Weekly Photo Challenge: Ambience

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Light and colors – these two make or break the ambience for me.

This photo was taken today at Dubai Mall’s “The Village” and converted into HDR using Photomatic for a surreal effect.

I’m adding a few more for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!

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Photowalk @ Dubai Design District’s #meetd3 Event

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Dubai design district recently hosted their open-to-public meetd3 event a couple of weeks back, and I had the privilege of (ab)using my camera to my heart’s content. With interactive installations by extraordinary artists and plenty of activities for adults and kids alike, it was a must-attend event; I blew my first ever glass globe thingy and it was amazing.

Here’s a glimpse of meetd3 and the Dubai Design District through my lens. Enjoy!

A Lemony Twist On Fresa Colada

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What a typical Londoner might call a bright sunny day, we, the residents of Dubai, call a well-deserved break from the blistering summer sun that beats (mercilessly) down upon us for a good six months each year (five-and-a-half if we’re lucky). I personally love the Dubai winter, especially because it brings with it, a plethora of fresh seasonal fruits from the Middle eastern region, the most noteworthy of which are the strawberries flown in daily from Egypt.

I couldn’t resist myself from buying a kilogram of these tantalizing berries when I last went grocery shopping. Needless to say, we got tired of eating all these strawberries pretty soon, so I thought of making a refreshing drink out of it. I added some coconut water and lemon syrup to compliment the sweet and sour berries and the drink turned out better than expected.

Here’s the recipe if you want to replicate it at home. It serves two people.

Ingredients

  • 3 cups fresh coconut water (I use yellow Srilankan coconuts as they are a bit on the sweet side)
  • 6-8 medium strawberries
  • 2 tablespoon lemon syrup (alternately, you can use 1 tsp lemon juice and 2 tsp honey)
  • For garnish:
    • 2 medium strawberries (coarsely chopped)
    • 3-4 mint leaves
    • 5-6 ice cubes

Method

  1. Wash the strawberries and remove the leafy part; add them to a blender
  2. Add coconut water and lemon syrup the blender and mix well
  3. Pour the juice into mason jars and add in some ice
  4. Top the jars with chopped strawberries and mint
  5. Serve immediately

Hope you enjoy this drink as much as I did making it. I’d appreciate your comments if you do try this at home!

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Superstars of Middle East ComicCon 2016

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This year’s Middle East Film and Comic Convention (MEFCC, in short) had a star-studded line-up of celebrities and experts from the comic industry. People actually queued up and paid to get autographs or selfies with their favourites. On the other hand, media representatives, including yours truly, had an exclusive interactive session with all these people. Here are a few shots from the event!

The list featured heavyweights including:

  • Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (I didn’t know who he was till I met him; I don’t watch the show – Game of Thrones / Jamie Lannister ring any bells?)
  • Christopher Lloyd (Back to the future)
  • Randy Orton (WWE)
  • Summer Glau (Firefly, Terminator: Sarah Connor)
  • Nick Frost (Shaun of the dead)
  • Veronica Taylor (voice artist extraordinaire – April from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)
  • Max Landis (Victor Frankenstein)
  • Darryl McDaniels (a.k.a. Run DMC)
  • Stan Lee (last, but certainly not the least, who made an appearance over a live video stream – creator of  Spider-Man, the Hulk, the Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Thor, the X-Men)

Here are a few shots from the event. Enjoy!

Shayan: Persian Hospitality With A Lebanese Twist

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Shayan, part of the Al Ghurair Rayhaan by Rotana, is famous for serving an authentic Persian dining experience in the heart of Dubai. It recently relaunched with a new menu, featuring a host of Lebanese introductions to its stellar Persian line-up and I was fortunate enough to be invited to this wonderful event. Food is perhaps one of the things I love photographing most and opportunities like these help awaken the photography beast within me. There’s no harm taking great photos while enjoying good food. right?

So without further ado, I’d let you feast your eyes on these mouth-watering temptations; if something does catch your fancy, head down to Shayan and try it out for yourself.