Sunday, February 20, 2011

Pictures of the Day


Schwarma Shop down the street. Enjoyed a lamb Schwarma meal with a co-worker outside. Long sleeves needed though during the day it's starting to feel like winter is over.


Testing the colors capabilities of the new toy. Seems to work well.

A good camera can even make laundry drying look arty. I'm liking the shots without the flash much better than those with.

Sheesha pipes standing at attention. This didn't exactly capture the lighting as it was as this was on an outside patio at night but I like the way they are all at attention.

Dried apricots looking plump and sexy.

Handmade Turkish Delight from the Lebanese Roaster accross the street.

My purchases on the way home from dinner: lentils, pine nuts, dried apricots and Turkish Delight.
I have much to learn with the camera. Right now I just take multiple shots of the same thing that catches my eye, using different settings and composition until I find one I like. Unfortunately I have to be pretty subtle with the camera out and about: practicing Muslims do not allow their pictures to be taken and there are also many other things that are forbidden to take. I know of many folks who have had strangers scream at them or come out of nowhere and grab their cameras in anger because the cameras are out, even when the photographer is taking something seemingly innocent, like a building. So the fast lens will be nice but the size of the camera is not so subtle. In the meantime you get food shots and scenes from the apartment. At least you can see I am doing my laundry and fixing things in the kitchen. My world: welcome to it!

3 comments:

Leontien said...

ok question: don't you spell Schwarma like this.... Shoarma?
I don't know but in The Netherlands we spell it like that and i thought it was one of those words that stay the same in both languages????

Thanks and i Loved the pics! Oh and i love schwarma/shoarma too!!
Leontien

U Can Still Play in the Rain said...

No matter the subject, just glad you got a great camera and love seeing whatever you snap! It makes us feel a little more familiar with your life in the UAE!

Lou Woods said...

Leontien, I'm sure it's the same food but spelled differently. Because everything here is translated phoenetically from an Arabic alphabet there are no official ways to spell things. So often we will have several spellings for the same word. Things get pretty creative. Here, women get their haid done in "saloons" even though this is a "dry country." I am a lousy speller anyway, and because I enter this site through a UAE portal spell check is useless: it only work for the Arabic alphabet: everything comes up spelled wrong. My dirty little secret is out.