Week One of Robin Gosby’s One Four Challenge on her blog “Captivate Me”
here is another macro study from my garden and I might as well continue it in my favourite style -( hopefully a touch mysterious)
When I created this composition it reminded me of – Tales of the Caravanserai
music of the Ghawazi
As Salamu Alaykem!
I must tell you a story I heard while travelling through the far kingdoms, a tale of a beautiful woman called Roxanne Abal, who was known as The Desert Rose, and of a powerful warlord and king named Sa’ed, the lion of the dunes. Tales of the Caravanserai- a desert tale
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Background of music:
The Ghawazi of Egypt are female dancers from the Dom tribe, which is the Persian and Middle Eastern branch of the Rom, originally from India. They perform in the famous musical Gypsy tradition as their counterparts in Spain do with flamenco. They use finger cymbals or zills and dance bare headed with hip movements. This eventually developed into the belly dance of today which is loved in Egypt and Turkey and made famous by dancers like Fifi Abdou, Nagwa Fouad, and Lucy etc. The Ghawazi still dance their traditional folk dances of the desert.
I added a touch of chiaroscuro effect to the original image
I may be way off but it looks like the processing you did was pretty basic and yet it changed the look and feel so much. Let’s see what you do next week.
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that one was easy- a touch of chiaraosuro but the next will be harder I think! Thanks Emilio!
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What a lovely composition, a perfect illustration of your beautiful story. I am looking forward to other edits, I think all will be beautiful.
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thank you again dear Lore!! It was a little different but seemed to fit in with the spirit of that story!! It’s going to be a challenge – not sure what to do next lol!!
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Wonderful creation soulfully presented,Cybele!Gorgeous your lionrose and with plenty of “aroma” from the East.Captivating your story,Iwould love to read it as a whole,and most exciting the folk music and the belly dance info 🙂
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Yes my imagination went wild again!! The dune mouse ventured into the dunes again! 🙂 Thanks again dear friend!
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Wow! A beautiful image, you have a such wonderful starting point, what will you do next! Hope you’re feeling better soon. 🙂
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I am wracking my brain Katie!! Not sure what’s next!! Something bizarre probably!! Thank you so much Katie! and Yes I am.
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Hi Cybele, ahh, the lion of the desert and the desert rose, what a great composition and some of the best music too! And of course your desert tales are excellent reading, definitely a favorite of mine! hope you are feeling better, dear friend – peace, love and blessings to you and yours! ❤❤❤;^)
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thank you so much Aisha!! you know that I am very fond of Arabic and Islamic culture and of course Egypt !!! I am much better and hope all is well with you – I have been on your other site you keeper of Eden!! Much love!!
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❤❤❤;^)
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Such a great photo 🙂 makes me think of the beast from beauty and the beast, hope your feeling better soon
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you are right!! It does! Thanks so much for your lovely comment!!
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A tragedy of human vanities indeed! Now I feel that the lion is Sa’ed weeping alone for the rose he left so alone and then hastily threw aside. The DOF works so well to help tell the story 🙂
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I love your insight Sarah!! I was hoping the image would portray that !! Great comment and thank you so much!
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Reading your story helped me to understand the story that you were telling through the image. I do think that it’s a lovely image that can certainly stand alone too 🙂
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thanks for reading Sarah!!!!
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Had to be done 😀 Nice length tale that held a bigger story within it. Your writing is often very thought provoking and this one is full of questions on morality. Although the tale is fanciful I felt that you were asking us all to question our own actions and what thought we give to the repercussions that could ensue as a result of what we might do in haste.
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I’m so pleased you take that idea from some of my tales Sarah. As a child I loved the old fairy tales with morals like “The Red Shoes” by Anderson and also Oscar Wilde really touched me!! Thank you!!
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Books that have underlying messages and observations on human qualities really grab me! I grew up on fairy tales and moved on to science fiction and fantasy 🙂 I’ve just finished reading the latest Robin Hobb. Her characters are so rounded and real. The protagonists always have flaws and there are repercussions from their actions that they have to face up to and own. She’s one of my favourites 🙂
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I will look her up!! Thanks Sarah!
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Enjoy 😀
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Love the warmth in the picture.
Hope you are feeling well and pray for your early recovery. 🙂
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thanks so much Norma and yes I am fine now!!
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Lovely lion and rose Cybele and a very interesting accompanying post .. I’d never heard of the Ghawazi dancers!
Hope you’re up and about soon … take care!
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Thank you bastet!! Yes I’m trying to do the one four challenge in story form for some reason!! I hope they evoke a story and mine is based on the one I had written. Thanks so much for commenting!! The Ghawazi are a branch of the gypsies. They just settled in Egypt and became part of that culture.
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It’s interesting to see how the Rom really more or less settled throughout the world, keeping their cultural roots. And hope you are successful with your one four story form! Should be interesting!
