78 important rules for photographers

Read them, follow them and you will instantly become a better photographer! But don't take them too seriously! Still, they are mentioned as submission guidelines by art magazine EUROPEAN PHOTOGRAPHY, so they can't be completely wrong, neither.

desert portrait photo shot

We recently drove early morning into the desert near the city of Madam (45 minutes drive from Dubai - beautiful place!), for a portrait shot. Got some company when a camel walked by ... here it looks as if she rests on Marina's shoulder, doesn't it?!? Which shows that even in the wide desert you can make new friends!

Dubai - past and future

here 2 snapshots taken recently in Dubai - a city which has developed so rapidly during the past 40 years that one can be excused from forgetting about its beduin past. To ensure that history and traditions do not fall victim to Dubai's race into the future, its ruler, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, stresses the importance to revive old dances and music.

"natural style" vs retouching

Personally, I like to keep portrait photos natural. However, if you plan to give your portrait a star treatment, but don't want to plunge into the depths of Adobe Photoshop, there are alternatives:


one of my favorites is Portrait Professional - in less than 5 minutes you get really impressive results. Just don't call it natural any longer:) What do you prefer - the natural or the touch-up version?

got on the 1st Dubai Metro train!

When the financial crisis hit Dubai, many saw us here going back to camels as the primary transport mode. Quite the opposite is true: on a date to remember - 09/09/09 - the first line of the Dubai Metro was opened by Sheikh Mohammed, Ruler of Dubai. There is no circle line in sight, but it's nevertheless great fun to ride - air-conditioned and fully automated!

How to beat the Dubai heat; in a creative way

One of my favorite places to spend time in Dubai is Tashkeel Studio in Nad Al Sheba. Whatever your creative mind fancies – photography, sculpturing, painting, 3D work, silk printing – here you will find the utilities to go ahead with your vision. Or just read for hours through the extensive book and magazine library. You have to apply for a membership, which is a quite straightforward process. Afterwards, you pay a weekly, monthly, quarterly, half-yearly or yearly usage fee.
Opening hours are Saturday to Thursday from 8 AM till 10PM; during Ramadan it will be 9 AM till 5 PM. Here a few snapshots of the place:

The Black Snapper: new photo-portal with prominent guest curator

For those of you interested in good photography sites: starting August 1, The Black Snapper website presents each day another photographer. Selection is done by weekly guest curators. Kick off does Abbas, an Iranian photographer with MAGNUM agency. Worth to check out.

Deadline! PX3 "aftermath" photo competition

PX3 (Prix de la Photographie Paris) is having a photo competition entitled "Aftermath" - but you have to hurry up, deadline is July 15, 2009. Good luck!

turmoil in Tehran: new photos

Here 3 images sent last night by my friend M.D. from Tehran (for understandable reasons, he does not want to have his name published ... simply too dangerous these days in Iran). What a change from the rather peaceful atmosphere during election campaign just 3 weeks ago!

all ready for exhibition opening tomorrow evening!

all prints framed and hanging now ... hope to see you all thursday evening at the tashkeel art center (location map). if you can't make it - the exhibition runs until august 20, 2009. see also my last post for more info.

here another motif from our group exhibition (actually, we use this one on a postcard, too). took this photo last year in satwa, when the whole district was supposed to go down very quickly. reminds me now a bit of a scene from the new "transformer" sci-fi movie, for which i saw the trailer last weekend. autobots entering satwa...?!