Fishermen, the Environment and a "new" lens...

Well the promised "full blog" approaches - and here it is. I started the week trying to think of new things to shoot and wondering if any if any of the potential bookings in the pipeline would come to anything... The weekend is nearly upon us and although some bookings have come in, the most lucrative is still in the air with little chance of resolution for at least a week... Hummmm...

So we kicked off the weekend with the apartment getting back to normal after our friends had left for the chilly UK. It was great having them here to stay - maybe I will become a tour guide?! The pictures taken during their visit are on my Face Book page - the most popular being...

Now, whilst I like this (love the colour, contrast and the sharpness) I am not sure why so many people seem to like it but hey, what do I know, I'm just the photographer...

Their departure allowed me to prepare for my new tutorial - coaching a young lady with desires to be a pro. She does have a talent, particularly when it comes to children - when she is ready to go public I will let you all know...

After the tutorial I had a meeting in Dubai to discuss a job shooting a dance recital at the end of May. This is a pretty lucrative job for me and I would love to do it - I have a test shoot next Saturday so wish me luck on that one...  I also in the process of negotiating to do some real estate photography - it's all about narrow profit margins so we will just have to wait and see with that one...

And so I come to the main topic - fishermen and the ones that don't care... I know many do so it's not all of them - but some just, well get under my skin...

I went out to take some wildflower shots earlier this week, and in the process found myself down by a creek at the back of the Formula 1 track on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi. It's all man made out here but I was interested in seeing mangrove starting to colonise the margins...

You can see the new plants moving in - a great example of nature taking over. However, the more I explored this area the more I became disappointed with the obvious lack of care the people who use it have for the site... For example...

Graffiti on the walls of a bridge... in English and Arabic...

Litter scattered liberally amongst the rocks forming the flood banks...

 A dead fish lying in the dirt road - almost as if it had become part of the road itself. A few ants picked their way along the sand-covered flanks... and it was accompanied by the more usual jetsam of humans - cigarette ends and plastic ties... A sad end indeed.

I looked for the items that most annoy me - the ones that harm many birds and mammals each year. It took less than five minutes...

Lead weights...

And fishing hooks... both left discarded on the banks waiting for a gull, or a wader or even a feral cat to come along. I was saddened by this - the country is clean, very clean; yet where the armies of cleaners don't reach, there is no pride, only laziness... I took the line/hook/weight home - at least this one won't snag anything...





The rest of the week was spent trying out a "new" lens - one that has been in my bag for ages but not used... It has a poor reputation which is why I didn't really use it (I picked it up cheap); but I have found it excellent - really sharp and full of contrast. Take a look at these for example...

Canoe detail - Nikon D2Xs + Nikkor 28mm f2.8 AFD

I love the clarity of colours, the vibrancy and the tack-sharpness this lens gives... It will be on my camera for a while...

And this one...

I am really impressed with the contrast on this - really faithful to the scene... A much better lens than its reputation allows...














Finally, I have another booking in today - some more shots for a local school - their prospectus in fact; which should be fun (I hope) - briefing meeting set for Sunday morning. Incidently, the star pupil portraits I took have been framed and put on the wall along the main corridors... they look really good and many people have commented on them... Nice way to finish the week...

My personal favourite... Ice hockey playing brothers...

So ends the first blog in a new style - please let me know what you think - comments at the bottom of the page if you feel fit...  Also keep watching on Face Book and following my tweets - and I shall see you all next week..

TTFN

A Change of View

So, decided to change the blog layout and appearance - mainly thanks to my marketing manager (she now says director) who said the other one was boring... probably me that's boring actually, but you do as you are told in this day and age.

I don't know how this one will pan out so this one is just a trial run... I shall still be publishing a new blog every weekend - which layout is still up for grabs. At the moment I am going with this one, but input from you guys out there would be appreciated...

So this week has been interesting - I went out and shot some interesting wild flowers on Monday - these images are on my FB page - https://www.facebook.com/AlexJPScottPhotography so feel free to have a visit and have a look... Whilst shooting these I happened upon an area beloved of local fishermen - the result of which will be the main blog of the week - scheduled for Friday.. Stay tuned for that.

Today, Tuesday I took a tutorial with a new pupil - the young lady in question has been shooting for years and is talented, particularly when working with children - I may be able to help her technically, but her eye is excellent. My usual place for holding tutorials in Abu Dhabi is Cafe Arabia - a delightful coffee shop just off Airport Road on 15th Street. It makes a nice office...!

After the tutorial I picked up my son from school and high-tailed it up the road to Dubai for a meeting with a business client (well potential client anyway) to discuss two potential shoots in Abu Dhabi and Dubai in May and June... Meeting went well so we shall see how I get on - of course I shall relay the news when it comes...  With that I shall sign off for now - the main blog with pictures comes at the end of the week - so let me know what you think of this layout etc...

TTFN