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This is Burj Khalifa, the tallest building on Earth. Together with the world’s tallest dancing fountain.
I decided to go back there and shoot the Burj at night since I’m getting a lot of hits from the day version, which can be found here.
I, like many others, was surprised when it was named Burj Khalifa since everyone is already used to calling it Burj Dubai. Anyway, it’s their building so they can name it whatever they want to. I was hoping for a different kind of light from the Burj Khalifa, usually it has some spot lights all over as if it was watching the neighboring buildings. I didn’t get that tonight but I did manage to get the dancing fountain which is currently the world’s tallest dancing fountain! So, I guess that’s cool 
Would have been better with clouds but… You can’t always get what you want 
How I took it:
Gear: Canon 7D + Sigma 10-20mm + Tripod
Settings: f9.0 | 15 seconds | ISO 100
Post processing:
- Applied some perspective correction
- Adjusted contrast and brightness
- Applied some dodging and burning
- Added a touch of sharpening
Back to work again tomorrow…
Cheers!
/Mike
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I did an hour and a half presentation today at Millennium Hotel for very selected key customers. I’m happy it turned out well This was the terrace of the room where I did the presentation, located at the 12th floor. Here you can see the Barsha Interchange and the Dubai Metro Station. If you look behind the towers you can see some parts of the The Palm and the Atlantis hotel. Below is one of the oldest residence areas in Dubai, situated right beside the Sheikh Zayed Road. It is now surrounded by towers, trains and sky scrapers. Once very populated mostly by European communities, now it looks very empty and old. Well, that’s Dubai for you.
How I took it:
Gear: Canon 7D + Sigma 10-20
Settings: f8.0 | 1/160 | Single Exposure (not HDR!)
Post processing:
- Applied dodging and burning from Photoshop CS4
- Adjusted levels, contrast and saturation
- Did some perspective correction
Need to get some rest… Catch you all later!
/Mike
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Today is just busy. Got too much going on at work. I have to prepare for a presentation that is due on Monday and I have zero.
Anyway, that’s no excuse not to take a photo. This is a flyover near work. I like the leading lines on this image
So that is 1 week done! It’s true, time really flies.
How I took this shot:
Gear: Canon 7D + Sigma 10-20 + Tripod
Settings: f/9 | 10 secs.
Post processing:
- Adjusted contrast and vibrance in Photoshop CS4
- Did a little bit of sharpening
- Add a mild vignette
The best news… it’s weekend!
/Mike
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This is day 2. This is an old Mosque in Ras Al Khaimah, UAE.
This project forces you to go out and experiment. It is exciting in a way, but I have 363 more pictures to go!
Here’s how I took it:
Gear: Canon 7D + Sigma 10-20
Settings: f8.0 | -3,0,+3 exposure bracketing
Post processing :
- Aligned and tone mapped in Photomatix
- Cleaned up in Photoshop CS4 (Curves, dodge & burn, contrast)
- Added texture and made the texture white and manually paint it via layer mask
Thanks for viewing!
/Mike
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Taken from our balcony at Christmas day.
What’s so special about this roundabout on Christmas day? Nothing. That’s Christmas for you here in the Middle East.
Well, at least we celebrated in our new flat; had some grilled chickens, pork liempo, carbonara, mixed buttered veggies, leche flan and some chocolate mousse.
How I took this shot:
Settings: f9.0 | 30 secs | single exposure (no hdr)
Gear: Canon 7D + Sigma 10-20 + Manfrotto Tripod
Post processing:
- Adjusted contrast
- Sharpened
- Converted in black & white in Photoshop CS4
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all !
/Mike
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Here you go, the tallest building on Earth. It is not easy to take a picture of this building because it is surrounded by water and the only way you can shoot this (front angle) is on a very crowded small bridge. With a wide angle lens and proper point of view, this my photo interpretation of Burj Dubai.
wiki: Burj Dubai ("Dubai Tower") is a super tall skyscraper under construction in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and is the tallest man-made structure ever built, at 818 m (2,684 ft). Construction began on 21 September 2004, and the tower is expected to be completed and ready for occupancy on 4 January 2010.
The building is part of the 2 km2 (0.8 sq mi) flagship development called "Downtown Burj Dubai". The total budget for the Burj Dubai project is about US$4.1 billion.
