Some photos taken during our group's recent Eid al Fitr road trip to Al-Ula, Saudi Arabia. The place was once a vibrant trading post along the ancient trade route from yemen to egypt & the meditteranian.

Medain Saleh tomb carved from solid rock
http://static.flickr.com/92/281562649_db3c21a9c1.jpg
http://static.flickr.com/92/281562649_db3c21a9c1.jpg

The rest of my Medain Saleh photos may be viewed from here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/juntordillo/sets/72157594348801873/

Here's my share:
http://ct.pbase.com/o5/73/516773/1/69297725.wcVGL8n4.1021151131.tifTonemapped.jpg

http://ct.pbase.com/o5/73/516773/1/69297726.eSlNTucX.1021151232.tifTonemapped.jpg

http://ct.pbase.com/o5/73/516773/1/69297727.RcbPZnhF.1021151527.tifTonemapped.jpg

http://ct.pbase.com/o5/73/516773/1/69297729.SVJi3eAq.1021151709.tifTonemapped.jpg

Some fun compositions with the tomb... :D

http://ct.pbase.com/o5/73/516773/1/69297730.byGy9mrs.1021161523.tifTonemapped.jpg

http://ct.pbase.com/o5/73/516773/1/69297731.vTmWD7Xf.1021161555.tifTonemapped.jpg

Jun and Orly - Nice shares Brothers! :) Wouldn't have known and seen this place if it weren't for your pics.

Thanks for looking Brother Earl! :)

Here's more:

http://ct.pbase.com/o5/73/516773/1/69297732.ht9F5nPf.1021161754.tifTonemapped.jpg

http://ct.pbase.com/o5/73/516773/1/69297733.cmUd50oG.1021170152.tifTonemapped.jpg

Nice pictures Jun and Orly. :Grin: Hopefully next time I would have a more convenient schedule to join you guys.:D It looks like you have been to Petra in Jordan. It felt like one of the scenes from an Indiana Jones movie.

Hahahaha! Next time, clear up your schedule! This is a once in a lifetime event that's why I grabbed it on a heartbeat! The least I could do right now is to make you envious with all of our adventures during the eid holiday! :) :D

Here's some more:
http://ct.pbase.com/o5/73/516773/1/69297736.CnJ5hnWD.1021170801.tifTonemapped.jpg

http://ct.pbase.com/o5/73/516773/1/69297737.gd2CXUU4.1021170820.tifTonemapped.jpg

How old is that thing?

Around 2000 years old, more or less. :)
http://www.archaeologychannel.org/content/film/Nabateansclip.htm

Awesome! :Dum:

How old is that thing?


Nabaty culture was long gone during Prohet Mohammad's era. In the Holy Quran, PM told him men, on his conquest to spread islam, not to drink from the wells around the area believing the ancient settlement was cursed. Hijri calendar is now at 1427, so this place for sure is more than 1500 YO. Or probably older, back during the time of Jesus.

@ Alexis: this place is a must-see. Plan to spend at least 2 days in MS & at least a day around Al-Ula. Really lots of photo ops. Start planning your Eid Al-Adha vacation!

@ Orly: nice sets of MS you have there. Too bad you missed some of the action on the 2nd day at MS. Maraming salamat for hosting our 3-day stay in Yanbu. Hanggang ngayon meron pang hang-over sa ‘into the blue’ experience ang tropa.

@Jun,
No problem. It was such an honor to share my humble little home for your refuge during your 3 days stay here in Yanbu. You are most welcome to comeback! :)


Anyway, here's more of the tombs:
http://ct.pbase.com/o5/73/516773/1/69297738.GzmNor8w.1021171048.tifTonemapped.jpg

http://ct.pbase.com/o5/73/516773/1/69297741.tBgWcul8.1021171433.tifTonemapped.jpg

Excellent shots guys, Orly bro. again thanks for letting us trash your place. ;) hope you didnt cried when we left .. lolz....

Hey migs,

No need to say thanks! It was a pleasure to be of any help! :)

Naiyak nga ako eh..... sa katatawa during our holy water session! :D

Post your shots na especially your IR experiments!

Here's more:
http://ct.pbase.com/o5/73/516773/1/69297739.QYuLc0d2.1021171314.jpg

http://ct.pbase.com/o5/73/516773/1/69297749.fsofYHg6.tomb1.jpg

Thanks Jun...

