theonlyD800inthehameau
Photography by theonlydeadheadinthehameau
Lens-Artists Challenge: Shadowed
Posted on March 2, 2026
There is a path that runs right along the Corniche in Abu Dhabi. It’s not just a path, though (c’mon, this is Abu Dhabi we’re talking about), as interest is added thanks to fountains, underpasses and other features.
Also it being Abu Dhabi, it’s hardly ever cloudy and the sunlight is very strong; consequently, the shadows are well defined. In this section, the high wall is completely in the shade and a strong, dark shadow is cast by a lower wall and something else (I’ve forgotten what it was exactly) to the right. I’ve converted the original image to monochrome to produce this abstract, but definitely shadowed, image.
Lens-Artists Challenge: Juxtaposition
Posted on February 24, 2026
When i saw that this week’s challenge was ‘juxtaposition’, my first thought was of one or more human figures set against part of the colossal ruins of the city of Petra, but as I searched my photo library I happened to come across this one first.
It shows a team of window cleaners carrying out the (almost literally) uphill task of cleaning the exterior of the headquarters of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. I took it from my own office in that edifice, which was on the 23rd floor. I can’t remember how many floors there were exactly – about 36, I think, so these poor guys still had a way to go, in 40 degrees-plus heat and supported only by an individual safety harness.
Before I retired, at least they were given a safety cradle to use, but it certainly made me resolve never to complain about my own job again.
Lens-Artists Challenge: Unusual Crop
Posted on February 17, 2026
The challenge this week is to crop an image to provide a new slant on the subject. This is one of my favourite parts of the editing process; after all, isn’t it always good at least to try and find a new angle on a subject?
For this exercise, I’ve cropped and rotated the original photo, which is of the exterior of one of the smaller shopping malls in Abu Dhabi, to produce something that is at the same time structured yet almost abstract. For comparison, I’ve also reproduced the out-of-the-camera image below.
Lens-Artists Challenge: Zooming
Posted on May 30, 2025
I’ve been interested in photography since I don’t remember when, but it was only when we were living in Abu Dhabi that I graduated to a proper grown-up DSLR camera. This would have been about 22 years ago.
Fired with enthusiasm, I did a couple of weekend photography courses and one of the assignments was exactly the theme for this week’s lens-Artists Challenge: Zooming.
From the balcony of our apartment we had quite an impressive panorama of the Arabian Gulf, the Corniche and.what you might call ‘downtown’ Abu Dhabi. The Sheraton Hotel was just at the end of the street, so I practiced some zooming using that as a subject.
The significance of the number 37 is that this photograph was taken around the time of the 37th anniversry of the founding of the United Arab Emirates.
Lens-Artists Challenge: Go-To Places
Posted on April 22, 2025
This week, John has set us the interesting challenge of showing our ‘go-to’ places. To be honest, I’m pretty happy to be here at home most of the time (not least because it doesn’t involve the hassle of actually getting to anywhere).
We have been very lucky to have traveled to some wonderful places, so I thought I’s just post images from three of my favourite destinations. I don’t think the first two need any further introduction…
This third one may not be quite so familiar. It’s the Corniche in Abu Dhabi as our evening cruise passed the headquarters of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, where I worked for the last ten years of my career. We have many happy memories of our time in the UAE.
Monochrome Madness: Night-time
Posted on April 5, 2025
I took this photograph of a boat that was sailing along the Corniche in Abu Dhabi at night. The original image was pretty much monochrome itself, with just a few flashes of colour from the lights on board.
Lens-Artists Challenge: Wild
Posted on March 31, 2025
Two Arabian oryx bask in the afternoon sunlight on the Sir Bani Yas Island nature reserve in Abu Dhabi.
This species of oryx was getting uncomfortably close to extinction and the establishment of the Sir Bani Yas reserve played a significant rôle in protecting them and allowing their numbers to increase. Here, they are still ‘in the wild’, as it were (there’s plenty of room), but are safe from the predations of man.
Lens-Artists Challenge: Intentional Motion
Posted on October 22, 2024
It’s almost counter-intuitive to move your camera intentionally when taking a photograph, but the effect can be quite arresting.
When I got my first proper DSLR we were living in an apartment in the centre of Abu Dhabi city. I took a couple of photography courses and this is the result of one of the exercises that was set.
With the camera on a tripod sitting on the apartment’s terrace, I aimed it at the night view, which was of a busy road with high rise buildings at the far end.. The effect was achieved with a long(ish) exposure, during which I slowly rotated the zoom lens. Weird.
Lens-Artists Challenge: Two rectangles
Posted on June 24, 2024
The Lens-Artists Challenge this week has been set by Egidio, with the theme of ‘two rectangles’. To me, that seemed like an open invitation to show a bit of minimalist symmetry.
Dusk on Sir Bani Yas Island in Abu Dhabi:
Coming in to dock
Posted on April 25, 2024
A catamaran – used mainly for sunset cruises – comes in to doCK at Sir Bani Yas island in Abu Dhabi.
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