The winning photo

The launch of the camera phone meant more to Abdullah Khamis Kaabi, an Emirati student, than any other technological innovation.

It meant he could take photos without being upbraided for using the family camera. It meant he didn't have to resort to surreptitious measures to do so. It also meant he could snap a photo any time he wanted.

So he saved his pocket money to buy one. And when he did, he couldn't stop clicking.

One day, his cousin Mona, a keen photographer, noticed his precocious skill in photography. She told him he was good, but he brushed her comments aside as flummery.

"Even then she didn't give up!" says Kaabi, now 21, adding, "She encouraged and influenced me to develop my skill."

So he invested in a professional camera when he could afford one. "I saved [pocket money] for almost six months to buy a Nikon D60, an entry-level SLR," says Kaabi, an undergraduate student studying Information Technology at the United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain.

And again, he couldn't stop taking photos. "I carried it [the SLR camera] everywhere. If I liked something while driving, I would slow down, pull over, and photograph."

One of the photos he took while driving past something "interesting enough" bagged him the Grand Prize at the Khalifa University's National Digital Imaging Student Competition 2009 organised by Canon Middle East.

The nationwide competition that concluded last month was open to all students of higher educational institutes in the UAE. Kaabi entered a week before entries closed. (There were 80 entries from 10 universities.) He says he wasn't too keen, but a friend from university encouraged him.

"My friend Sahad Al Zahmi wouldn't have it any other way. He is a painter; he understands colour and composition. He even selected the photo from my collection for the competition," says Kaabi, whose collection includes landscapes, flora and fauna and still life.

The photo that won him the title, a DSLR Canon EOS 450D and Selphy ES3 photo printer was taken at Jebel Hafeet.

"A few months ago I was in the area at about 5pm," he says, recalling his first trip to the Hafeet mountains. The white cloud puffs against the clear blue sky and the chiaroscuro effect they created on the rugged mountains spurred him to reach for his camera.

"I took more than 100 photos that day. I loved the view," he says.

When the organisers called to give him the news one morning, Kaabi was still in bed. "I didn't have classes. I was still sleepy when I took the call. The moment I heard, I jumped [out of bed] and called up all my friends. I couldn't contain my excitement," he says.

The competition concluded with an official ceremony that took place at the Khalifa University of Science, Technology and Research in Abu Dhabi; it was attended by about 50 people including students and faculty members. The winning photos five including Kaabi's will go on display at Khalifa University's campuses in Abu Dhabi and Sharjah.

Among his friends, Kaabi had earned the title of "official photographer" even before the competition. His friends, he says, expect him to take photos whenever there is a special get-together or function. "I don't mind it," he says, explaining he prefers to be behind the lens. "It also explains why I have only a handful [photos] of myself!"