@Orly, unfortunately my video card finally gave up on me, talk about timing. kating kate na kamay ko sa pag ayos nang images then all off a sudden it DIED! Ironic isnt it, most of the images on my epson came from the sin city of the dead. >:(

Ouch! Hirap niyan... :(

Anyway, I'm sure you do have a lot of keeper shots. Just post it once it's ready. :)

now, this really one thing that i miss! great shots Ka Jun and Ka Jun! hope to see more posts! unfortunately i was in the eastern region...gone fishing.hehehe.

i was having a little chat with cristo last night...shared some of the experience from the road trip. hopefully next time makakapunta na din.

now, this really one thing that i miss! great shots Ka Jun and Ka Jun! hope to see more posts! unfortunately i was in the eastern region...gone fishing.hehehe.

Ahahahaha! Ano ba talaga fafa cris? Dalawang Ka Jun ang kausap mo! Orly na lang sa kin dahil siya ang orig na Jun sa grupo.

Anyway, thanks for looking! :)

These are amazing guys! Ang ganda nung place...wow!!! Thanks for sharing! :)

Last pair for the Medain Saleh tomb series...
http://ct.pbase.com/o5/73/516773/1/69297743.0UujmI6a.1021172841.tifTonemapped.jpg

http://ct.pbase.com/o5/73/516773/1/69297750.01CeKnA5.tomb2.jpg

Next series will be the rock formations within Medain Saleh. Still haven't processed the shots so stay tuned! :)

Here's a sunrise photo taken on the outskirts of Medain Saleh...

http://ct.pbase.com/o5/73/516773/1/69297747.pMOTR5Np.sunrise1.jpg

Humahataw si orly!!! sige post pa. Nice job on the composition btw.

Humahataw si orly!!! sige post pa. Nice job on the composition btw.

Hahahaha! Tsamba lang migs! Thank's BTW! :)

Show us your shots and I'm sure they are a lot better than mine! :Grin:

Here's one more...
http://ct.pbase.com/o5/73/516773/1/69297745.GB37Y5Ph.1022072859.tifTonemapped.jpg

Thanks for sharing guys. Great photos. :)

Hay nako Orly, wag mo muna paalala sakin dahil inindyan ako nang mga panang’ techinicians na gagawa nang workstation ko kahapon. You don’t know how itchy my palm is up until now and not being able to do anything productive for 2 1/2 consecutive days is aggravating.

Orlando and Jun, those are captivating scenes! Which lens did you use? Jun, are you using a Canon? And Orly, are you a Nikon user? I'm asking because Orlando's colors are very saturated. Did you you tweak these to increase the saturation? Because I find the color of Jun's first shot more natural. Which color closely matches the actual color of the rock? At any rate, those are amazing wide shots from you both.

Regards,
Norman

@Norman,
Jun and I are both using a Nikon. Jun's pics I think is straight from the camera while mine was post-processed and applied a Fujifilm Velvia 100F effect for that saturated look using Alienskin's Exposure plugin. Coudn't wait for the golden light that's why I resorted in using the magic of Photoshop! The place is too huge to explore in just two days time and it would be too cumbersome to wait for that golden light to come! Hehehe! :D

I did use the Nikkor 12-24mm on the wide shots. Sulit na sulit!

Thanks for looking! :)

Nikon D70 & 20mm ais, SReala custom curves. PP was just resize to web & some burning around the corners(some photos) to emphasize the watermarks.

I do envy Orly's PP techniques but right now I dont have the time.

Jun T

Which color closely matches the actual color of the rock?
Regards,
Norman

@Norman... here's a more natural look and color of the rock tomb...

[/URL]
[URL="http://www.pbase.com/josedeluna/medain_saleh&page=3"]http://ct.pbase.com/g6/29/643429/3/69334510.qWPlw9g4.jpg (http://www.pbase.com/josedeluna/medain_saleh&page=3)

I'm using a Konica-Minolta 7D... with the Tamron AF 18-200mm XR IF LD Di-II Lens... no post-processing done.

BTW... magkaibang tomb 'yung posting ni Orlie and Jun. There are more than 100 tombs in Medain Saleh... it's practically a town comprised of rock mountains carved into tombs. The place were made by the same people who carved the tombs in Petra, Jordan (at an earlier time). The colors vary depending on the time of day, and how the sun is positioned (ranging from beige to deep orange colors). A truly magnificent sight!

