Boys Will Be Boys

My colleague in Saudi Arabia and I stopped by his place after work one day last week. He invited me in for a refreshing drink of juice and to introduce me to his beautiful family. I also got to look at his wedding album and video footage--it's not everyday one gets to see what a Pakistani wedding looked like twenty years ago! Very festive, and fun to watch the traditions (especially those of the bride's friends picking on the groom)

I had gotten the idea that the neighborhood was a little rough when put my toolbox inside the cab of the truck and then covered it with something so as not to be seen. When we came out of his house to head to my hotel, this is the scene playing out down the block a little ways. These boys had just dropped their bikes and it looked like a fight was brewing. I quickly snapped off a few frames, as evidence that boys fight everywhere. 

Nikon D7000, 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 lens @ 300mm, f/8.0, 1/15s, ISO 800.

As we drove away from the neighborhood, I realized that it was full of immigrants, and probably suffered the same stigma as other similar neighborhoods and ghettos around the world. All I saw was men playing soccer in the street.

this picture has some movement in it. The sun was down, and evening was coming on quickly in Ryadh, so the slow shutter speed was required to allow enough light to expose properly. However, a 300mm lens is very long, and little shifts at the camera end translate to big wobbles at the end of the lens leading to blurry pictures. Stance, breathing, grip, etc are essential to making sharp pictures in low light; but sometimes you just walk out the door, note a story happening, and pray to the camera gods that the settings you have currently set will suffice. Then you thank those gods for Vibration Reduction lenses!