Backstreet Boy

Laughter came from the unlikeliest of sources this morning as my boss let me know what he thinks of Knobface. I shan't repeat it here, but it wasn't very complimentary let me tell you. She's gone AWOL, but nobody cares. We're just glad she isn't around spoiling the chilled Ramadan atmosphere.

During Ramadan, the buses leave at 2pm so everyone can get home nice and early to prepare for Iftar. (Most of the time up until 2pm is used to catch on on sleep lost from the night before.)

Pictured above is Mohsin, one of the bus drivers for the university. He's a great big hulk of a man, with a larger than life personality (he always seems to have the bus in stitches) to suit. He doesn't speak any English and so blethers away to me constantly in Arabic. He's married with four kids (two boys and two girls) and has been driving buses since 1973, all of which I found out using some Arabic phrases and questions Sonia taught me. A little bit of Arabic goes a long way with guys like Mohsin, and now I get the kissy-hand treatment before a handshake.

I just hope he doesn't get carried away and go for a man-hug. I wouldn't last long let me tell you.



Technical notes on why the that guy's head looks a bit odd:
I completely messed up the exposure on this shot. I can't quite work out what to do with bright backgrounds and dark foregrounds and underexposed it quite severely resulting in huge amounts of noise when attempting to lighten it up, especially with Mohsin's face and the head in the foreground. Luckily, there is a fancy online service available where you can send shots like that away, and minutes later they come back looking ace. I also got some excellent advice about using AE locking to ensure future shots inside buses come out better and not being a total tube and going for 1/2000s of shutter speed in a dark area. Best of all, the service is completely free!