Weekly Photo Challenge: Warmth

“Warmth” certainly gives plenty of scope for interpretation.

Below is one take on it: an image from a few years ago of a very small and very warm grandson surrounded by very warm colours in a children’s playground in Abu Dhabi (it was October: trust me, it was warm).

WarmthWPC

For a completely different take on “warmth”, here is my contribution on this topic for last month’s ‘Photography 101’ challenge.

Photography 101: Architecture

A view of – a small part of – the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi.

In ‘real’ life, of course, this would be shimmering white marble (topped with gold) against a clear blue sky.

Architecture

Photography 101: Mystery

Q: What lies in the blackness to which the eye is irresistibly drawn?

A: The basement. This was taken (with a Blackberry) leaning over the emergency stairwell on the 23rd floor of my old office building in Abu Dhabi.

The idea of depth – and therefore mystery –  depends crucially on the sunlight shining in through the glass exterior from the right, producing the shadows on the stairs on that side and the highlights on the metalwork on the left.


Mystery

Photography 101: Solitude

This image was taken in Abu Dhabi and is the exterior of the building in which I used to work. Luckily, I wasn’t a window-cleaner like this poor guy, suspended about 200 feet above the ground with an awful lot of windows to clean. I can imagine he felt rather alone.

Solitude

Weekly Photo Challenge: Nighttime

I’ve been waiting ages for an excuse to post this picture. Taken from the balcony of my apartment in Abu Dhabi during a particularly spectacular thunderstorm.

Nighttime

Weekly Photo Challenge: Split-second story

This photograph was taken a few years ago from the balcony of my apartment in Abu Dhabi. A fire had broken out in a residential building just around the corner (on Electra, for the locals) and the emergency helicopter service was called in to rescue some people who were trapped on the roof. You can just see one being winched inside the hovering helicopter, hanging on to a crew member for dear life.

I converted the original to black and white, partly for dramatic effect but also to get round the impact of the smoke haze on the colour original.

Helicopter Rescue

Weekly Photo Challenge: Monument

It’s a moot point whether the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi has been around for long enough to qualify as a monument, but it’s certainly monumental…

Monument

Weekly Photo Challenge: Reflections

Lots of glass-faced buildings in Abu Dhabi…

Reflection

Weekly Photo Challenge: Perspective

This is the building in Abu Dhabi where I used to work…

ADIA

…fortunately, not as a window cleaner.

Window cleaners

(Happily, they now have proper cradles for the job)

Weekly Photo Challenge: Threes

The Sheikh Zayed (Grand) Mosque in Abu Dhabi is a strong competitor for one of the modern wonders of the world. There are many photographs from there that I could have included for this challenge, but I finally chose these three pictures of one of the many huge chandeliers in the main prayer room.