Almost a Whisper

Late Afternoon Scapes from Montreal

Ali Salem — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 17:10:17 +0000

Given the fact that I did not become a big fan of HDR photos, this time I tried to use a different technique to fuse multiple exposures to overcome the digital sensor’s short dynamic range. It appears that the result is fairly a natural one compared to one image with a balanced exposure.

Quebec City, and the Ice Hotel

Ali Salem — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 19:37:12 +0000

Few days ago I went on a University-planned trip to Quebec city, the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec. Besides travelling to a colder city than Montreal, I believe we spent more time riding the bus than touring around the city on feet.

Montmorency “frozen” Falls.

Quebec City.

One German dude pretending he can swallow fire.

Quebec city Ice Hotel.

A day with my Sigma Zoom lens

Ali Salem — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 06:25:23 +0000

On a very cold day in Montreal, and by cold I mean ‘I appreciate the heat of UAE at this moment’, I went out on a walk down the white streets and shot some random photos with my Sigma 70-300mm zoom lens. No particular subject was in my mind, I shot anything of interest to my curious vision.

Solidarity with Gaza!

Ali Salem — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 16:49:28 +0000

An occupied land since 1967 and under Israeli blockade and severe economic sanctions for more than 3 years, Gaza is a highly densely populated area with 1.5 million Palestinians, living under harsh poverty, deprivation and human misery. Last year, Israel launched an aggressive attack against Gaza through its “Operation Cast Lead” resulting in the injury of thousands, death of hundreds, majority of whom were civilians, including 400 children. Since this constitutes one of many other genocides that took place in history across this world, and as much as I personally prefer to place all my bets on the “What has been taken by force, can only be retrieved by force”, I still see such solidarity gatherings from time to time as a means of waking up what’s left of that thing called human conscience. As some may take me now for a temporary enthusiast asking them to carry a gun and go fight, to those I say I ask you not to carry a gun and go fight, but perhaps you’d like to spare some extra time researching the truth of the very world you live in. It may lead you somewhere.

I leave you now with some of the photos I took during a Solidarity-with-Gaza rally I joined yesterday. God bless you all, and bless all the martyrs.

“Judaism condemns the atrocities committed by the Zionists in Gaza.”

“Place of peace.”

“Boycott Israel. Liberate Palestine.”

“Lift the blockade of Gaza.”

“No to the blockade of Gaza.”

“Justice and Peace for Palestine.”

“Gaza. I remember.”

On 2010

Ali Salem — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 13:49:23 +0000

On an uncertain 12th of May in the year of the Ox (2009 in Chinese), I launched my personal website, Almost a Whisper, as an attempt to exhibit the times of my life with the world of photography. Since then, I have published 30 posts with hundreds of photos, and as a result received around 2,000 unique visits and 12,000 page views from more than 90 countries around the world, or so claims Google Analytics. I look forward to see those numbers growing constantly.

As we all now bid adieu 2009 to welcome the New Year 2010 on our door steps, (I personally still see no sensible reason in celebrating New Year’s amongst all the chaos, poverty, genocides, and natural disasters taking place in our world) I would like to to seize this annual opportunity and send a message to all my loyal supporters out there.

“No words can express my sincere gratitude and appreciation for all the support you have showed me so far… My friends, family, relatives, beloved, and even those I do not know yet, to you all I say thank you with a sincere heart, and I hope to keep shooting photos that will keep reminding all of us of the value of each moment we are given by God every day.”

Yours faithfully,
Ali Salem.

FIFA Club World Cup Abu Dhabi 2009

Ali Salem — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 10:16:32 +0000

Thanks to my cousin’s free tickets, I had the chance to go and watch the Club World Cup’s final game live in Abu Dhabi. Despite my very distant view from the players on the field, I still managed to capture with the help of my Sigma zoom lens a few close but little blurry, and who cares, photos of the players and the game’s action.

10 years ago back in high school, I placed a bet with my friends that one day would come where I would be able to watch one of my most favorite football players Juan Veron playing live. This day came true on this final game.

Despite Veron’s defeat, I still enjoyed watching my other favorite player Lionel Messi doing what he does best, entertainment and victory.

Street Photography

Ali Salem — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 07:11:15 +0000

I never really considered shooting with the word “street photography” in mind, but since it is proving to be an important area in this field, I gathered few photos from my portfolio and placed them under this subject. I may have a separate section for it in the future though.

A Quick aftermath of my first snow storm in Montreal

Ali Salem — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 23:08:45 +0000

On December 9, much of Canada was hit hard by a winter storm. Despite this being my first witnessed snow storm, my friends are saying this is almost nothing compared to what’s coming later. I leave you with some photos for now.

Downtown Montreal – a View from Mount Royal

Ali Salem — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 04:57:00 +0000

A view of the Downtown from the Kondiaronk Belvedere on Mount Royal in Montreal. I will plan to take the same photos in future time when snow arrives.

Souhair Sleiman – A Montreal Portrait Shoot

Ali Salem — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 22:30:33 +0000

Meet Souhair Sleiman, ma belle amie de Montréal. Souhair was kind enough to join me on my first official, and hopefully successful, portrait shooting session. Considering this was a first time thing, I had a lot to prepare and learn about what girls like and dislike in their photos, and frankly speaking, the latter beats the former by light years. Girls, I dare you to challenge my last statement!

I hope you enjoy the photos, and I would pretty much welcome your comments.

Thank you Souhair!

Being the nosy observer with my surroundings, and especially people, and also recently after moving to Montreal for my Graduate studies, I decided to start professionalizing my hobby into something of a higher integrity, and that is portrait photography. My approach to this is simply trying to compose, in a photo-journalistic way if I may say, the comedy and tragedy of the human life with its natural surroundings. Considering I am in the early stages of this approach, I will be requiring a lot of practice and patience, and a lot of candidates for sure.

Almost a Whisper

Late Afternoon Scapes from Montreal

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