Fun Portraiture–Bride and Cousins

Here’s one more artistic shot taken at the same wedding where my last post was.
Here, the bride and her young cousins are being interviewed, , which provided the perfect side light.
Taken with my Nikon D7000Using 18-105 KR Nikon AF-S DX Nikkor 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR Lens
zoomed at 50mm with f/5 1/50s ISO 1000

Fun Portraiture–Mother and Daughter

Another of my favorite Artistic shots, taken at a wedding in 2011.
A mother and her Daughter
Taken with my Nikon D7000
Using Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.4D Lens at f/2.5 1/50s ISO 1000

Fun Portraiture–Not so Little Red Riding Hood

This is one of my First Portrait Shots of a real model…
Taken with my Nikon D7000
Using Nikon AF-S DX Nikkor 35mm f/1.8G Lens at f/1.8 1/1250s ISO 400

2nd Place Photo in Sharp Shooter Contest for 2012 CNE Air Show

So, on Sunday September 2nd, I attended the CNE Air Show, and this Photo Earned me the 2nd place Prize.

Some of my Other Favorites:

The CNE–Sand Sculptures 4–Traditional Castle

Here are The final Sculptures.

Please note, All pictures were taken using my Nikon Coolpix P80
Lighting wasn’t Ideal, and Flash wasn’t great.

This was by far my favorite, in the fact that the level of intricate details was  amazing.
in the next few pics, more of this is evident.

The CNE–Sand Sculptures 3–Love Castle

Here is a Different Love themed Sculpture.

Please note, All pictures were taken using my Nikon Coolpix P80
Lighting wasn’t Ideal, and Flash wasn’t great.

This one had some interesting details.

The CNE–Sand Sculptures 2–Love Blocks

Here are some more Sculptures.

Please note, All pictures were taken using my Nikon Coolpix P80
Lighting wasn’t Ideal, and Flash wasn’t great.

This one is pushing the “PG” a little … but beautifully done…

The CNE–Sand Sculptures 1–Spooky!

Every year I love to go to the CNE mainly for a few things:

• The AIRSHOW (for which I Plan to take lots of pictures and will post some)
• The Super Dogs Show ( I missed it this trip, hopefully next weekend)
• Browsing the Arts/Crafts Section
• The Botanical / Agricultural displays & Contests.
• The Sand Sculptures!

So without Further delay, Here’s the first post on Sand Sculptures that I found interesting this year.

Please note, All pictures were taken using my Nikon Coolpix P80
Lighting wasn’t Ideal, and Flash wasn’t great.

A Lesson in Plugins

 

So, On the weekend I discovered a nice little issue…
Postings to my blog were no longer updating for whatever reason, Scheduled Postings were just not publishing.

Finally I’ve found the reason why, and have manually updated and publish all the postings (with their original dates).

The Cause:  A scheduling plugin, for posting blog posts.
Why Did it Fail:  It relies on Windows Task Scheduler, instead of the Blogger & WordPress built in schedulers.

So the scheduling portion of the Plugin is Disabled.  I will now post Drafts, and schedule them from the actual blogging platform itself.

#RT @RichardGottardo–#Toronto Loves Me

The Tweet read:
I'm just gonna go ahead and say it... I Think #Toronto loves me back. pic.twitter.com/F51Xe0jy

And here’s the Picture (Shared with Richard’s Permission):

It is an amazing picture, that was taken by one of the City’s many photographers.

So here’s a shout-out to Richard, and links to his site(s)

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/RichardGottardo  (@RichardGottardo)
500px: http://500px.com/RichardGottardo
Website: http://www.richardgottardo.com

Flowers and Depth of Field

One of my favorite things to do is to play with Depth of Field, and the Aperture  of my lenses.

