ah the air.

ah the air., originally uploaded by Elysium Exposed.

laguna beach, CA

king of cream #2

king of cream #2, originally uploaded by Elysium Exposed.

Bollywood Plays

A lot has been happening in my life that I haven't updated almost in a month.
I shall soon make a wrapping post..
until then:

I like this song in the video - Yeh Waada Raha

and

This video is funny - A mockery of Bollywood videos

RIS

RIS Bazaar, originally uploaded by Elysium Exposed.
Taken above the bazaar hall, at the RIS conference in January 2004.

RIS - Sami Yusuf in Concert #2, originally uploaded by Elysium Exposed.
Sami Yusuf in concert at RIS - Skydome 2005

I will be at RIS this year as well, hopefully selling art, tshirts, stickers and photos from both myself and friends, god willing. It's been a difficult task to find others to sit at the vending booth for me to go off to listen to lectures, or leave my sister with for her to listen when I'm not around. They need to start temporary in building fm broadcasts of the lectures so vendors can tune in using radios or headphones within the building. This along with my other suggestion of making a guest registry where out of town visitors can find places to stay at people's homes within toronto vicinity since so many can't come due to travel and financial constraints -- need to be seriously considered for whatever is being planned in the next year. I also plan on taking pictures at RIS so that will require moving around as well. Next year I hope I'm a bit more prepared for this with more people to back me up. But for now the plan is to make the best of it. :-)

Come say hi! if you find these on the table:

Decorated yet Daunting.

Decorated yet Daunting., originally uploaded by Elysium Exposed.

It's a daunting task to take pictures indoors, specially if you are one to belong in a 'risk' group that is easily profiled. It took me about 2 minutes to focus and test around for this shot. It's underground in the pathways of toronto's exchange tower leading out to the sheraton hotel.

Right after I clicked the shutter the man in yellow who was already on his way over to me, told me to depart since they do not allow photography. Ofcourse, if I looked like a foreign tourist, everything probably would have been okay. This isn't the first time I've been escorted out or told to leave. To his credit, this security guard was polite.

All I wanted was to take a picture of the festive decorations in the underground world. Something that a lot of businesses in the downtown core actually spend money on.

Hands in Prayer

Hands in Prayer, originally uploaded by Elysium Exposed.

My sister's hands in prayer.
I am often envious of her mindset, because it seems, being less aware means more honest you can be. And when you pray.. you need that feeling in your heart, where you plead with all honesty.

I recently got a new toy. It's a russian Helios 40-2 85mm 1.5 prime lense off of ebay. It takes FANTASTIC portraits. This is a sample :)

EID Mubarak!

Fall 2005 #2, originally uploaded by Elysium Exposed.

Caption: A friend wants to get married under this tree after seeing the photo. It's the bright fall colours in canada. Enjoy the view folks, it won't last long. Soon it'll be all brown and gray, and then the snow shall fall.

Eid Mubarak :)

Yesterday night while breaking fast I told my dad, that 10-20 years from now, we'll no longer have different days for parts of the community inshallah, because the younger generation is getting sick of the difference of opinions based upon bias that divides our celebrations up.. just because we dont want to hurt some grandpa's feelings back home, or not celebrate with our uncles in another part of the world on the same day -- and we impose tradition over reasoning, rather than working together as one.

We're young, we're smart, and soon we'll be the ones making the decisions. And we hope to do it right, insha-allah :)