Tanuf Visit.

A Tanuf visit – looking for the location of newly reported Rock Art find.

This is from the entrance: taken just after sunrise (a very early start for me from Muscat) lots of coffee 🙂

From the Scottish play.

Nought’s had, all’s spent,
Where our desire is got without content:
‘Tis safer to be that which we destroy
Than by destruction dwell in doubtful joy.

WordPress Loading problems.

I think I have found a way around the problems of loading WordPress sites here in Oman thanks to a Firefox Add-on 🙂

A happy bunny again: it means I do not need to keep pasting https as a prefix on every site I read.

Firefox – I am sorry for all the nasty things I have said sometimes when updates make my life hard.

Sentinels.

These are growing on the remains of a rather large man-made stone mound, in fact the area has signs of habitation going back 2 or 3 thousand years BCE.

My site is still not loading correctly.

Site is still not loading correctly – it would seem that my provider (Omantel) has taken a dislike to something on WordPress: they are applying some form of filtering.

Problems opening theme page: Episode 2.

I am still not able to open WordPress pages without adding (https) in front of every page: a real pain when I wish to view others sites.
My provider has not been much help as it is only WordPress that has the problem ??!! – very strange: the only consolation is that I am not alone with this issue, others here in Oman have the same problem and it started on the same day. Now the worm in the back of my mind says “WordPress new edit page was started about this time ??”
The WordPress ‘Happiness Engineer “rachelmcr” has been a great help – found things in Firefox programme I didn’t know existed 🙂

Quote from: The Restaurant at the End of the Universe – Douglas Adams.

Replace the word Universe with computer…………

There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable.
There is another theory which states that this has already happened.

Normality will resume I hope.

Cannon detail from Al hazm fort.

Problems opening theme page.

Problems opening theme page – actually anyone’s WordPress page: very strange as the theme construction is just not there.

Ho well, with luck the ‘Happiness Engineers’ will sort out what is going on: two computers, one win8 the other win7 also a Samsung tab on Wi-Fi, using Firefox or Windows Explorer, all show the same problem.

With luck this post will look ok as preview puts it all down one side of the page, my theme is just not there.

In the meantime here are a few from my favourite mountain:

Rising mist - Jebel Shams

Rising mist - Jebel Shams No3

Rising mist - Jebel Shams No2 Nikon F4 using T-Max 400 @ 320.

Jebel Misht.

Misht from lower Shams.

Pushing the limits of film & Photoshop images.

Jebel Track.

Nikon F4 & Tokina 35-70 f2.8 AIS AT-X, made on Ilford fp4. Negative slightly diffused with Vaseline on old filter.

The magic of analog photography – By: Nathalie Lopparelli.

This is what it’s all about – nothing like it 🙂

Sorry for those who don’t speak French (mine is very bad !) but it does not detract from the enjoyment of watching an artist at work.

Work in progress.

Playing again – actually I am experimenting with making digital negatives that I can contact print in the darkroom using conventional gelatin silver paper.

For those that don’t know this technique; it involves printing an image onto ‘overhead projection film’ as a negative, then contact printing this ‘negative’ onto traditional photographic paper by sandwiching both under a sheet of glass and exposing under the enlarger.

The negative is created in Photoshop by inverting a fully processed curves adjusted image; this adjustment is needed to compensate for the difference in tonal range between the screen image and the printing paper being used. The image is then printed onto OHP film at any size one chooses and can then be used like any other large format negative.

It has been used by some for a number of years now, but new for me – I am always slow catching up with these things 🙂

The Colours Of Light.

The first few lines from a poem by Dorothea Mackellar.

The Colours Of Light

This is not easy to understand
For you that come from a distant land
Where all the colours are low in pitch –
Deep purples, emeralds deep and rich,
Where autumn’s flaming and summer’s green –
Here is a beauty you have not seen.

Last one.

Normality will resume soon – promise.

🙂

Mad Half Hour……. !

No I am not smoking weed – just playing with Lightroom/Photoshop.

😎

For fun…….

Playing 🙂

I liked the colours ………

Steps with door.

Roots.

Tree Roots.

Old Door – Wadi Bani Habib.

An old door from one of the two major abandoned villages at Wadi Bani Habib.

Trees.

Wadi Al Muayden.

Jebel Akhdar – about 7000ft.

Jebel Akhdar: sun going down (what little there was) & possible rain.

Ps. It did rain about 02:00 so out of tent, put away cooking stuff and close my bivi top flap.

Wadi Bani Habib.

Another part of the Wadi Bani Habib abandoned village complex – less often photographed as it is further along the ridge; it sustained less damage during the 1950’s campaign.

Although Shackleton bombers of the RAF bombed the Jebel Akhdar plateau, this bombing was largely ineffective as the RAF had orders only to bomb caves and water systems, not villages. So although there are several caves in this area, how much damage was done by the bombers is hard to determine. The construction of this type of building needs constant maintenance otherwise it soon succumbs to storm damage; so a lot of what can be seen could be age related.