Sharjah Light Festival
Organised by the Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority, the Sharjah light festival illuminates 19 locations across the emirates with light shows accompanied by music and other activities, telling stories and bringing together the community. On the last day of the festival, I ventured out to a few of the locations to capture some of the artistic vision.
Organised by the Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority, the Sharjah light festival illuminates 19 locations across the emirate with light shows accompanied by music and other activities, telling stories and bringing together the community. On the last day of the festival, I ventured out to a few of the locations to capture some of the artistic vision.
Buraq Dam - UAE Mountain Bliss
For the Quadrantid meteor shower in early January. we chose to explore a new spot up in the Hajar mountains of the UAE - Buraq Dam.
For the Quadrantid meteor shower in early January. we chose to explore a new spot up in the Hajar mountains of the UAE - Buraq Dam.
While the dam didn’t have any water - in fact most of it looked very dry - during out visit, it offered a beautiful quiet and dark spot to look into the night sky, surrounded by mountains. The only downside: The flight path of the DXB runway runs almost directly above this area, so you get a lot of planes in the sky.
It’s a relatively easy drive about an hour out from Dubai, and only the last few hundred meters need a bit of careful driving if you’re not in a 4x4.
We had a few lucky moments dawn, starting to see some meteors after midnight on the northeastern side, but I could only capture two on photos - can you spot them?
This short timelapse video below gives an idea of the amounts of planes flying into DXB during the night, slightly disrupting the peace and quiet of the Hajar mountains.
Lunar Eclipse & Blood Moon over Dubai
July 27th saw the longest lunar eclipse of the 21st century, which - astronomically speaking - should have been perfectly visible over Dubai. Unfortunately it was one of the very rare summer days where the sky was cloudy, making for some dramatic moments, but mixed with the usual hazy not creating the best environment for taking good photos. Below the results nonetheless. These were shot in the DIFC area after having scouted out the location the day earlier using the Photo Pills app (which is amazing).
July 27th saw the longest lunar eclipse of the 21st century, which - astronomically speaking - should have been perfectly visible over Dubai. Unfortunately it was one of the very rare summer days where the sky was cloudy, making for some dramatic moments, but mixed with the usual haze not creating the best environment for taking good photos. Below the results nonetheless. These were shot in the DIFC area after having scouted out the location the day earlier using the Photo Pills app (which is amazing).
The Fossil Rock Area
In July 2018 I took another drive into the UAE deserts, this time heading out to Sharjah's famous Fossil Rock area, a beautiful rock formation around the town of Maleha. While not as dark as other spots in the UAE (and therefore not ideal for Milky Way spotting), it makes for an amazing place to venture out at night. Aside from the natural beauty of the rocks dotted into the desert dunes, we spotted a desert fox and scorpions as well.
In July 2018 I took another drive into the UAE deserts, this time heading out to Sharjah's famous Fossil Rock area, a beautiful rock formation around the town of Maleha. While not as dark as other spots in the UAE (and therefore not ideal for Milky Way spotting), it makes for an amazing place to venture out at night. Aside from the natural beauty of the rocks dotted into the desert dunes, we spotted a desert fox and scorpions as well.
NYE 2018 - LightUp2018 - Dubai
Some shots from tonight's LightUp2018 New Year celebration in Downtown Dubai.
Some shots from tonight's LightUp2018 New Year celebration in Downtown Dubai.
The First Milky Way Shoot
I finally made it into the desert at the right time and with the right light to do some real Milky Way shooting - something that was on my list for a long time. Below the results!
I finally made it into the desert at the right time and with the right light to do some real Milky Way shooting - something that was on my list for a long time. Below the results!
