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
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