An impressive mountain of glass and steel in the heart of the City of London – a true statement of power and prestige.
This is just one of the many new high-grade skyscrapers that have sprung up in recent years. There are more on the way, which cluster together in the capital’s business district.
Nearby is a less imposing and more elegant curved tower. With your camera you can spend a long time pointing upwards on a trip to the so-called Square Mile.
The newest addition to London’s complex transport web is a cable car, which crosses a waterway between North Greenwich and Royal Dock. The Emirates Air Line, as it’s officially called, provides a short joy ride and an impressive viewing – and photographic – platform across parts of the city.
In these shots, captured on a bright afternoon, the protruding yellow struts of the O2 Arena dominate the frame. It was used for gymnastics during the London Olympic Games and temporarily renamed the North Greenwich Arena. The soaring, shimmering skyscrapers of Docklands line up across the Thames. The new vantage points of the cable car are pretty impressive.
From another point on the ride, this cluster of riverside buildings dominates the vista. The slender form of the BT Tower, some way off in London’s West End, can be seen to the right of the tallest tower. This is a London ride well worth taking.
Dubai is an upwardly mobile city, bristling with skyscrapers. They come in every shape and size, mostly shiny and new. The world’s tallest building, Burj Khalifa, is fittingly found here.
In the piercing sunlight of the Arabian Gulf in summer and under a clear blue sky, photographing these towers is hard work. You have to squint and point your lens far upwards. It can be harsh and unyielding. But with these soaring lines the results can also be astounding – especially for a fan of extreme architecture.
London’s skyscrapers seem to pale into insignificance compared to the high rise might of Dubai. There is no desert light in this city. How do you think the two compare? Take a look at Skyscraper study and The highest heights to make up your own mind.
Burj Khalifa is the world’s tallest building, piercing the futuristic skyline of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.
It’s a wondrous structure which shimmers and glitters at night across the city. It was quite a challenge to fit the entire building into a frame from quite close quarters. Crouching on the ground and some extreme tripod angles were the only answer – a sweaty job in a very sultry 35C.
This is the first image from a trip to Dubai and the Indian Ocean island country of Mauritius. Further posts inspired by captures from these travels will appear here regularly.
Some shots of London’s loftiest buildings, including the iconic Gherkin, The Shard – Europe’s tallest structure – and some other impressive edifices around the city’s financial district and Docklands.
Click on the first image to launch the full-size image gallery
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