All the pictures are taken with my D7000 DP Nikon D7000

Here’s a few shots I took last weekend at Rib Fest:

Sigma 18-200mm F3.5-6.3 DC OS HSM Zoomed at 200mm, f/6.3 1/160s, ISO 100

and a few more follow

Classic Cars in Mississauga

Back on July 6th, I got a chance to see some really nice classic cars,
So here are some more artistic pictures I took:

First to start them off, a row of Mustangs:

Now some close ups of other cars below:

Chicago Buildings–The Fine Details

Another of my Favorite things to do, is get the finer details of buildings, when I can.
Chicago is full of interesting spires and tops to buildings.. here are a few of which I got good shots of., and I haven’t shared in my previous posts.

Of course, no visit to Chicago is complete without the famous John Hancock tower, unfortunately this is the only good shot I got of it due to our tour, and limited time.
Its taken from the Willis Tower, close to sunset, so lighting was less than desirable.

Some more below…

Chicago Buildings – Bertrand Goldberg’s Marina City and River City 2

One of the most interesting architects o build in Chicago was Bertrand Goldberg.  Known for many works, especially his Marina City, and River City projects. He had other projects in and around  the city, unfortunately, I did not have a chance to photograph them.

Upon seeing this view, I was awe struck.  With both parents being architects, I had known of this project since I was very young, yet I never imagined actually seeing it up close.

 

More pictures to follow…

Chicago buildings in reflection

So one of the most interesting things I like to do is to take pictures of buildings in reflection of something else usually another building.

So my trip to Chicago I was able to capture a few of these pictures while on the river architectural tour.

Here you can see the Nuveen building, that’s located right in the bend where the river forks.  its shape follows the natural curvature of the river.

 

Chicago’s Willis (Sears) Tower

One of the best known buildings in the world is Chicago’s Wills Tower (formerly known as the Sears Tower).  Until recently, it was the tallest building in the United states, (but will hold that title until the new World Trade Centre in NYC actually opens).

My favorite feature of Willis Tower is this:

Warning to the Faint at heart, or those with Vertigo, Look and the next few pictures at your own risk.

Chicago–Architecture and Skyscrapers at a Glance

Back in June, I was at a wedding in Chicago area, where most of my previous wedding series pictures were taken.  On the day before our return, we decided to go into town, and explore the city and its architectures. 
We took an architectural  boat cruise in the river, and here are some of the general Pictures.

In future posts, I will cover other aspects of the buildings, including 1 dedicated to the Willis Tower (Sears Tower).

Without further delay…. INTRODUCTING….

 

Persian Wedding Spread (Sofre Aghd - سفره عقد )–Part 5 (last)

This as my final post in the series covers my favorite item on the wedding spread – the Wild Rue Tray (Sini-ye Esfand – سینی اسپند ). The series started on June 20th with a brief description, with postings on June 24^th, 29^th and July 2^nd,  but unlike the previous 3, this post, will is dedicated to Sini-ye Esfand and the pictures are from various weddings.

In many cases, a tray of 7 multi-colored spices is used called “Sini-ye Aatel-O-Baatel”, which consist of Poppy Seeds, Wild Rice, Angelica, Salt, Nigela Seeds, Black Tea, and Frankincense

First, where is it on the spread I’ve been using all along?

Both forms of the decoration are meant to ward off evil spirits, and the evil eye.

Persian Wedding Spread (Sofre Aghd - سفره عقد )–Part 4

As with my post on June 24^th, and 29^th , this Post, will be highlighting some more of the different parts of the wedding spread. All pictures are from the same spread, though more detailed pictures of each Item will follow later in the post.

This  post continues with the edible Items, which consist of "Mulberries”^[6],  Feta Cheese and herbs rolled in bread ^[7], Assorted sweets ^[8], crystalized sugar bowl^[9], and fruits ^[10].

Persian Wedding Spread (Sofre Aghd - سفره عقد )–Part 3

As with my post on June 24th, this Post, will be highlighting some more of the different parts of the wedding spread. All pictures are from the same spread, though more detailed pictures of each Item will follow later in the post

In the post we will cover some of the commonly edible Items that are found on the spread.

