Wow. I have seen the tourism photos floating around the internet of this place, and it certainly looked beautiful, but a bit unreal. Your photo shows it, in real life! It is a gorgeous image and could the water be any more fabulous?

:) Nor do I! Great compositon. Did you use a gradient filter?

Thanks swoozyq.

E y e V i s i o n: I used a .6 ND grad with a hard transition and a polariser.

Good venue for a tutorial weekend ? :-)

Nice shot! And fantastic colors!!!

But I have to correct you: since december, there are two 7 stars hotels in the world: the second one is in Milan, Italy. It is named Town House Gallery (situated in the Vittorio Emanuele Gallery) ;-)

Cheers

Wow. I'm always impressed with your compositional skills. Quick tech question: how do you select your exposure bias? I've been reading up on exposure and only recently noticed the variety of exposure bias in your EXIF. Sorry to get technical ...

Wow fab shot - Blackpool's pleasure beach must be having a warm spell - is that a new ride with the two flags on? ;-) Just wondering if you were going to indulge in any duty-free shopping 85L ......

Bet you're really missing the cold snap that Britain has been enjoying David.

I gather the light was just brilliant on Blackpool beach ....!!!!!!!

Beautiful! Makes me want to go there!

wow! nice place. nice capture to match. i like the time of day...the white waves and the hotel perfectly highlighted.

Beautiful photograph. You are so lucky to be in Dubai. =)

With the quality of photography that I've seen over the last few months I would say you aren't far away from your big break Dave. Yet another great shot! love the circular polarizer here!

Ohhh..you're in Dubai!

I'm going there next summer hopefully, no doubt it will be brilliant.

A story about the Burj, my friend visited Dubai last year, and went for dinner at the hotel, and who should be in the lobby...none other than Michael Jackson!

They didn't get to speak to him because there was a circus of people around him, but how cool!

Have a great holiday!

Very nice picture. The gradation in the sky, the multiple blue tones in the hotel, the sea and the sky... I love it. I had never thought of Dubai as a possible destination for my holidays, but I should reconsider ;)

Love the blues.
I think I'd rather kill myself than stay there. How utterly soulless.

Nice composition. Love the contrast between the palacious hotel and the 'burbs on the left.

An interesting image. Great colors and framing. Well done.

Nice contrast between the 'matte' filtered sky and the more vibrant ocean colours.

That architecture is so amazing. I wanna go in there and see how it is inside, I don't imagine to stay there for a night ;-)

The breaking waves add an important item of interest to the foreground, but the rendition of the near breakers looks like it's been badly affected by compression?

Wow this image is greater. Your polariser has really darkened the sky and the sea has a great texture. Did you up the saturation on the sea becuase that hue is so strong. Such a cool hotel too. The perspective is great. So yes, in conclusion what processing did you undertake? Do you like Dubai or feel that it is the land of excess.

Excellent - I was wondering whether or not you were going to shoot this; you've pulled it off nicely! Beautiful waves too.

Nice blue sky, David. ;)

I hate Dubai. All they do with their money is spending it on useless things, such as this hotel and fake oceans. What people don't see is the poverty growing in the country. I guess they're blinded by all the money. Just imagine what they could've done with it instead...

Sorry for the off topic and negative energy... :)

Thanks everyone, and I'll try and pick up your comments tomorrow, but it's been a long day today and I'm bushed.

Mmmm Blackpool beach and tower have certainly changed for the better Dave...

;-)

Watch out for that tide!

Love the almost vignette affect due to the polarisation and good to see you are getting use of them NDGrads at last, how you finding them?

Great shot. The service mentioned on the site sounds impressive and it better be with the price tag of a 1000 quids.

I guess I'm the only one, but I don't like this shot. Unfortunately I can't say why. (PMT?) But it's just about the only shot on this site that I haven't been inspired by.

It's pretty impressive (so I'm told). Apparently they have more staff than guests!

I don't suppose I'll ever get to stay there either.

Wonderful shot.

wonderful! I'm work in hotel near burj al arab and I dont see same good

Ten things I hate about Dubai: 1.Materialism and Superficiality; 2. Constant construction=disappearing nature; 3. Highway terrorists (drivers) who are arrogant, rude,selfish, competitive (”Me first!”), & above all, dangerous (mostly men under the age of 35); 4. Foreigners (expats) who think it is their country and feel entitled to disrespect the nation’s cultural sensibilities (If you want to dress like a hooker, drink in public, etc., THEN GO HOME, please); 5. Bloodsucking Emiratis who have pushed cost of living so high that they may eventually wind up with a glut of empty villas & apartments after the poor middle & lower income people have abandoned ship, leaving big-shot owners and employers with no employees; 6.The HEAT; 7. Laborers who are paid so little; 8. DISRESPECT of show-offs toward service-people and underlings–that is so sick; 8. A government opening the doors to all evil for the sake of their nation’s fame/prestige/glory/wealth enhancement–damn the effect on the environment or morality; 9. “Muslims” not practicing their noble religion, but instead acting like dogs; 10. All the others trying to make some quick money by lying, cheating, etc.; 11. The nosy people who are always asking me excessively personal questions; 12. Little good reading material except for bestsellers–the Borders Bookstore here is so cheesy; 13. Rude people who don’t know the meaning of the word queue; 14. Rude people who block your exit when your car is parked; 15. Sometimes employing Emiratis just to fill a quota, when they are OBVIOUSLY unqualified and incompetent; 15. Heavy traffic; 16. Lack of beaches and exercise facilities for people who prefer a non-nudity environment (couldn’t they just allot SOME space for the modest, who don’t want to have to see others stripped off? Please don’t tell me “don’t look” when you’re crossing in front of my path wearing those tiny, ugly speedos that look like women’s pantis–yuck); 17. Laborers who STARE at me through their bus windows, for no apparent reason; 18. Body odor of the unwashed, the garlic-eating, the beetle-chewing, and those who have overdosed on cheap cologne; 19. No place to park–I spend half an hour just trying to park at the bank, and I’ve tried branches in many locations; 20. Apparently disgusted or arragant looks at me in my hijab by European ladies who have CHOSEN to come to an ARAB country (do they wish I would just disappear?); 21. My hijab-wearing girlfriends cannot find a job in this “Muslim” country, UNLESS they are Emirati, the only women ENTITLED to wear an ABAYA and hold onto a job–what equality!! Fix THAT, you blasted rulers of Dubai, please!—-OOPS, sorry, that was more than 10, but I feel that I was just getting started!