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Photographers from across the kingdom who regularly meet at the crack of dawn to capture stunning sunsets have launched an eBook highlighting the beauty of Bahrain.
The Friday Dawn Shooters (FDS) are proudly presenting Bahrainona, ‘Our Bahrain’ in Arabic , featuring more than 500 images shot by 101 photographers.
Each contributed five photographs covering a range of genres including landscapes, cityscapes, sports, astronomy, culture, street shots, birds, animals and people.
Engineer Premjith Narayanan, an FDS mentor who supports less-experienced photographers, said: “The book is a first-of-its-kind, offering images shot exclusively in this little island nation. Pictures in the collection stand testimony to immense beauty and draws viewers into exploring unseen facets.
“Some have already made their way into magazines such as the National Geographic and other international publications.”
The idea for the book came from Fahad Asab, one of FDS’s group admin members, and was given the green light to take the lead as book editor by the rest of the group, which includes Deepak Sudhakaran, Asim KV, Preju Suresh, Sunil Onamkulam, Biju Mechakkattil and PVR Murty.
To support Fahad, a book group was formed which included Deepak, Asim, Preju, Fathema Qader and Dr Krishna Kumar.
FDS began in the winter of 2013 when a group of photography lovers wanted to come together to share their craft. Deepak started shooting sunrises on Fridays and was soon joined by Sunil and Thomas Konnackal.
Premjith said: “We started sharing beautiful and dreamy landscape frames captured at different locations on Friday early morning on social media.
“Most of our organisation for Friday shoots was happening on Thursday nights. As the number of members increased, we thought of creating a group for quick and effective coordination.”
Since February 2014, the number of members in their WhatsApp group has grown from under 10 to 250 members, hailing from different nationalities and backgrounds, with some requests to join the WhatsApp group still pending as it has reached its maximum limit.
“We are glad that many young, raw amateurs are getting deeply involved in FDS,” said Premjith. “None of the members are professionally working as photographers. They are just pursuing their dream to excel.
“It’s a learning process for all and after getting advice from the mentors, which also include myself and Saji Antony, they have been able to rise to a level appreciated by all.”
For details, follow @fds_bahrain on Instagram.
