Monday 9 February 2009

Downtown

Jan 15 2009
the avenue,

We went for a spin one late afternoon trying to find a good spot for a night shot.
We found the Downtown quite scenic for its ongoing construction of the worlds tallest structure ( soon the be the worlds tallest building) the Burj Dubai or the Tower of Dubai. (Burj is the arabic name for "tower").

I think the Downtown is once the business hub of Dubai during the early times, once called the old town.
Located on a the Business Bay District, the Downtown development offers a very relaxing spot that imitates Venice with its watery canals. Business and pleasure.
Restaurants, beautiful villas, towers and luxury apartments dot the place. Architecture is a mix between modern Arabic and European.

Old and New

It was a freezing 5 am when we got to the place. And it started to rain. This was the second time i tested my D80 was weather proof after all. =) you can see the droplets of water at the lower portion of the photo.

The Bridge

This bridge leads to a chain of restaurants and cafes. The canals below are not yet filled with water. We came here for a night shot. So rain cannot deter us from setting up our tripods.


Light is changing fast. The blue hour is coming.

How wide is the Burj?

No its not the wrong question. The Burj Dubai stands at more than 800 meters high. But for me i measure it by the focal length of my wide angle.
Because the Burj is so tall, a minimum of 15mm DX is required in order to capture it at this distance at eye level. Longer than that wont do it at all. This image is uncropped vertically.
The Burj Dubai is not yet operational so there are no lights on the floors. We waited for the blue hour to come.

Orange Morning

By 9:30 a.m we had enough of the Burj Dubai. We headed for the nearby Jumeirah open beach to test a friends Cokin GND filters.
No, i used a blue grad here. Swapped the blue to orange. Why orange? It sounds better to me.
The Burj Dubai is still imposing at this distance, like a pencil sticking out of cluttered table top.

My first try for GND to follow...

11 comments:

  1. wooow! beautiful nightscapes bro! pang travel mag! sus damu ka gali amo ni nga images! may GND ka na? abi ko may mapuli dire?

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  2. i like the first photo. :) my 1st time here...my friend there says dubai looks like cubao. ang layo eh...:)

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  3. Ian, hi there! Remember me? Sheila here, i was a "friend" of ur best friend in high school, i dunno, basta, long story, anyway, cool shots. I actually visited ur treklens account but wasn't able to place comments. But you sure have a nice place here, all the best for you. How are you na! Good thing we were linked again thru blogging.

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  4. really cool night shots. ikaw pala kinukwento ni bai allan :D nice, nice site bro. ituloy tuloy mo lang

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  5. fantastic photos!
    burj dubai is so imposing i must say. my brother is in qatar, so we might make a little trip to the emirates at the height of summer when we're visiting him. just to feel how extreme heat feels. :)

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  6. amazing shots! my brother is working in abu dhabi. recommended me to visit your site. pareho kayong magaling.

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  7. really great shots! parang gusto ko na yatang mag pa assign sa Dubai!

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  8. astig! ang ganda ng shots. the 1st shot pinaka peyborit ko. sana matutunan ko ring kumuha ng ganyang shots. welcome to blogspot!

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  9. Great photoblog, your night shots are awesome! Looking forward to see more.
    I can't seem to post a comment on your jaddaf post. I am having the same problem with my sensor, is it something that I can use a blower with (after lifting the mirror with my finger)? Hoping I don't have to take it to a service center...

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  10. to Garando:

    thanks for the visit. blowers dont eliminate the dust bunnies. they in fact spread it. better take it to the service center for a proper clean.

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