I managed to get on the roof of Libery House in Dubai, which has a great view of Downtown. Unfortunately, it was so humid today, that my “big” camera completely fogged up and wouldn’t clear up for over 30 minutes. I gave up and pulled my iPhone out of my pocket. I hate failure.
Shot with iPhone XS @ 26 mm: f/1.8, 1/35 s, ISO 400.
The Dubai Fountain stages a show every 30 minutes and when it ends, the Burj Khalifa takes over. The skyscraper lights up differently every time, so you might want to stick around for a few shows.
Shot with Sony A7R II + FE 28 mm f/2: f/8, 1.6 s, ISO 100.
So this happened! I actually had a minute or two of vertigo after looking straight down. The view really is quite stunning. Just try to avoid the haze if possible (which I didn’t).
The Burj Khalifa has a number of terraces and it’s actually cheaper to go up to the 124th floor than the one even higher up (150+) and I’m not sure if that one offers an outdoor terrace. The one I was on has viewports that can fit a lens, if it’s not very big in diameter. I managed to fit my Sony FE 28 mm f/2 without major issues but I couldn’t use my Zeiss ZF 100 mm f/2 Makro-Planar T*. Forget trying to use any larger zoom lens, e.g. a 24-70 f/2.8 or 24-105 f/4. You can shoot through the glass itself of course, but there are so many reflections, you might want to use one of those special flexible anti-reflection hoods.
Don’t forget to look at the fountain show down below!
Shot with Sony A7R II + FE 28 mm f/2: f/8, 75 s, ISO 100.
The shape of the metro stations reminds me of some of the Decepticons from one of the Transformers movies. I’m pretty sure they had something similar in the MCU too.
Shot with Sony A7R II + Zeiss ZF 100 mm f/2 Makro-Planer T*: f/8, 42 s, ISO 100.
The view from Level 43 reminds me more of something I would see in Cyberpunk 2077 than in real life.
Shot with Sony A7R II + FE 28 mm f/2: f/8, 86 s, ISO 100.
The Four Points by Sheraton has a pool and restaurant/club on the roof — Level 43 Sky Lounge — with outdoor seating and a beautiful view. It’s not cheap but then you are paying for more than just the drinks and food.
Notes on the photo: The shot above is heavily compresed and you might see banding in the sky. The original has enough tonal capacity not to exhibit this effect but I had to compress it, to save on bandwidth and load times.
Shot with Sony A7R II + FE 28 mm f/2: f/8, 8 s, ISO 100.
It’s not just the photo — the Burj Khalifa, amongst others, makes the cityscapes of Dubai look like a digital painting.
Shot with iPhone XS @ 26 mm: f/1.8, 1/33 s, ISO 320.