“My father noticed how good (the photos) were and how interested I was in taking shots and he bought me a camera,” Al-Ali said.
He began his obsession in earnest while in college in Jeddah, and clients began to take notice of his work.
“Companies used to approach me to take some pictures for them as advertisements, and when I graduated I took it as a profession — a side to my marketing job,” he said. “I started getting way too busy with my new profession that I didn’t have enough time for my Job, so I decided to quit and focus on photography.”
And he says he has no regrets.
“The Internet was the biggest reason behind my success because a lot of companies and individuals approached me because of my website. I got many opportunities inside and outside the Kingdom,” he added.
Aside from corporate photography Al-Ali finds portrait photography interesting.
“I love taking pictures of people, it shows the face’s structure and style. And of course I play around with zooming in and out to focus on what makes this person attractive, like eyes for instance,” he said.
Al-Ali is self-taught. He says his skills came from a love and devotion to the craft. “I learned a lot from observing other’s work,” he added.
He spent countless hours pursuing the online portfolios of photographers he admired. This was his starting point to creating his own style, he said. When others ask him to teach them the art, “I always tell them that it’s easy to teach you how to set up your camera, but I cannot teach you how to feel the image. No institute can teach the sense of photograph. I always ask them to expand their horizons, to watch famous and international photographer’s work and try to analyze and understand the features of every image. Once they appreciate their work, they will come up with their own ways to display their own.”
Like any camera pro, Al-Ali doesn’t go overboard in photo retouching with digital image-manipulation software.
“I have been asked about Photoshop: How to use it, and why. And I think it’s okay to use it, just don’t overdo it — just little adjustments. A photo is like a woman who puts on makeup. A pretty woman doesn’t need a lot of makeup, just small touches to cover her flaws. And once she overdoes it, she starts looking hideous and artificial,” he said. “A picture is exactly the same, there is no harm in making some adjustment to make it perfect.”
Al-Ali wishes to be a fashion photographer in the future.
“My future plan is to step into the fashion world and take professional shots of models. I wish I could step into the global fashion industry,” he said. “I also want to start making postcards. Something that would reflect Saudi Arabia in photos.”
