Friday, March 29, 2024 | Ramadan 18, 1445 H
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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Frames of fun

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WHEN young shutterbugs meet they experiment wiht new ideas. ‘Cultivate kindness,’ ‘Use less plastic’, ‘Appreciate the tiniest form of life’ were the messages the photographers tried to deliver from their still shots. The occasion was the weekend meeting of Muscat instagramers with its theme on #kindcomments. With cameras perched on tripods, these youngsters went about capturing natures beauty making perfect use of the props — sand, beach and sunset.


Locals and expats from all age groups came together for the InstaMeet against the setting sunshine on Shatti Al Qurum beach and posted them on social media.


#Kindcomments was a challenging hashtag for the participants but a talented pool of members paved way for a range of ideas.


Logistics heads, teachers, students, who took part expressed mixed feelings about their experiences.


For Guru Acharya, “WorldwideInstaMeets (WWIM) provides fun meeting new people and sourcing inspiration on new photography ideas.” As head of logistics in a contracting company, he says the meet helps to come out with many innovative photos which inspires him personally.


“The meet at Al Shatti beach provided for a perfect scenic sunset. The instagrammers made perfect use of the props, sand, beach and sunset,” he adds.


Instameets have been special occasions for Pooja P N. As a teacher, she happened to attend an instameet where she met her life partner.


“I have been following igersmuscat for past two years now and they have been doing some great work by bringing people who share similar interests and ideas,” she says.


An environmental engineer, Rimna Rasheed, says instameets opens up opportunities of finding new ways to ‘talk’ through pictures. “Instameets are not competitions but rather a way to push ourselves out of the comfort zone thereby helps find your forte within the community. Sometimes we don’t know the worth of our work until others make us realise this,” he explains.


Sayed Faisal is another logistics professional who felt that WWIM16 was one of the most exciting meets held by igersmuscat. He admits the meeting brings out excitement and energy among photographers, which enables them to share the passion and experiences with an essence of its own.


For Sneha K, a professional photographer, it was great experience joining the talented bunch which helped her towards updating photography’s various techniques. “I am thankful to the organisers and feel proud to be a part of igersmuscat,” she admits.


Vivek G, a technical sales engineer, feels special to be a part of the colourful community of igersmuscat. “The climate with its gentle sea breeze and sunset hues were simply awesome for the photographers. For me, igersmuscat is not just a bunch of photographers clicking pictures, but is a sense of family feeling which is irreplaceable.”


Igersmuscat has held over 40 instameets after they started in February 2015, and have met at various locations in and around Muscat with the participants on the rise.


Guru adds the locations are selected accordingly and each outing will have a theme of its own. Igersmuscat has been an Instagram handle looking to bring together people from all age groups.


He looks forward to meeting more instagrammers which, he hopes will be gather steam once the winter sets in. They have plans to have at least two instameets organised each month.


Winters are the best time to have these meets because of the pleasant climate. They have requested all Instagram buffs and budding photographers to stay tuned to its handle @igersmuscat for updates of forthcoming events.


Liju Cherian


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