Since some weeks now, I’m focusing on film photography with my Leica M2. I love the process, it helps you to slow down, think about what you’re doing. I’m still surprised to see that I have the same amount of keepers than in digital but I shoot less.

This visit to Sheih Zayed Grand Mosque was another occasion to shoot some pictures and discover how film react in bright light, with lot of reflections but also in high contrast scenes. Test passed :-), i’m really happy with the results and the free app for light metering seems to work well.

When you shoot digital, you need to take care of your highlights, you can recover your shadows but highlights need to be spot on. With film, you need to expose for your shadows and let highlights goes. I’m amaze to see how well film is handling with bright highlights.

This place is full of nice colors, chandeliers, carpets, walls, some much details.. it’s really beautiful. For this visit, Kodak Porta 160 was loaded in the camera. I like the rending of this film. It’s really fast for indoor but colors and grain and spot on for me.

The Grand Mosque was constructed between 1996 and 2007. The building complex measures approximately 290 by 420 m and it is large enough to accommodate over 40,000 worshippers, while the main prayer hall can hold over 7,000. This buildings amazing, full of details, colors and really peaceful. For any visitor in UAE, this must be seen.