How I took it:
Gear: Canon 7D + Sigma 10-20
Settings: f9.0 | 1/250 | Single image (this is not HDR)
Post processing:
- Adjusted contrast and vibrance from Adobe Camera Raw
- Corrected the perspective in Adobe Photoshop CS4
- Adjusted levels, added sharpening and adjusted contras in Photoshop CS4
Thanks for dropping by
/Mike
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This is really a nice 5 star hotel. If you think it already looks good, well, you should see how it looks at night!
wiki: The ‘The Address Downtown Burj Dubai’ is a super tall skyscraper rising 306 meters (1,004 feet) alongside the Dubai Mall, the Old Town, and the Burj Dubai Lake in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. This hotel and residential tower contains a total of 63 floors. The tower is another supertall structure in the massive development named Downtown Burj Dubai, which includes the centerpiece supertall building, the Burj Dubai. The tower was topped out in April 2008, becoming the 6th-tallest building in Dubai and the 36th-tallest in the world. In September 2008, the tower was completed.
How I took it:
Gear: Canon 7D + Sigma 10-20
Settings: f9.0 | 1/250 | This is a single exposure shot; this is not HDR.
Post processing:
- Adjusted contrast and vibrance from Adobe Camera Raw
- Corrected the perspective in Adobe Photoshop CS4
- Adjusted levels, added sharpening and adjusted contras in Photoshop CS4
Thanks for viewing!
/Mike
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A closer look at the Kalesa.
I asked the Kutsero’s (Kalesa Driver) permission on this shot. Taken weeks ago on my vacation from Manila.
Hope you like it.
How I took this shot:
Gears:
Canon 7D + Sigma 10-20mm, hand held
Settings:
f9.0 | 1/100 | 3 shots (AEB)
Post process:
- 3 Images, aligned, converted and tone mapped in Photomatix
- Cleaned in Photoshop CS4
Anyway, thanks for your time!
/Mike
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Another angle of the Manila Cathedral
Sometimes when we look back on our school days, there are things that we wish that we could have done better or at least paid more attention to. For me, that’s my history class. Well, good thing about history is that it doesn’t change (unless further discoveries will be made), so it’s still not too late to learn more about it.
I like what they said from the manilacathedral.org :
The story of the Manila Cathedral is not only a story of the Church, it is also a story of Intramuros, a story of Manila, a story of the Philippines. Manila Cathedral is a time narrative; it is about ruins and ravages, rising and restorations. As its pineapple finials powerfully symbolize, Manila Cathedral represents life cycle; its rich history is a reference to trails and timelines that call for a dynamic continuance.
But, perhaps, the present reconstructed, and now again renovated, Manila Cathedral will not fully capture the former splendor of the old one. Perhaps, only the memories of the past can evoke bittersweet remembrance of its olden magnificence.
Yet, true to tradition, the Manila Cathedral has sprung back from the scratch, as always, and evolved far enough to reign in its rightful place in the history of the Church and of Manila, as a shining beacon and preserver of the faith in the heart of the Walled City—the homepage and centerfold of the Philippine history.
How I took it:
Gears: Canon 7D + Sigma 10-20
Settings: f9.0 | 3 bracketed shots
Post processing:
- Stacked and aligned with Photoshop CS4 and saved as 32 tiff file
- Tone mapped in Photomatix
- Back to Photoshop; adjusted contrast and sharpness
- Added textures and some digital blending
Thanks for visiting!
/Mike
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Taken from Jazirat Al Hamra in Ras Al Khaima, UAE. This is an abandoned village, also referred to as “ghost town”.
from wiki:
Ras al-Khaimah (ras al-Khaymah, literally “The Top of the Tent”) is one of the emirates of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), in the southwest of the Persian Gulf. It is in the northern part of the UAE bordering Oman. The emirate has a population of about 300,000 inhabitants. It covers an area of 656 square miles (1700 km²), mostly desert. The emirate is ruled by Sheikh Saqr bin Mohammad al-Qassimi.
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Around 45 to an hour drive from Dubai. RAK (short name for Ras Al Khaimah) offers nice beach resorts and some scenes that you just can’t find in Dubai.
Here’s how I took it:
Settings: f8 | 3 bracketed shots 2EV +/-
Gear: Canon 7D + Sigma 10-20mm
Post processing:
- Aligned and tone mapped from Photomatix
- Cleaned and added texture in Photoshop CS4
Have a nice day ahead!
/Mike
