Pic(k) of the week 44: Desert Spaceship - Dubai Silicon Oasis HQ
For my personal Architectural work, I've always been a big fan of Black and White, high contrast images. Now that the Summer is finally over in Dubai, it is a perfect time to go out there and "make" some images!
This is exactly what I did a few days ago while wondering around Business Bay just before sunset. Often referred to as the "Blue Hour", about 15 to 20 minutes before sunrise and after sunset, this is the perfect time for Architectural photography.
Even though the "blue light" is not directly visible in the Black and White conversion below, it gives the image the high contrast look, I was aiming for! In case you are wondering, the building below is the HQ at Dubai Silicon Oasis (DSO); a "Free zone" promoting modern based technology companies, obviously inspired by Silicon Valley in Northern California.
As I happen to live just around the corner, this odd shaped building has been given different nicknames by the community such as "The Batman building", "Pineapple building", etc... Personally, as the DSO site has been built on the edge of the desert, I'm calling it our "Desert Spaceship".
Image details:
Fujifilm X-T1 with the Fujinon 10-24 f 4 lens
ISO200, 19mm (29mm full frame equivalent), f4
Exposure bracketing -3/+3, shutter speeds between 1/3s and 27s
Merge to HDR Pro in Photoshop 2014 CC to 32 bit file
Lightroom 5.6 to develop 32 bit file
Nik Software SilverEfex Pro for black and white conversion
Recently, I bought an eBook written by two Architectural Black and White photography gurus; Joel Tjintjelaar and Anna Gospodarou. Titled "From Basics to Fine Art", this 424 page eBook is not cheap but is full of inspiration and editing techniques. Highly recommended if you want to dive deeper into the world of Fine Art Black and White photography.
Remember: "Life is not Black and White; it's a million grey areas" - Ridley Scott
Happy shooting,
BJORN
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