@Norman... here's a more natural look and color of the rock tomb...

http://ct.pbase.com/g6/29/643429/3/69334510.qWPlw9g4.jpg (http://www.pbase.com/josedeluna/medain_saleh&page=3)

I'm using a Konica-Minolta 7D... with the Tamron AF 18-200mm XR IF LD Di-II Lens... no post-processing done.

Wonderful Mentor! :Grin: (remember only in english) :) Great Job, Bloody Well Done :D

Wonderful Mentor! (remember only in english) Great Job, Bloody Well Done
I second the motion! Master Jojo's shots were well composed and very captivating! Check out his medain saleh pbase gallery and you'll know what I mean! :Grin:

How I wish I do have a vision and eye as creative as his! :)

I second the motion! Master Jojo's shots were well composed and very captivating! Check out his medain saleh pbase gallery and you'll know what I mean! :Grin:

How I wish I do have a vision and eye as creative as his! :)

Experience is the key word and Master Jojo has it :). I already checked his PBase gallery this morning all pictures were excellent.:Grin:

@alexis and orlando:

You are not making balls of me?
Hindi naman kaya binobola n'yo na ako niyan?

@alexis and orlando:

You are not making balls of me?
Hindi naman kaya binobola n'yo na ako niyan?
Ikaw pa bolahin namin :Grin: we're not making balls out of you.

Jun Tordillo, rock climbing in action! :)

http://ct.pbase.com/o5/73/516773/1/69429375.HGWZgQbf.1021125931.jpg

Magaling naman talaga si Jojo eh kita naman sa lagay nang litrato nya.
Jojo is not sick as you can place in his pictures.

^Orly: Scaling those walls made me queasy.
^Orly: Ang pag akyat sa pader ay madali lang gawin.

:D

Master Jose De Luna rock climbing in action too! :)

http://ct.pbase.com/o5/73/516773/1/69429377.nOydTJPn.rock_climbing1.jpg

DPP colleagues... don't believe in what you see... I was barely 3 feet above the ground when the above shot was taken...:Grin:

DPP colleagues... don't believe in what you see... I was barely 3 feet above the ground when the above shot was taken...:Grin:

Now I know the reason why you were able to manage to smoke while climbing the rock wall. :Grin:

@Orly: Nice set of photogs in action.

Thanks Alex! It's not actually more of a candid action shot, It was a planned and posed action shots! Hahahaha! :D

Anyway, here's one of the interesting rock formation inside the premises of Medain Saleh...

http://ct.pbase.com/o5/73/516773/1/69429378.5aSPwOwh.1021174552.tifTonemapped.jpg

Wow... 'yan ang talagang inakyat ko (I really climbed the top of this one) with my bare hands (Thanks to Lowepro Off-Trail-2... I had both my two hands free to hang-on to the rocks while climbing). Maybe DPP should start contacting Lowepro as a main sponsor since we mostly use their products.

Post n'yo naman picture ko while on top... (paging Jerome and Ferdz!)

Bilib ako kay Jojo and JunTords, they were able to scale the top. while I got mice running around my chest halfway up, not to mention the 65 degree steepness made the slope harder to decend from; I got to have one of those Off-trail-2 Lowepro, mine was just not cut out for climbing.

The place look great, I hope I can go there in the future.
And those were amazing shots you guys took! :D

Orlando, bro those are hilarious photos with your fingers, hehe :)

Thanks for looking Gelbert! :)

Got the idea of including the fingers on the frame from Master Jose! Really fun and hilarious compositions! Hehehe! :D

Bilib ako kay Jojo and JunTords, they were able to scale the top. while I got mice running around my chest halfway up, not to mention the 65 degree steepness made the slope harder to decend from; I got to have one of those Off-trail-2 Lowepro, mine was just not cut out for climbing.

I agree with you, Migs... I also had the mice in my chest that time (bog, bog, bog...) while ascending and descending that rock formation. You're simply an ant-size when I took a photo of you while I was on top...

http://ct.pbase.com/o5/29/643429/1/69333896.YgtKmNl0.JDLinMS_157.jpg (http://www.pbase.com/josedeluna/medain_saleh&page=10)

going up was easy. descent was hte challenging part. i thnk the route I tokk was easier compared to the trail took by Jojo. yup the off-trail bag was most useful this time. Freed up both my hands. walang hassle talaga. (no sweat). :)

@Jojo, yan na ako? You mean to say i stayed under that scorching heat for 20 sec's just for this??! lol... well, except for me looking like a spec of mite back there the landscape was totally awesome.

