Spinning....

Deep in the heart of Bahrain, amidst 4,000-year old burial mounds, seven family units in the village of A'Ali practice a craft that is just as ancient. The potters still use the old fashioned wheel, operated by foot, and the finished pieces are often baked in kilns built into nearby burial mounds.

Our Photo Group, lead by Leanne Marshall took us to the A'Ali Pottery and what a fantastic choice for a photo opportunity. There was so much to see and we were even able to watch them perform their art. In fact, one of our ladies had the opportunity to spin the wheel.

I took this opportunity to take my camera out of "auto" and actually learn about aperture, ISO's, white balance and shutter speed. It was a lot for me to remember, but when I got home and loaded the pics onto my laptop I was amazed at what I had done. Sure, I had to delete several blurry pictures, but in the end I was quite pleased with today's results. It was very hard to decide which picture to blip today, but I really loved the old bicycle with the two clay pots sitting on the table with the light shining through and because it was all about clay pots I had really liked the expression on this man's face as he was spinning. I couldn't help wondering what caught his eye......

Thank you Leanne for a fantastic and fun day!