Iq-ra

Project 365, #002

I entered a competition as part of a work photography group once, a while back now. It also had the theme 'Books'. I chose to photograph The Quran, and specifically chose the words 'Read' ("Iq'ra" in Arabic) to signify the first word to be revealed.

At the time, I did not own a dSLR, just a point and shoot (Panasonic LUMIX DMC-TZ7). I remember knowing in my head what effect I was going for but found it incredibly difficult to realise the actual photo. Focusing was difficult and the end product was mediocre, in my personal opinion. I subsequently changed the colour setting on the camera to sepia and it seemed to fit the picture well but the composition was still not to my liking. The change to sepia was my saving grace - the picture ended up coming second in the end but I'll always remember the struggle I felt in not being able to get the image I wanted.

To complete the task, as it were, I decided to re-create the same image but this time using my latest kit, and experience. It's up to interpretation of which is better - I leave it to you.

In post-processing, I've used some Bokeh effects to try and isolate the word, a soft vignette and faint green filter.