a beautiful shot, although I'd like to see more contrast by opening up some dark parts of the image, also give the wonderful sky some drama.
regards, tom
This was my first visit to this location to shoot. I had to ask for access in the early morning, but there is a wrap around pool and bar area on the 43rd floor of the Four Points by Sheraton hotel which is open to the public throughout the day and evening.
Ideally I was looking for fog, which can sometimes occur at this time of year as the weather changes. That's number 1 on my bucket list, photographically, in Dubai!
Light cloud is equally rare, so this made for an interesting sky. Next time there is fog, I'll be up there again to shoot. Even in winter the sun is strong enough to burn off the fog by 8:00 so viewing from the top of the Burj Khalifa (world's tallest building) is not possible as their viewing deck only opens at 10:00.
There are a couple of record holders in this shot - foreground left is the Rose Rayhaan by Rotana, the tallest hotel building in the world (333m, 1093ft), which is #10 on the tallest buildings in Dubai. In the distance is the Burj Khalifa, which is the tallest building in the world (828m, 2717ft)
This particular image is a 3 shot Exposure Fusion blend (-2, 0, +2EV) using Photomatix Pro before a bit of tweaking in PS5 with Nik Color and Silver Efex. D700 and 14-24mm
I'm a fan of my 14-24mm, but architecturally I'm not keen on the volumetric distortion near the edges of the frame. While I was up there on Monday morning I took a few test panoramas with a 35mm prime, which gives more realistic results. Still, when there's fog I'll start with the 14-24 and then move to the panoramas for extra detail and realism once I've got my keepers in the bag.
Here's a different composition - and a single shot rather than 3 shot blend. It's lop sided, but I like the juxtaposition of futuristic skyline to the left and old traditional villas to the right, between Sheikh Zayed Road and the beach.
Again, D700 and 14-24 - note that distortion I'm on about with the tall buildings to the left:
Not sure what can be done with the distortion, but the second image you posted is even more incredibly beautiful than the first one.
The combination of dark clouds and the architecture below it makes it truly memorable.
Thank you for getting up so early
suggestion. if you use Photoshop, under Edit is Distort. when the image comes up pull out the top right and left corners and see if this help. I do this when I shoot me 15-35mm and it is very helpful.
have fun, tom
@lazlo - they've just announced that for the rest of October they will open the viewing deck of Burj Khalifa (the deck's only 440m above sea level, but can give good views if it's clear) 24 hours a day. I'm booked for another blue hour and dawn soon.
@tomandmarj - I've used Distort already. DxO can run a volumetric distortion correction, which goes some way to fixing the 'problem', but it messes around with the verticals unfortunately.
