Claudia Curici Photography
Exploring my passion for photography
Sunsets and silhouettes
I can’t wait for the moment I’ll get the chance to shoot a sunset in a spectacular location; until then, I’ll practice in the very sunny, but mostly cloudless, sandy Dubai. I never tried long exposures of golden hours, mainly because I am too lazy to cary my tripod with me so I usually shoot low ISO, cloudy WB, with both my prime and zoom lenses, depends what I am carrying with me that day. The sun sets in Dubai at around 7pm in the summer, over the seas of the Persian Gulf, and during 6 months of the year we have temperatures over 40 degrees, high humidity and sandstorms). That makes a beautiful sunset even more precious. You can see one of my other posts about sunsets, here.
Flowers, the most beautiful excuse to learn macro
I love flowers, and when I started photography with my DSLR camera (and my 18-140mm lenses) I was naturally attracted to try my camera on taking close ups of flowers (obviously I didn’t know much about lenses). At first I couldn’t understand why my camera would’t focus when I was getting too close to an object – after few attempts, I realised that if I want to do macro, I need a different lens. So it is just over a month ago that I bought a 40mm Nikon lens, and I’ve been trying to practice as much as possible. Dubai has beautiful plants and flowers, even in the summer, the only challenges have been the high humidity and the extreme heat. I managed some shots though. The last two pictures are older ones, taken with my first lens.
PS. There is another challenge though, when you shoot macro of flowers, outside: the wind. Not much we can do about this one…
Strolling in Dubai Marina
Stroll is not typically what you can do in Dubai; but I live in an area where walks are still possible, plus I have a bike that helps me in the cooler months. I came across some pictures I took few months ago, after I bought my camera, when the weather was still good. It is hard, especially in the area I live, to not have your view obstructed by intimidating buldings. So the high-rise becomes the subject; and from down the street, weird angles are the only way to capture them. Sometimes light and weather help – the sunset light is especially beautiful, or in the rainy days (yes we do have rain in Dubai!) the light can be very dramatic. But take a look for yourself and let me know what you think.
The happiest of flowers
Who doesn’t love sunflowers? They are warm, happy, bright and cheerful. They symbolise loyalty and longevity. When I think of sunflowers, I always remember one of my childhood fairytales, where this blonde, beautiful princess falls in love with the sun and marries him. They were happily married, however, she could only be with him in the dark, since whoever would see sun in plain light would become a flower. She loved him so much that one day she could’t resist not to light a candle and kiss him. She became a flower, the sunflower, watching her lover all day long… She is still the happiest of flowers.
Architecture. Abstract lines. Masdar City.
If Dubai/UAE has something to offer in terms of photography, is definitely its endless possibilities to capture modern architecture (in the good weather days :)). I took these pictures in a trip to Masdar City in Abu-Dhabi, what is supposed to become one of the most sustainable cities on the planet. I fell in love with the place (even though is still in construction): it has a good energy, beautiful architecture, driverless cars and a wind tower, an ancient system for cooling outdoor air, which they are still testing (the second image).
In the staircase the light was very low, so I had to increase my ISO very high (I didn’t have a tripod and it would have been of no use anyway since the angle I had to hold the camera to take these pictures was not an easy one). The grain doesn’t really bother me, I think it rather complements the beautiful lines.
The day I ran out of subjects… I created a dream
Here I was, ‘trapped’ in the apartment, almost 50 degrees outside and high humidity, I wanted to photograph something, but what? Plus, I had new lenses to try (the prime lenses I had purchased recently when I had discovered I can’t to proper close-up photography with tele lenses) and free time. Then something stroke me. I saw this little doll I got as a present from a friend in one of my trips in Romania – a doll made of dry plants and fruits, which I never paid much attention to. Then I discovered some clippings I ripped off a calendar in the office, thinking I might use them one day for a mood board. I did a little bit of a set up, and started to shoot portraits of my doll. Then I played around in Lightroom. I love the dreamy, Cinderella mood of the pictures.
A glimpse of Romania
My last trip to Romania, after I got my camera, was in April this year. I was still too new to a DSLR and didn’t know how to take full advantage of being in probably one of the most ‘photogenic’ countries in the world. The architecture, the nature, the landscape, the mix of old and new, the light, the sky, the people, everything is worth of being captured. There are very few pictures I am left with but my next trip is in October, and I’m sure I’ll come back with some pretty good ‘stories’ 🙂
PS If you are a photographer and get a chance to travel to Romania, don’t hesitate! I’ll come back with more details and stories.
The day I used the miniature effect
It was not long after I got my camera that I had to go for a factory visit with one of my clients. I’ve been fascinated with factories since I was a child, so I thought it would be a good opportunity to take some pictures. I don’t remember how I ended up using the miniature effect on my camera – but that was a good decision since I was still not familiar with how to use the manual mode. The miniature effect is used mostly for distant subjects, but I used it totally randomly. Some of the pictures I ended up with:
The first sunset with a DSLR
I love sunsets, so I could’t wait to take my camera to the beach and hope for one of those spectacular sunsets. Dubai is not the most ‘photogenic’ place, is dusty, foggy, humid, hot, the sky is dull most of the time – not a photographer paradise for sure. But, if you have your camera ready in the exceptional days, the results can be pretty impressive (usually I only have my phone camera with me in those days!). So, long story short, these are some of the pictures I came back with after my first sunset photography project. The main thing I learnt that day: changing the white balance from ‘auto’ to ‘cloudy’ will give your sunset a more dramatic and warmer mood.
PS What you see as the horizon, is a man-made island in the making (frustrating as it is never a straight line)
How it all started – Dubai Marathon 2014
Since I have to start somewhere, my first post will be about my first photographic ‘project’ after I got my professional camera. I call it ‘project’ because I studied for it and I woke up, in my weekend, at 4AM to do it. It happened in January 2014. I remember at the time I loved the result, however now I look at those pictures with different eyes. But this blog is about learning and seeing progress. I have re-processed some of the pictures below. Before few pictures, two lessons I learnt that day:
- Have enough storage space available (I finished mine in the middle of the race, so I had to spend time deleting previous pictures)
- I had the inspiration to place myself around a hundred meters from the marathon finish line, which is perfect, as you get to see an amazing showcase of human emotions (very different than what you get at the finish line). Also, it was not too busy, as everyone was waiting at the end of the race.
Claudia Curici Photography 