Some of the edible items are Sugar Coated almond slivers (Noghl)^[1], Honey^[2], decorated eggs^[3], a decorated flatbread (Sangak)^[4],  decorated nuts^[11], and commonly a gift for the guests^[12]

 

Persian Wedding Spread (Sofre Aghd - سفره عقد )–Part 2

In this Post, and 3 to follow, I will be highlighting some of the different parts of the wedding spread. All pictures are from the same spread, though more detailed pictures of each Item will follow later in the post.

In this post, I will cover the spread itself (Termeh), "the Book^[A],The Mirror^[B], many Candles^[C], Religious Articles^[D], Flowers^[F], the Ring pillow^[R] and 2 Sugar Cones^[S].

The Spread is usually made of Silk of Cashmere or Satin, with fine gold embroidering, and in many cases passed down from generation to generation

 

Persian Wedding Spread (Sofre Aghd - سفره عقد )

In this post, I’m going to Introduce the Persian Wedding Spread, and briefly describe it.  In a few future posts, I will highlight individual parts of the spread, and explain their significance.

Nikon D7000 and Sigma 18-200mm F3.5-6.3 DC OS HSM Zoomed at 18mm, f/3.5 1/60s

Persian weddings usually, like those of many religions, consist of two parts:

• The actual Ceremony (be it Religious,  or Legal) call AGHD (عقد)
• The Celebration – which could be immediately after, or sometimes months or even years after.

Bird is Cleared for Take-Off

Once in a while, You get that Lucky shot…

I got this one last week, while we were visiting Chicago downtown.
We found a little nook, right behind the Wrigley building,

I was , just playing around with my camera when My mom decided to throw pieces of bread.
So this little one swooped in and as he was taking off I happened on this shot

Nikon D7000 and Sigma 18-200mm F3.5-6.3 DC OS HSM Zoomed at 116mm, f/5.6 1/1600s

One year anniversary

Today marks a year since we started this blog.

Although the intention was to update daily, or at least a few times a week, life has been crazy, and many of my good work has been commissioned, which does not allow me to post on here.

But with the summer approaching, things should change.. and more should be coming.

Ali

Amazing Camera & Amazing Lens

This post is a video, I cannot take credit for.

My next camera, will probably be the one featured in this video below, the Nikon D800, which is a full frame Camera, and really the next logical step from my current Nikon D7000 In this Video, the extremely Rare custom made Nikon 6mm f2.8 Fisheye, which sells for £100,000 ($160,000), is mounted on the D800.

 

If anyone feels generous, Feel free to Gift me that lens

Picture & Post Cleanup

 

So after my recent AIKIDO Post, I realized, My Watermark was still set to 2011.

Needless to say, I’ve gone back, and corrected the Watermark to properly indicate the right copyright details.  I’ve also gone back to revised the way most of my posts appear on the main blog roll, with only 1 or 2 pictures initially, and the rest within the post details.

I’m also going back through my pictures, and will be for the most part updating the watermarks where feasible with the correct date, basted on when the shot was actually taken.

I should be back to a few more posts late next week as I will be travelling.

 

Cheers,
Ali

Photography Fun with Aikido

On March 31st, we at the Toronto Digital Photo Club got the chance to go watch some Aikido Sparring and practice.  

We thank the the Aikido Yoshinkai Canada club members and their Sensei.  Although the goal of my pictures were to have some serious material, the lighting conditions, and some lens issues made things difficult, as a result, I’ve decided to have some fun with my pictures..

But first, let me introduce the Sensei:  Takeshi Kimeda

Sigma 18-200mm F3.5-6.3 DC OS HSM Zoomed at 116mm, f/5.6 1/640s ISO 5000

 

Some more pictures to follow…

Absense from Posts

My apologies for the lack of recent posts...
Life and work have kept my time for hobbies limited, and what photographs I have done, were mainly for private functions which I cannot share on this public forum...

But expect some new posts in the coming weeks.