The Charm of the Helios Lens

Using the Helios 44-2 lens on a Song a7III.

For a while now I had the Helios 44-2 lens (for those who may not now it’s an old Russian-made lens from the 80’s, you can find more information about it here). The lens itself is actually stuck on f/2, the aperture ring is locked somehow from dust or something and I can’t change it without having to do some disassembling. Nevertheless I got an adaptor for it and put it on my Sony a7III and went roaming around my neighbourhood in Marina, Dubai. While testing out the focus distance, I suddenly saw the fusion of the lights in the viewfinder and I fell in love. I have spent the last few months in a blah of a creative zone. I had no interest in picking up the camera, I was only just barely using my iPhone for random pictures and there was nothing inspiring for me. My creative will was on life-support since over a year probably and was dying ever slower with the weeks and months passing. Suddenly, from being so used to sharp and crisp, perfectly technical lighting, to intentional out-of-focus personal subjective art, I felt a little jolt come back into my mummified photography soul. Hopefully, after an almost 6year hiatus from this blog, I will be able to sting more life back into my work and will be sharing much more of my photography and thoughts with you on a regular basis.

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Flashing the Milky Way

Can you comprehend that you are looking at something in the past? That object is so massive, so bright and so far that its light has taken 25,000 years to reach our tiny eyes. And we have the technology to capture that light and store it in a little frame. Concepts of space and time has always humbled me in such a way that I can't explain. And to be able to document that and fuse it with my passion for imagery and visuals has been my type of meditation in a way. I captured this photo a few weeks ago while camping in Wadi Rum with some friends. It was a New Moon, clear skies with no clouds and a crisp view of the Milky Way. The flashlight I'm holding up was, to me, an extra element to the photography that allows the viewer to make a connection between me, the group around the fire and the galaxy. Without it, I felt the photograph would not be as compelling or 'connective'. As if I'm lighting up the sky in a way. What do you think? What emotion does this image convey to you?

Camping under the Milky Way in Wadi Rum, Jordan.

Camping under the Milky Way in Wadi Rum, Jordan.