From the top of the Cayan Tower, you get a clear and unobstructed view of the sprawling expanse of glass castles that line the beautiful Dubai Marina. Up here, vertigo fueled thoughts spring to mind as only a small railing separates the shallow walking path from the spiraling drop below. Whenever I’m at this height, it feels as though I’m looking down at a miniature version of the world. It’s a feeling that I find exhilarating but then again, I (thankfully) have little fear of heights.

Behind The Scenes

2013-12-16-View-from-infinity-cayan-tower-600
Well, I guess it’s a good thing I’m not afraid of heights! Apparently, neither is my camera.

With a setup like this, it definitely helps to be 100% confident with your gear and camera setup. Needless to say a level and balanced tripod is definitely your friend when you’re shooting so precariously close to an edge. Another good rule of thumb—and something I clearly should’ve done here—is to secure the camera to a stable structure point using a sling and carabiner.

Technical Mumbo Jumbo

Nikon D800 | 14mm | f/11 | ISO 100 | 3 Exp Brackets | RRS TVC-33 Tripod

Location: Shot and post-processed in Dubai, U.A.E – December 2013

Hardware: Wacom Cintiq Companion

Software: Lightroom 5, Photoshop CS6, Nik Color Efex Pro 4, Nik Sharpener Pro

Technique: 3 exposure brackets were captured but only two of them were used in post-processing – one for the overall tone of the scene and one shorter exposure to compensate for the bright lights. Using my Cintiq Companion, I blended the exposures using a combination of painted and luminance masks in Adobe Photoshop. Sharpening and details were enhanced using a combination of Color Efex Pro and Sharpener Pro by Google Nik Software.

Espresso: Starting to run low. 🙁

All That Glitters | Dubai Marina

Convergence | Dubai

Here’s another image that I shot and posted to Social Media last week.

Sprawling below is the first Interchange on Sheikh Zayed Road, also known as Defense Roundabout – the busiest interchange in Dubai. At twilight, the colors and textures seemed to come alive as thousands of cars left long light trails through the frame.

Behind The Scenes

2013-12-13_Dubai-Rooftop-TFA-01-Interchange-600Just above my head, this rooftop ledge was a bit too high and awkward for me to comfortably set up my full size tripod. Thankfully though, my Really Right Stuff TFA-01 saved the day because it ended up fitting snugly on top of the shallow tile ledge. It fit so snugly in fact, that as a precautionary measure I used some gaffers tape to secure the feet just in case I were to accidentally bump the camera. Needless to say, losing my gear over the ledge would definitely ruin my day.

The TFA-01 is rated to support a heavy 100 pounds of weight. Regarding the functional stability, I was shooting 1 – 2 minute long exposures with my 10 Stop IRND by Formatt Hitech Filters and the resulting images came out flawlessly sharp. Now that’s impressive!

Technical Mumbo Jumbo

Camera: Nikon D800
Lens: 14-24 f/2.8 (Shot at 14mm)
Tripod: RRS TFA-01 / BH-30 Ballhead / RRS L-Plate
Filters: Formatt-Hitech 10 Stop ND / Lucroit Holder
ISO: 100 at f/11
Exposure: 3 Exposure Brackets (no filter) + 1 Long Exposure (filter)

Location: Shot and post-processed in Dubai, U.A.E – December 2013

Hardware: Wacom Cintiq Companion

Software: Lightroom 5, Photoshop CS6, Nik Color Efex Pro 4, Nik Sharpener Pro

Technique: Using my Cintiq Companion, I first blended the 3 exposures together using a combination of painted and luminance masks in Adobe Photoshop. Next, I brushed in the car light trails that were captured with the 60 second (filtered) exposure. Since the atmosphere was so clear, I was able to retain a lot of sharpness in the background.

Convergence || Dubai