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it is!! 🙂
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Thank you Bast!! It keeps me challenged! and yes The Rom a fascinating group!
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🙂
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The darkening of the image makes it seem mysterious. Love the music! Makes me want to get up and belly dance — been too many years! HA! Fun, though! 😀
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you and me both sister friend!! 😀 Thanks so much Linda! I hoped it would tell a story!
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Beautiful image… Anticipating the development with intrigue.
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thanks so much Six!!
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Amazing photos Cybele!
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Thank you Della!!
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Wonderful! I love your very distinctive mysterious, dreamy images. Imbued, as someone else said, with nostalgia. Glad to hear you’re healing nicely after surgery.
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Thanks so much Sue!! I’m so glad you see those qualities in the image and thanks for your good wishes!!
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🙂
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A wonderful image and a fascinating subject for a story. I hope you are feeling better very soon. 🙂
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thanks so much Suzanne, I hope you get a chance to read it- my idea of a 1001 Arabian Nights story! 😀
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That sounds wonderful. I’ll look out for it.
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🙂
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Oh this image is so befitting of your story. Another tale that grabbed my attention and made me forget what I was doing while reading! Such a sad tale in the end… your image mood describes this so well.
Hope you feel better very soon dear Cybele. Heal well xx
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thanks so much Robyn!! I’m very happy for your great feedback!! And glad the image fits the story!!
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Thank you… and for me it really does fit 😃
You are very good at what you do!
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🙂 hugs Robyn!!
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ps thanks for the good wishes and yes I am healing!! It was nothing serious!
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Good to hear xx
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🙂
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ooh and the link would be useful – belly dance pix
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ohhh sweeet!!! I learned to dance too in Egypt – or at least a bit and then I went on later and did some more too! I lived in that part of the world for awhile! Eons ago. Thanks so much for the pics they are great!! I will peruse it more!!
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Its a lovely image, tho I would like to see a bit more brightness on the center of the rose to capture the lovely petal detail.
I did belly dance for about 5 years FYI 🙂 Its how I got into photography!
Here are some of my dance pix
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Thanks and yes you are right!! I will see it I can do it next edit!! What a great photography intro- do you still take dance pics?
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No unfortunately due to an injury that took a long time to heal and some life changes I had to stop dancing for a few years, and when I went back I changed to swing instead.
Things have been quite disrupted here in CHCH since our city got flattened by the big earthquake 4 years ago and finding places to do things like this has been a challenge, plus now I am being a student and working my photography so thats taking up all my spare time.
I would like to go back to it, bellydancing is fun and done well is an excellent cardio workout. Did I mention the shiny outfits !
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yes It’s a great workout. Where do you live Stacey? Pardon my ignorance! and oh yes the bling!!
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Christchurch in New Zealand
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oh right!! That must have been terrifying!!
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I was actually in Australia for the event but coming home to a city that has been devastated and 5 years later is still working its way slowly through being repaired and rebuilt
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oh that still must be awful but glad they are rebuilding. I experienced an earthquake in Greece once but it was not as bad as the one they had later in 1999!!
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The amt of damage was pretty devastating, we had two big quakes 4 months apart and 185 people died in the second one when two different buildings collapsed completely
Has some of my pix of buildings and damage around the city
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oh wow, that says it all doesn’t it. We too are on a fault line here so we never know!! We have had small tremors over the years and a bigger one back in 1946 but not like yours. Alaska had worse!! Thanks for sharing those!
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PS thrilled that you like the info and music !!!
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oh WOW, love the shot and the background info, fantastic
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thanks so much Julz!!
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‘minor surgery’ ouch. hope you feel better soon.
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yup 🙂 thanks!!
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I really like the DOF on this one!!!
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so pleased! thanks Maria!!!
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What a warm evocative image, Cybele. Looking forward to seeing where you take it next!… There is always mystery and nostalgia in your work…
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what a beautiful comment Chris. I am very grateful!! My images often are inspired by stories though the reverse can be true as well lol!!
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Sch a rich evocative image… Again I’m wondering what on earth you can do to change it…
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me too lol!!!! Thanks so much Albatz!!
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lovely image and what a great tale! music too.
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thank you!
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Love the warm light. It feels like it might be firelight.
I’m sending positive thoughts your way wishing you a speedy and full recovery! xx
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thanks Deborah, I am. I was just a little sore and so I wasn’t out and about but weather is improving so hopefully!!! Thanks for the comment on the photo!
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The light is so lovely in this image, sultry and inviting. Looking forward to reading your story through the weeks too. Beautiful, Cybele!
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thanks so much Carrie- I’ve been a bit housebound. oh the story is on the link if you wanted to wade through it lol!! It’s one I wrote before! 🙂
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and a thousand thank yous!!!!
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