Mikhail Lukichev

Being an aviation professional, I love to use airport weather reports. For Al Ain airport (OMAL), 08th of April was almost clear. 07th was foggy till 0800LT (0400Z), 06th was clear. OMAL 080400Z 36003KT 310V040 6000 NSC 21/16 Q1013 NOSIG OMAL 080331Z 33002KT 5000 HZ NSC 19/16 Q1013 BECMG 7000 NSW OMAL 080301Z 29005KT 4500 HZ NSC 18/16 Q1013 NOSIG OMAL 080300Z VRB02KT 6000 NSC 19/16 Q1013 NOSIG OMAL 080200Z 12002KT 5000 HZ NSC 18/16 Q1012 BECMG 3000 OMAL 080100Z 01007KT 7000 NSC 20/16 Q1012 BECMG 4000 HZ OMAL 070500Z 02005KT CAVOK 23/17 Q1016 NOSIG OMAL 070426Z 01005KT 340V040 6000 NSC 21/18 Q1016 NOSIG OMAL 070407Z 05004KT 4000 BR NSC 19/19 Q1015 BECMG 6000 NSW OMAL 070400Z 03004KT 360V080 1500 R01/0900V1400N R19/0450V0700N BR SCT001 17/17 Q1015 BECMG 3000 BKN008 OMAL 070300Z 05006KT 0300 R01/0250N R19/0375N FG VV001 17/17 Q1015 NOSIG OMAL 070200Z 35005KT 0400 R01/0600V0900D R19/0275N FG VV001 17/17 Q1014 NOSIG OMAL 070117Z 35005KT 0800 R01/0750V1600N R19/0400D FG BKN001 18/17 Q1014 TEMPO 0500 OMAL 070100Z 35006KT 1200 R01/1000V2000U R19/0700V1400U BR BKN001 18/17 Q1013 TEMPO 0500 FG OMAL 070000Z 36011KT 1200 0600N R01/0800V1500U R19/0550N BCFG BKN001 18/18 Q1013 BECMG 0200 FG VV/// For Abu Dhabi, it was worse. 07th was foggy till 0900LT (0500Z). 06th was foggy till 0800LT (0400Z). OMAA 080505Z 17006KT 130V210 2000 0900E BCFG BKN010 20/20 Q1013 BECMG 4000 HZ OMAA 080500Z 17005KT 140V200 0800 R31L/0750 FG BKN006 20/19 Q1013 BECMG 2000 BR OMAA 080444Z 16006KT 130V200 0500 R31L/0325 FG VV003 20/19 Q1013 BECMG 2000 BR OMAA 080400Z 15003KT 110V190 0100 R31L/0150N FG VV001 18/18 Q1012 NOSIG OMAA 080300Z 17004KT 0200 R31L/0125 FG VV001 18/17 Q1011 NOSIG OMAA 080219Z 18005KT 0200 R31L/0200 FG VV001 17/16 Q1011 NOSIG OMAA 080209Z 19004KT 0200 R31L/P2000N FG VV001 17/16 Q1011 NOSIG OMAA 080204Z 19005KT 2000 0600SW BCFG SCT008 17/16 Q1011 BECMG 0200 FG VV/// OMAA 070416Z 19005KT 3000 BR SCT004 21/20 Q1014 BECMG 6000 NSW NSC OMAA 070405Z 19004KT 150V210 2000 0800SE R31L/0900 BCFG BKN004 20/19 Q1014 BECMG 3000 BR OMAA 070400Z 18004KT 0700 R31L/0400D FG BKN002 20/19 Q1014 BECMG 1500 BR BKN008 OMAA 070326Z 17005KT 1200 0400SE R31L/0250N BCFG BKN002 20/19 Q1014 TEMPO 0150 FG VV/// OMAA 070314Z 11005KT 2000 0800NE R31L/0225 BCFG BKN002 20/19 Q1014 TEMPO 0150 FG VV/// OMAA 070302Z 11005KT 3000 0800E R31L/0400 BCFG SCT002 20/18 Q1013 TEMPO 0300 FG VV001 OMAA 070300Z 12005KT 3500 1200NE BCFG SCT002 20/18 Q1013 TEMPO 0300 FG VV001 As I know from experience, it is very hard to predict fog. If certain atmosphere conditions are present, fog can materialize literally from nowhere. And vice versa. In any case, pls note that speed limit on all Dubai - Abu Dhabi / Al Ain roads is 80 km/h during fog. Thanks!

Yesterday and today we have had thick fog in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain. The same is forecasted for tomorrow. @Chaitanya D you might want to revise the start time to avoid waiting in the desert. Thanks!

Dear all, thanks a lot for a wonderful drive! @Chaitanya D appreciate your guidance, care and tips! Especially liked your timely feedback, it made some things waaay more clear for me! @Foxtrot Oscar thanks for inflating my tire so quickly! It would take considerably more time for me to do it myself. Hope to see you all next time soon!

Dear all, sorry but I will not be able to join the drive tomorrow. Hopefully, my place can be taken by somebody else. Sorry for the inconvenience!

Hello! Kindly waitlist me for the drive. Thanks! Update: Disregard, now I have some work to do on Tuesday 🙄

@Pacific Well done!

Thanks everyone who attended the meetup session and those who tried their best but could not! Everybody managed their cameras really well! It was superb to see amateur photographers with very bright ideas and newbies eager to learn and practice! I was pleased to have this opportunity to share my knowledge and experience with you. I hope that now you feel more confident with the star photos and you will go to the wild on your own to enjoy the starry nights and practice your skills! As promised, I post my RAW and Lightroom-processed photo here. As you can see, photoshoot itself is only half of the process, post-processing is very important too! There are a lot of post-processing tutorial in the internet, you can check it on your own. It is important to remember that you can make a good photo great using the post-processing tools. However you cannot make a bad photo good! That's why, basic skills are fundamental and cannot be replaced with the computer power. My RAW photo (Nikon D7200, Samyang 16mm F2.0, ISO 3200, 15sec): After Lightroom processing: Feel free to post you photos here and in the gallery! It does not matter if it is good or bad, we all are learning! Thanks!

Hello everybody! Excited to see you all tomorrow evening! I would like to remind you to check if you have a red light head lamp. It is tiny but very important detail for the successful event. Besides of all your photo gear, feel free to bring your camping chairs to feel extra comfortable! Operating a camera on the tripod sitting in a chair is so easy Thanks!

Excellent! See you soon!

@Foxtrot Oscar well done! You managed to stuck in a beautiful place! And thanks for freeing me from my crest 30 minutes later!