This is my final shot from my recent trip to Dubai and was taken facing away from the DIFC towards one of the countless new buildings that are springing up all over Dubai. As with a lot of the architectural shots I've posted recently, this one is also an HDR. In this case it's a seven shot sequence, with a one and a third EV interval between each exposure; i.e. the original scene had a dynamic range of around 15 stops. The sequence was shot at f/16 and theshortest exposure was 1/4000 while the longest was 1/15.

What I especially like about this one is that it would be totally impossible by any other means other than HDR, i.e. there would be no way to capture detail in the face of the building without blowing out the sky. That said, it would probably have been better if I had used a larger interval between the exposures, as I only just managed to capture the detail is the shadows at the bottom of the building, but I'm pleased with how it turned out.

As always, let me know what you think.

This is my penultimate shot from Dubai, and probably my favourite portrait in quite some time. If you're interested, the original is here:

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As you can see, I haven't done much in terms of the content (a bit of minor cloning in the background), but did spend quite some time getting the black and white conversion right. In this instance, I used the Channel Mixer, biased towards the blue channel, to accentuate the details in his face and hair.

I'd be interested to hear how you think this one compares to yesterday's.

This is the first of my remaining two portraits from my trip to Dubai, and while I definitely prefer the one I'm going to put up tomorrow, I really like this one too.

While most of the shots I took in Dubai were architecturally oriented, I did manage to get some people shots that I was pleased with, and of the three that I'm going to put up I think this is probably my second favourite. It was taken down at Al Seef, just before the sun dipped below the buildings in the background.

On a totally unrelated matter: I'm pleased to say that I've just finished my latest HDR tutorial. If you're interested you can read more about it on our main tutorials page.

This one was taken from Madinat Jumeirah, with the Burj Al-Arab in the background - supposedly the most luxurious hotel in the world. You get your own butler, chauffeur driven roller, and so on.

Having visited the Sky Bar on my recent trip though (the Sky Bar is the cigar-shaped bit jutting out near the top of the hotel) I have to say that there's a definite difference between opulence and wealth on the one hand, and taste and class on the other. The place screamed money, but it screamed it so loud that I failed to come away with much of an impression of anything else.

That said, if you fancy spending an evening in a room that looks like a cross between a Blackpool nightclub, albeit one with a slightly better view, and an LED science project gone wrong, then you'd probably have a good time :-)

To get back to this image though: this is an HDR, constructed from a seven shot sequence using FDRTools. Once I've had a chance to use the programme a bit more I'll let you know a bit more about it.

This is my last shot of the DIFC, until next year at least, so I thought it was fitting that this one was a bit different. Like a lot of the recent shots I've posted it was taken with my 15mm fisheye, but the distortion is much more pronounced in this one. I know that won't be to everyone's taste - the fishy look can become a bit repetitive - but I do think that it suits this subject.

As with a lot of my recent shots, this one is also an HDR (produced with Photomatix Pro), though I only used three shots spaced by around one and two-thirds of a stop. In this case I didn't want to produce a typical HDR-like image, but did want to bring out the detail in different areas of the image without using a whole load of masks and adjustment layers. As such the final image required nothing more than an increase in contrast (using a single Curve) and a minor boost to the saturation.

I was going to post something other than a shot of the DIFC tonight, but this is one of only two that I have left so I thought I might as well post them now. Both were taken with my 15mm fisheye, but this is a) the more natural looking of the two, and b) my least favourite of the set.

I do have a couple more shots of the DIFC that I'll be putting up over the weekend, but this one is the last of the HDR's (the final two were shot at night, and while I did blend the exposures, they're not true HDR images).

As with the previous ones I've put up, this was constructed with Photomatix Pro from a seven shot sequence (-3 to +3 EV). Unlike the others though, I've gone for a slightly less dramatic look with this one, and may include it in my next tutorial.

As always, let me know what you think.

I'm now back in the UK – somewhat fatigued from the travelling – and will be posting another eight shots that I took while in Dubai. In the meanwhile though, here's the very last frame I shot before coming home.

As I mentioned last week, my favourite shot of Rhowan – the snow queen – was used to publicise GPP 2008 in Dubai this year. Her face was everywhere – on pamphlets, other publicity documents, posters, and so on – and I posted an HDR shot of one of the posters on the day I arrived in Dubai.

Anyway, to cut a long story short – as I'm half asleep this evening – this one was taken after the closing event on Sunday evening, and while I'm mildly offended that someone would discard the pamphlet in an ashtray, I do think it makes a good photograph.

I'll tell you more about my trip tomorrow when I'll post another HDR of the DIFC.

I do have another eight shots that I'll be putting up from my trip to Dubai, but by the time this one gets posted I'll be nearly home – sitting on a train, somewhere between Manchester airport and Blackpool. I'll probably be complaining about how cold it is, despite having spent the last two weeks moaning about how hot it's been in Dubai, but I'll definitely be looking forward to getting back to Libby and the kids.

As for this one: it's another HDR of the DIFC, and the twin towers in the background are the Emirates Tower hotel - the 3rd most luxurious in the world (according to their website).