Sharing A View

‘Written in Nov.2014’ 

Why did I choose to place two chairs instead of one? I never noticed it till right now...  I put two chairs because a scene and sunset as this one and the mood as I was in, plus the emotions rushing through me was calling on me to share this view. A moment and experience such as that one on that day called on me to be shared. And I honestly don’t remember if I was thinking of anyone in particular then or just of you, my audience in general, but six months later from capturing this image, I know that deep down in subconscious, that there was what I must have been feeling. A feeling of sharing. That’s the thing with my pictures and moments. I want to share where I am visually, provoke in you what I, the capturer, was feeling when I clicked the shutter. I want, no actually I need you, to mimic my emotion of sharing at that moment.

Who do you see sitting in those two chairs? Are you even in one of them? Is it the sunset view or would it be just about the company? Who do you want to share this moment with?

Photograph was captured from the balcony of Father Fabian’s home, a priest caretaker of an old church in Mount Nebo, near the burial site of the prophet Moses, in Madaba, Jordan. May, 2014. 

Perspective in Seascapes

Nature. And eons of time. We stand beneath them as they tower over us and we admire in awe their majestic-ness. But in all our insecurity, as much as nature can crush us, we have developed technologies and determination to overcome it.... 

I want to write more about this picture however I can not find the poetic words that can satisfy how I wish to convey its awe-ness to me. I wished I could be standing with those three people and stare right up the rock structure and then turn right and see the sun setting and welcome it’s rays upon my face. 

But I got the next best thing. This picture. The opportunity to capture it and frame it and share it with you, my audience: this photograph is for the both of us. 

Taken at the Roauche landmark off the coast of Beirut, Lebanon. 

Describe What A Late Sunset At The Dead Sea Looks Like

Like a radial gradient tone of one stroke and one tone so gently moved from one side to the other. You gaze at the serenity from top to bottom, but then, a break in symmetry, something unusual like everything in life, the two people are not symmetrical but again, life everything in life, it doesn’t fit but it works. You just imagine yourself where they are. You want to be in that corner because it feels like an escape; feels like some place if you could just get yourself to be there for two minutes you will get the calm you’ve been looking for. Go ahead. Jump in. You don’t need to wait...

An infinity pool, friends and some drinks with a crisp clear sky and your classic orange sunset. 

Breaking The Sky

The majestic scene of a sun's rays breaking out from behind a cloud is one of the most mesmerising natural scenes I can encounter. You know it is just physics, and nature, or just pure coincidence, however you can't help but think and reflect that there's something much bigger than you out there to admire. I intentionally did my best to get the two people in the bottom left corner in the shot to showcase the difference in perspective between them and this majestic view of the sky. I personally prefer putting people in the foreground when taking landscapes as it gives me, the photographer, a sense of what I'm capturing size-wise. And also, more importantly, when I see a person in a landscape photography, it makes me believe I'm there. It gives me a realistic sense of appreciating the beauty as if I'm standing there.

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Pre-Visualisation and Hunting

In terms of landscape and travel photography, my process doesn’t begin until I lay my eyes on the viewfinder. I don’t think or sketch out an idea in my head or anywhere. I’m in a scene, in a moment and literally my process begins when I lift up my camera towards my right eye. That’s when I start. Kind of like a hunter on the look-out for a kill. It’s basically like that. There’s a quote that goes “Photographers are hunters, not cooks”. Meaning we’re not concerned with the critique and opinion after the image is captured. As much as I believe myself so, I try to be the hunter and the chef afterwards as I do care and would like to know how my audience perceives my photographs. In this image it was just like that. I got into the pool wondering what my shot is going to be and for a brief moment I saw the final photograph in my eyes while I was lifting my camera. My brain was instantly calculating the shutter speed, ISO and all the settings to get this picture. My fingers pressed buttons and rotated dials and 1 second later, I yelled to my three friends to “Please can you guys not move for 1.5seconds”… and they did so without responding or looking back. I knew they heard me and a second later I pressed the shutter. I took my kill and into the Photoshop kitchen I went. Slight highlight adjustments and saturation and voila. My aesthetic meal is served. Enjoy the view.