Mosque magic

February 28, 2016January 11, 2020 / mikeosbornphoto / 13 Comments

You have to visit the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque at least twice on a visit to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. By the dazzling light of day, this beguiling building teems with visitors and can be hot work. But it remains open until long after sunset, and is transformed by illuminations which unveil a magical spectrum of colours, shimmering reflections and accentuate the wonderful lines and shapes created by this wonder of architecture.

After dark, the visitors have thinned out and lurk as silhouettes, and you can find stretches of the mosque are your own. The grounds are lit with warm, golden lamps which add to the atmosphere. And as for night photography, the lighting means that a tripod isn’t essential or even necessary. You must definitely take a night stroll around this building if you’re ever in this Middle Eastern city.

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Hotel prowler

February 12, 2016February 11, 2016 / mikeosbornphoto / 10 Comments

Normal people take photographs of their hotel rooms when they go on holiday. I don’t, no matter how plush they are. I prowl about the premises, looking for sleek lines and very long corridors, even taking sly shots of other guests passing through these places of temporary abode. I stayed at The Blue Water at Wadduwa in Sri Lanka and the Traders Hotel, Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.

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Abu Dhabi heights

February 7, 2016January 11, 2020 / mikeosbornphoto / 18 Comments

The capital city of the United Arab Emirates is dripping with skyscrapers. Abu Dhabi feels less showy than nearby Dubai, which boasts the tallest building on the planet. Nonetheless, it’s easy to do two things here. Firstly, crane your neck upwards into the blazing sun and deep blue sky to marvel at those lofty hunks of metal and glass. Maybe it’s by design that the predominant colour palette is blue.

Secondly, you can head up to look down, and the chief spot for this is the Observation Deck at 300, some 74 storeys high. Abu Dhabi is laid out before you, including its shimmering Arabian Gulf seaboard, flecked with desert islands. It’s a high platform for people-watching, while they serve a sumptuous afternoon tea. But like all enclosed tall buildings, the photographer has the headache of reflection to deal with when he comes back down to Earth…

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Grand mosque

January 24, 2016January 11, 2020 / mikeosbornphoto / 27 Comments

This magnificent building was my main incentive for taking a trip to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. Situated on a huge site to the north of the country’s capital, the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque can accommodate 41,000 worshippers and is an opulent feat of architecture, completed in 2007.

But my visit, under the piercing blue of an Arabian Gulf sky, was less about religious observance as tourists from all over the world flocked to see this impressive complex. It’s a myriad of pillars, windows, arches and domes, while the interior is studded with gems and cut glass.

With tourists come phones, selfie sticks and iPads in a building where photography is thankfully allowed. It feels almost impossible to take an original image. But with this wealth of lines, symmetry, colour and majesty, you just have to go with your instinct and capture what enthralls your own eye.

This isn’t the end of the story with the mosque. There is even more to come…