Zikki (Ziki, Izki).

Entrance-zikki-izki.A previously blocked entrance to the abandoned village of Zikki or Ziki or now more commonly know by the name Izki;  Historically, the correct name for the abandoned village is Zikki.
This village had a rather chequered history; it seems to have had some involvement in almost every political altercation with the ruler of Muscat or his representatives, for as long as it has existed

Imti visit.

A few images from a visit I made to Imti, so that I could make some photographs of doors & entrances in the abandoned village behind modern one.
The old abandoned village went by the name Muti, but was changed some years ago to Imti.
Taking advantage of the cooler weather and an early start; I was finished by about 09:30hrs so had an enjoyable time just ambling through the back streets of the village where I made these.

Concierto by the Jim Hall sextet.

A great jazz version of the well-known  Concierto de Aranjuez by Joaquín Rodrigo: taken from the album Concierto by the Jim Hall sextet.
With a glass of Chateau Musar:  A red wine from grapes grow in the Beqaa Valley Lebanon.
Please click the link for the wine & get an interesting insight into a family run vineyard that has gone through great travails keeping this wine in production.

5th of November.

People sometimes joke that Guido Fawkes was the only man ever to enter Parliament with honest intentions.

I remember the nursery rhyme:
“Remember, Remember the 5th of November, Gunpowder, Treason and Plot”  fireworks, bonfires with hot roast potatoes: childhood memories  🙂

For those unfamiliar with Guido Fawkes, aka; Guy Fawkes or John Johnson: On the 5th of November 1605 a failed assassination attempt was made against King James I of England and VI of Scotland by a group of English Catholics led by Robert Catesby. It’s a long story starting with King Henry the VIII, the Pope, Queen Elizabeth I & ending with James I. These three monarchs were considered to be persecuting Catholics. True in the case of the two Kings but Elizabeth did try some form of unanimity but to no avail.
A group of Roman Catholics led by Robert Catesby conspired to end Protestant rule with a big explosion. Their plan was to blow up the King, Queen, church leaders, along with assorted nobles and both Houses of Parliament, by using 36 barrels of gunpowder which had been strategically placed in the cellars beneath the Palace of Westminster. It failed and most of the perpetrators were arrested & sentenced to death.
Why did they do it ?  – all I can say is plus ça change.

Testing a Nikon Df at night – Muttrah.

@ 10.000 ISO ! f4.0

I have been testing a Nikon Df with its D4 sensor: these images were taken with the Nikkor 50mm f1.8AF G lens set @ f5.6.
All hand held at Iso 3200 apart from the water feature which was 10000 Iso (that is the correct number of zeros !) other than a little noise reduction & a small amount of sharpening, nothing else was done.
Raw NEF images converted to Tiff Adobe RGB then Jpeg s.RGB but no colour correction; the white balance was set on Auto 1.
All taken last night and never again, far more people than I like when out with my camera.

I don’t think I could do this using a film camera without many trials & tribulations.