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Bob Reimer
01-02-2008, 01:01 PM
Here's something to criticize :) ... I live in the middle of the desert. Our city originally consisted of 9 small oasis settlements that were occupied by different tribes. Today the greening of the desert goes unabated. Corridors of trees down highways have brought birds in from the coast. We have a few man made ponds that are a god-send for birders even if they do bring species that are certainly out of place 120 km from the nearest ocean. (I like to say that we live on the beach, we're just a long way from the shore.) This pond is more picturesque than the average sewage pond, is not being disturbed as often as some others, and avoids the hazard of flying golf balls at what used to be the favourite spot where the golf facility has recently been opened.

The pond that was built about two years ago. It is now one of two birding hot spots in Al Ain. This photo is taken about 45 minutes before sunset. Here we get about 10 minutes of "golden light" unless there's a dust storm and then you wouldn't have been able to see the mountain in the background. Couldn't stay much later as we had guests arriving shortly after sunset and I had about a 30 minute drive home. The bottom third is the man made pond. Middle third is dunes; foreground recovering from grading the background the natural dunes. Didn't notice the fence and telegraph pole on the right when I took the shot. Fences are are major hazard for landscapes in UAE. Also have freshly planted date palms. Back third, Jebel Hafeet, our local mountain which is an outlier to the Hajar range.

Can this image be salvaged? Any suggestions for what I might try next time I am out there? I suspect it needs to be cropped in from the right at least to the pole which also gets rid of the stray bird, but I don't think I'd want to take too much of the water out or it might lose some balance.

Nikon D-200, 80-400VR at 400mm, f11, 1/400 sec hand held.

Warm regards,
Bob Reimer

Vince Pack
01-02-2008, 01:36 PM
I find the image interesting as an "environmental" portrait of sorts. It would be a great image as is along with an article describing the environmet, ecosystem, and ecological issues - just as you did in your description. Along with a few other similar images of different areas, it would make very interesting reading as I'm sure most of us are curious about ecological issues outside the US and the importance placed on them by local cultures.

That said, depending on what you were trying to emphasize, to my eye, there is a lot going on here. Again, to my eye, the fence is the most distracting component; far more than the pole. The texture of the mountain in the background is very nice, but cut off vertically, so it becomes another visual distraction. There is also a slight tilt that could easily be corrected (based on the line drawn by the fence and tree line). My thoughts would be to either get a closer shot of the impoundment with a shallower depth of field or use a wider lens to get the mountain in the shot, too. It really depends on the intent of the image.

Looks like a lovely place to shoot, albeit challenging!

Robert Amoruso
01-02-2008, 02:47 PM
Vince had some very good recommendations. I see two images here Bob. The first is the BG sand hills and that very interesting mountain. I would look for a different vantage point to capture that image. The second is the FG pond and small rolling sand dunes just behind. That isolated would another interesting composition.

As far as an environmental image, Vince's comment that this image as part of an article would illustrate the the points you made well. Technically, the image looks good, I would clone/crop out the white bird on the right edge.

Jason Hahn
01-02-2008, 05:51 PM
Next time you are there try lots of different things, I would try things like laying down onthe ground and seeing if the dunes hide or minimize the fence. Work compositions of just the pond in early or late light, same for the hills. Do you get still days where reflections would be a possibiity in the pond? How close can you get to the edge of the pond? There are a lot of possibilities here, look forward to what you come up with.

Jason

Bob Reimer
01-03-2008, 12:41 AM
Thanks for your kind comments. The subject image may work better as a small illustration than a big print. :)

Here's the context I'm dealing with. This image is taken from the same location as the last one, but at 80mm rather than 400mm. These ponds allow full access to the shore and in most places one could wade out a bit. The pools that are nearer the sewage works seem to be cut with steeper sides and they seem to be trimmed back regularly. On top of the mountain, we have the Grand Mercure Hotel on the left and one of Sheikh Khalifa's palaces on the right (Sheikh Khalifa is the President of the UAE and Ruler of Abu Dhabi Emirate). Vegetation is a bit spotty still but the reed beds seem to be being allowed to grow and are currently hosting a hyper abundance of one species of damselfly (will probably post a picture of them in the macro forum). We have a few other dragonfly species about that like still water and can tolerate a wide variety of conditions. Lots of waders, wagtails and wheatears and a few raptors like marsh harriers. The ghaf trees on the left are natural and a native species indicating that that the water table was quite high here before man intervened to build the pond.

You can get some more information on birding sites in the UAE and Al Ain in particular at the site of UAE's bird recorder (http://www.tommypedersen.com/UAE.htm).