We made it safely and the first site we visited the relatively new (60’s) Mosque in Casablanca. Casablancans have mixed feelings about the millions that were spent by the King for this mosque – feeling that it would have been better spent on other things. It houses 25,000 people inside for prayer, another 80,000 in the courtyard, to give you some idea of size. Many of the windows and doors inside allowed light in and this gave me the wonderful graphic pattern that reflected off the highly polished floor. Beyond those doors and windows lie the Atlantic Ocean and America, feeling very far away in this moment. We all learned the value of our camera’s high ISO in there! That, and tripod straps to help stabilize, as no tripods were allowed.
Outside, there were wonderful details and arches. We focused on using those arches as framing elements in our compositions and then waited for interesting things to happen, like this women in a fuschia-colored jelaba, the customary robes of Morocco, to walk through!
Brenda, I am happy to have stumbled across your blog. A lot to see and a lot to learn. I will be visiting this blog many more times going forward.
Hi Shrirang –
Thank you for finding my blog! I’ve been away and then was ill so I’m behind on postings. But I will be posting later today and more regularly in the coming months.
I really like that first shot – nicely done.
Thanks, Stacey!
Brenda, beautiful shots of what appears to be a beautiful country.
I had a question about your mention of tripod straps as an alternative to tripods in tripod-averse settings. I ran into this constantly when shooting in Paris last month. Can you tell me more about these tripod straps and how they work?
Thanks in advance!
Kirk makes a tripod strap that has a tongue-and-groove type connector plate, that ‘mates’ with their camera plates or Really Right Stuff’s camera plates. You can see the photos of it on Kirk’s website. It’s adjustable and the theory behind it is that you create a tension on the strap when holding the camera to your eye, which acts as a stabilizing action. With IS or VR turned on, and that strap, I have been able to slow my shutter down further than just with the IS turned on but hand-held. It’s great in situations where you can’t use a tripod or monopod, due to rules. A monopod is more stable perhaps, I haven’t tested the two side by side, but sometimes you don’t want to carry around the monopod or can’t use it so this is a great alternative.
You’ll have to tell me more about traveling in Morocco when you return. Amazing beauty.
I’ve just arrived home and will be posting more pictures here and on flicker and will let you all know when I do. Amazing place to photograph.
i love morrocan food.
just a correction mosque is not from the 1960’s as your blog reports……..the King Hassan Mosque, thried largest in the world was commenced on 12 July 1986, and was intended to be completed for the 60th birthday of the former Moroccan king, Hassan II, in 1989. However, the building was not inaugurated until 30 August 1993.
Emily M Wilson
Thank you for your response, Emily. You are correct – I was thinking 60th birthday and planned to write ’80’s as the buliding time frame – was in too much of a hurry before we left our internet connection at the hotel! How great that you’ve been photographing in Morocco for so long. You must have a terrific collection of images…
wonderful Morocco photos. I have been shooting Morocco for 20 years , lecturing on aspects of travel in Morocco and tour leading there! Nice to see others enjoying a wonderful country