Al Baqarah, 284

A simple reminder, for myself first: from Surah Al Baqarah, 284.

To Allah belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth. Whether you show what is within yourselves or conceal it, Allah will bring you to account for it. Then He will forgive whom He wills and punish whom He wills, and Allah is over all things competent.

لِّلَّهِ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الْأَرْضِ ۗ وَإِن تُبْدُوا مَا فِي أَنفُسِكُمْ أَوْ تُخْفُوهُ يُحَاسِبْكُم بِهِ اللَّهُ ۖ فَيَغْفِرُ لِمَن يَشَاءُ وَيُعَذِّبُ مَن يَشَاءُ ۗ وَاللَّهُ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ

#BIFscale #BestOf x Red Dragon review

Well, #BIFscale17 is officially over, and I, for one, am thankful to be back to straight shooting. That said, I have a bit of a backlog awaiting some processing, and I should collate some of my thoughts on the redscale process, in general, and the Ultrafine Red Dragon 100 in particular, so here we go, once more into the #BIFscale… Continue reading “#BIFscale #BestOf x Red Dragon review”

working on my intention

When Ramadan ended last year, I wanted to keep up the spiritual momentum I felt during Ramadan. Fasting is relatively easy for me, all thanks and praise be to Allah, and I feel good when I fast, so that seemed like a good place to start. According to Aishah, may Allah be pleased with her, the Prophet used to fast on Mondays and Thursdays, so I could pick up a Sunnah, plus, as reported by Abu Huraira, the Prophet, peace be upon him, said:

 تُعْرَضُ الأَعْمَالُ يَوْمَ الاِثْنَيْنِ وَالْخَمِيسِ فَأُحِبُّ أَنْ يُعْرَضَ عَمَلِي وَأَنَا صَائِمٌ

Deeds are presented on Monday and Thursday, and I love that my deeds be presented while I am fasting.

So after Eid al Fitr, I fasted the 6 days of Shawwal straight away, and then started up Monday/Thursday fasting. I missed a handful of days due to travelling or some other obligation, but I mostly kept it up. My intention from the start was to seek Allah’s pleasure by following the sunnah (tradition) of the Prophet, peace be upon him. Now, I’m fairly certain that my intention hasn’t changed, but some things happened that got me to wondering… Continue reading “working on my intention”

Unboxing ‘In/Human’

In/Human collects 28 of Michael Fraser’s excellent street photographs from various world cities in a slim volume. If you like contemporary street work in high contrast black & white and color, don’t miss it.

Fraser is a cancer researcher and photographer in Canada, and he has (or had) one of the best ‘About’ pages I’ve ever encountered. (As of March 2020, his website has disappeared from the Internet.) Digital, film, 35mm, medium format, whatever, he shoots street and fine art with it, and he’s gotten pretty good with all of it.

Continue reading “Unboxing ‘In/Human’”

Last roll for #BIFscale17

Well, it’s February 24, and #BIFscale17 is drawing near its end. For my 5th and final redscaled roll, for now, I went with EI 25 and the XA, and I tried to shoot under a variety of circumstances: morning, day, night, afternoon, hip shots, bird’s eye, snail’s eye, stabilized, just about everything I could think of, except flash, shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot.

It was a lot of shooting, and I’ve finally tamed the Red Dragon, more or less, but I’m glad #BIFscale only rolls around once per year. Continue reading “Last roll for #BIFscale17”

Actions and Intentions

‘Abdullah bin ‘Abbas reported:

فمن همّ بحسنة فلم يعملها كتبها الله تبارك وتعالى عنده حسنة كاملة، وإن هم بها فعملها كتبها الله عشر حسنات إلى سبعمائه ضعف إلى أضعاف كثيرة، وإن هم بسيئة فلم يعملها كتبها الله عنده حسنة كاملة، وإن همّ بها فعملها كتبها الله سيئة واحدة

He who intends to do a good deed but he does not do it, then Allah records it for him as a full good deed, but if he carries out his intention, then Allah the Exalted, writes it down for him as from ten to seven hundred folds, and even more. But if he intends to do an evil act and has not done it, then Allah writes it down with Him as a full good deed, but if he intends it and has done it, Allah writes it down as one bad deed.

Alhamdulillah! Continue reading “Actions and Intentions”

Unboxing Kevin O’Meara’s ‘Second Best’

For Second Best, Kevin O’Meara attended the Minnesota State Fair—the second best state fair in the country, after Texas—every day of its 2015 run: August 26-September 7. I admire the committment and drive, but I don’t envy the task.

Continue reading “Unboxing Kevin O’Meara’s ‘Second Best’”