Here's a panoramic shot of the rock formations in medain saleh...

http://ct.pbase.com/g6/73/516773/2/69498814.z9g2Jyet.jpg

Full size:
http://www.pbase.com/riddler214/image/69498814/original

@ Orly Arcelao - Really Nice additions to the series Bro., since the last time I looked! Plus, Awesome Pano. :)

Thanks for looking brother Earl! :)

orlando, nice panoramic shot!

Thanks Jeff! :)

Stay tuned for more pano shots! Still haven't finished processing all the photos I took! :D

[/URL]

[URL="http://www.pbase.com/josedeluna/pinoyphotographers_ksa_eb"] (http://www.pbase.com/josedeluna/pinoyphotographers_ksa_eb)

Pano-stitch versions ko...
http://ct.pbase.com/o5/29/643429/1/69410996.gbK8DZtJ.JDLinMS_Panoramic_002.jpg (http://www.pbase.com/josedeluna/pinoyphotographers_ksa_eb)

[/URL]
http://ct.pbase.com/o5/29/643429/1/69410997.yhHTJKTV.JDLinMS_Panoramic_001.jpg (http://www.pbase.com/josedeluna/pinoyphotographers_ksa_eb)[URL="http://upload.pbase.com/josedeluna/pinoyphotographers_ksa_eb"]
Tagumpay ang mga tips from Walking-GPS JunTordz! He was not even aware that while giving his tips on making panoramic shots, I've already included him in the shot :Grin:

i like the first one. yung second ser, the horizon is somewhat tilted pero i like the positioning of people, parang "galit galit muna at kanya-kanyang post mamaya". hehehe. thanks for sharing!

Thanks for viewing Jeff... what i don't like about the first one is the sudden change in colors from the left portion going to the center (dark beige going to orange...); magkaiba kasi yung tama ng araw on different parts of the scene; and my PS-skill is not that articulate.

Super duper ultra mega wide pano shots Master Jojo! Mahusay (well-done)!!!

12 frames all-in all... in vertical orientation... kaso hirap mag-stitch, bobo kasi ako sa photoshop...

Haay, im still working out with my 1st pano shoot. cant seem to get it done right. lisud man gyud uy!

nice job Jo, now im the one needing tuturial on how to finish the thing.

How old is that thing?


i believed Saleh was born in the ninth generation from Nuh. He was appointed prophet
for the Thamud people who inhabited the moutanous territory between Hejaz
and Palestine. They built their homes by hewing the rocky faces of cliffs.



Madain Saleh is older then its northern sister Petra in Jordan yet Madain
Saleh went through more historical events since it was destroyed by one of
Gods miracle. I think they have to add this location as one of the Worlds wonders.

i believed Saleh was born in the ninth generation from Nuh. He was appointed prophet
for the Thamud people who inhabited the moutanous territory between Hejaz
and Palestine. They built their homes by hewing the rocky faces of cliffs.



Madain Saleh is older then its northern sister Petra in Jordan yet Madain
Saleh went through more historical events since it was destroyed by one of
Gods miracle. I think they have to add this location as one of the Worlds wonders.

Hanef! May pagka-historian ka pala Badongsky! :D :Grin:

A brief and concise primer about madain saleh! Thanks for sharing the knowledge bro! :)

KaOrlie,

Post ka pa ng post... baka maiwan ka ng flight mo... see you in Riyadh later tonight. Jerome and I are leaving Dhahran at around 5pm, so mga 9pm nasa Riyadh nakami, tagpuin ka namin sa Riyadh Airport.

KaOrlie,

Post ka pa ng post... baka maiwan ka ng flight mo... see you in Riyadh later tonight. Jerome and I are leaving Dhahran at around 5pm, so mga 9pm nasa Riyadh nakami, tagpuin ka namin sa Riyadh Airport.


UU nga pala tiklop mo muna ang pc mo ha at maligo ka na. ako naman siguro 6 pm nasa riyadh na. suduin ko si rolly at sama kami sa pag sundo sayo. ganyan ka namin kamahal di ba JO?
:) :) :) :)