DUBAI //Emirati photographer Osama Al Zubeidi won the prestigious grand prize last night at the Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed International Photography Awards.
He was one of several photographers from around the world to win accolades at the world's richest photography competition, held at the Dubai International Financial Centre.
Mr Al Zubeidi took up photography as a hobby in 2006 but had also received local recognition for his work, winning his first award in 2011 - the third prize at the Abu Dhabi "Through Your Eyes" photography competition.
Of his latest award, the US$100,000 (Dh367,000) grand prize, he said: "To be honest, I did not expect to win given the huge number of entries. I only thought my photos will pass the judging stage. I really worked hard to choose the best photos to submit for each category."
He said he hoped the awards, now in their second year, would grow to show more characteristics of the UAE.
"I would like to see the categories in the future to focus more on the Emirates in aspects such as culture, architecture and economy."
Other UAE winners in the competition, which awarded US$389,000 overall, included Alaa Al Mutawa, Omar Al Zaabi and Abdulaziz bin Ali, who won first prize in the Beauty of Light category for his depiction of a mountainous desert landscape.
Ms Al Mutawa was the competition's only female winner.
Mr bin Ali is currently studying photography at Ajman University of Science and Technology.
With more than 19,000 entries from 121 countries, he said the victory was a surprise.
"I did not expect to be a winner this season because of the large number of entrants into the award."
Jingsheng Nie, from China, was the overall international winner in the Beauty of Light Category.
[ mswan@thenational.ae ]
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· Set the table the night before. It’s a small job but it will make you feel more organised once done.
· As the host, your mood sets the tone. If people arrive to find you red-faced and harried, they’re not going to relax until you do. Take a deep breath and try to exude calm energy.
· Guests tend to turn up thirsty. Fill a big jug with iced water and lemon or lime slices and encourage people to help themselves.
· Have some background music on to help create a bit of ambience and fill any initial lulls in conversations.
· The meal certainly doesn’t need to be ready the moment your guests step through the door, but if there’s a nibble or two that can be passed around it will ward off hunger pangs and buy you a bit more time in the kitchen.
· You absolutely don’t have to make every element of the brunch from scratch. Take inspiration from our ideas for ready-made extras and by all means pick up a store-bought dessert.
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