(Not) Buying Photo Gear in Saudi

Posted by NidalM on Aug 3rd, 2010 | 30 responses

Taking pictures isn’t easy in Saudi Arabia. It’s not just the mutawwas patrolling the streets, detaining you for taking perfectly legal photos, or the culture, where taking a picture of a woman, even at a wedding, would lead to a lynching. We also have to deal with the ever present downsides of the Saudi consumer economy. Namely: Electronics are sold at an obscene markup.

Demystifying Photography: The Basics

Posted by NidalM on Nov 1st, 2009 | 7 responses

Computer Engineers talk about bits, multiplexers, clock speeds and routers. Financial Engineers deal with standard deviations, stochastics and statistical distributions. And photographers? Well they have their own set of jargon that’s specifically designed to freak out the uninitiated.

Do you really need a DSLR?

Posted by NidalM on Oct 22nd, 2009 | 6 responses

So you’re looking to buy a new camera. And you’re unsure of whether you want to make the jump into the world of SLRs. Well you’ve come to the right place. This article will outline some of the things you need to consider while making your decision. It’s also a list of realistic expectations from [...]

Photography in Saudi Arabia

Posted by NidalM on Sep 7th, 2009 | 48 responses

So you just got your shiny new camera and want to go about taking some nice pictures. Then you look around and realize you’re in Saudi Arabia. Well the good news is, there’s never been a better time to pick up the hobby. With the prevalence of modern cellphones with their miniature onboard cameras, society has finally become more accepting of photos being taken.

On Tour with Ahmed and Maz

Posted by NidalM on Jun 19th, 2009 | 5 responses

For the 2 of you that haven’t heard, Ahmed Ahmed and Maz Jobrani were in Saudi Arabia this week for a comedy tour in Riyadh and Jeddah. I was called up to tour with them and cover the stage performances and backstage antics. This was the first time an event of this scale has been performed in Saudi Arabia. History was made. And here is your inside scoop, from a photographers perspective.