Faisal’s Point (Top Side)
This is my first photography expedition in the new year, 2021.
The plan is to photograph “Faisal’s Point” top-side, from atop of the escarpment a place I call it “My Edge of the World”; and the reason for this, simple, this Edge of the World is not the conventional one, which is run over by tourists and local visitors. This one is hardly visited by anyone due to the difficulty in getting to it.
This gives this location a number of advantages, less garbage around, less crowd, clearer images, freedom to photograph without anyone getting in the way; and more importantly it has far better views.
The trip is something I had done many many times, but recent construction activities in the area meant that the access point has been closed off, and the route is now off limits to all bar those working in the couple of mega construction projects taking place there.
Nevertheless, the objective was to not let restrictions stop me from getting to the vantage point, and see if I can negotiate access once there.
The route, photography points, etc., was all plotted in Google Maps (see image), and departing time to be at 10:30am and the last shooting time to be at sunset, 5:25pm
Accompanying me on this trip is my Leica KSA club owner, and friend, Suleman
The various colours, on the map, highlight various peninsulas from “top side” that would give me the vantage points I seek to get the photographs I wanted; and the allocated time was just perfect, as I managed to scout all these peninsulas and in good time to reach my “sunset” destination in good time.
The trip went smooth and to plan. Indeed, the access points were closed off with security restricting access; but thankfully I managed to talk my way in.
The weather worked to our favour, to a certain degree, in that there was no sand storms, and no excess wind, but there was a lot of fog & haze, which sadly limited visibility especially for our first vantage point.
Two locations were highlight of this trip. Location 1, shooting northwards, unfortunately I couldn’t get the composition I needed, due to the fog and haze, as mentioned above. Location 2, shooting southwards, got that as planned.
Equipment for this trip were my trusty LandScape companions, the Hasselblad H5D-50c. I had one mounted with the 300mm lens, was meant for Location 1; and the other body mounted with the Tilt / Shift (T/S) converted Coupled with the 24mm lens, and this was for Location 2.
In all instances, given the topology and nature of the ambiance, Lee Hard Graduate Neutral Density (ND) filters were used, and all that mounted on the three-legged friend of mine, my Gitzo tripod.
A casualty of the trip, Suleman dropped his Lee filter off the edge of the escarpment. Clearly it was a gunner, and we wouldn’t dare to try to look for it. Lesson learnt; we need to upgrade to the new Lee kit set, which I believe hold a lot better?
We were planning to have a nice cup of hot tea once we’re done with the shooting, but had to give that up as we’d been in this off-road trip for well over 8 hours now, and have another 2 before we make it back home, plus Sunday is a working day for both of us. Hence, we needed to call it a day.
Without any doubt, there is to be at least one more visit as there are three photos I want to get:
Location 1, I want to revisit to get that shot, which wasn’t achievable due to the haze and fog
Location 2, there was another vantage point, couldn’t get it as the sun had already set
Location 0, this is a completely different view of a the main motorway off the edge of the escarpment, a photo of this is something I’ve always wanted to get but never did; and with the closure of the place off, I fear unless I do get it this year it will become forever impossible to do so.
So, when is the next trip due? I’m slotting it down for middle of Feb. 2021
And, when do I plan to showcase the image(s) from this trip? The Behind The Scene (BTS) are attached here, while the end results I’ll post in due course (date TBD).
•••