones .

Well it’s not the editors’ choice as much as yours, when you’re shooting for a fashion magazine then it’s different than shooting for a furniture one, yet if they gave you some special instructions then you should put it in respect but if not then you should care about what type of photography you’ll do.

I didn’t realize much differences in working with foreign editors than Egyptians cause I used to work with professional editors & magazines in Egypt that’s is regionally or internationally published.

I heard u were lately interested in shooting models and fashion , even did a lil sleuthing , and found out u wanna assist a foriegn photographer ... Great step to make it into a new world , but i have to ask , arent there any good photographers to assist in egypt in the field of modelling... share ur thoughts please.

That’s right, let us talk frankly here:

First, I like to do fashion photography because the space in creativity particularly in this type of photography is endless & I believe i will perfectly use this space & get scores.

Secondly, because it’s almost a one man show job in Egypt then it’s hard to find someone who can take you beside & give you experience & at the end it will also be uncompleted learning because in countries like UK, Italy or France it’s more likely a team work & huge facilities.

Look what those people are doing when it’s getting to fashion…,

- Art directors.

- Hair stylist.

- Make up stylist.

- Accessories & wearing stylist beside a huge studio facilities, so at the end you’ll find yourself getting a perfect experience by doing such work which is very rare to find it here in Egypt.

Ur studio ... everybody keeps askin the question of what they need to put together a functional studio ... tell us a lil bout that ,

Yes ahmed, thank God it’s complete now.

The idea came to me when I started to have some professional work that required lighting equipments, I looked for places to rent such equipments from but was shocked that it’s not available, you have to have your own equipment & work with.

My studio now is not only for me, it’s also available for those photographers who need a place & equipment to use, I invite them to come & do their professional shootings for some fees & I guess it’s only me & another studio offering such facilities in Egypt.

Currently available with the following:

1-Shooting area: 4,80cm x 3,70cm
(extendable till 4,80 x 7,40).
2-Hight: 2,70cm.
3-Floors: non solid to reduce shocking.
4-Equipments: Three strobes flashes (300 watts) per each.
- Three softboxes (70x100cm).
5- One bathroom.

# Ok... its been great talking bout the technical and business side of it , tell us a bit bout ur experience with exhibitions , how they affect u , ur work, i know u have an upcoming exhibit in Nepal , a sort of international exhibit... whats the story.....

For me exhibitions are a chance for showing my own artistic & non commercial styles of photos which I like to take for myself also it’s a chance to meet people face to face & hear their comments about your work.

In Nepal exhibitons I was selected among a group of Egyptian photographers to show our work over there.

I was firstly recommended by Samah El laithy (photographer) to Prof, Nagla Samir (professor of visual artists in the faculty of aplied arts) & the exhibition’s currator who then selected three of my works to participate.

The exhibition titled IMAGES OF EGYPT & I got an appreciation certificate for the first time from the Egyptian Ministry of Culture.

# Any upcoming news or surprises ...? :)

Coming soon is a guide book I just finished shooting about Cairo for a Dubai based magazine which I hope it will get acceptance because I did a lot of efforts to show Cairo in it’s best form.

# Its been a great interview Sherif , hoping u the best of luck in ur future as a pro photographer , Thank You ...

At the end I would like to thank you for such interview & wish you best of luck, yet I can’t finish this without thanking some others whom i really appreciate their support.

Special thanks to:

-Shermeen Guirguis.

-Hany Morcos.

-Tarek Zaied.

- Sherif Tamim.

-Dalia Galal.