Contrasts - part 6

The next day we went sightseeing on Abu Dhabi island. I took several views of the skyscrapers on the Corniche from across the bay at the Marina. In order to convey the idea of "high", I selected a group of the highest buildings using a vertical frame and a passerby in the foreground as contrast.

Using a horizontal frame, I chose a dense group of skyscrapers to portray " solid".

One of the sights we saw was the highest flag pole in the world. This seemed to be a potential subject for "straight", "high", and "thick". Standing close to the base of the pole, I took a number of wide angle pictures looking up at the flag which emphasized its enormous size:

I also took a picture in silhouette from slightly further away which I felt presented the "straight" characteristic more.

At the Marina Mall, we went up to the cafe in the tower with fantastic views of the city. I had been looking for a high viewpoint as a way to stress the "low" character of a subject or the "small" character of a subject. Reviewing the pictures afterwards, it was difficult to decide whether a small selection or a wider view would be more effective. I chose one of the pictures including two edges of the window frame as a way give the viewer a frame of reference.

I chose another picture where the frame of reference is provided by the shadows of street lamps and a couple of figures visible on the ground.

Both pictures seem to give the feeling in the pit of the stomach of looking down from a high viewpoint. In both cases, I kept just a small element of the roof of the mall in the corners of the frame. I felt that the second image has more impact than the wider view in the other image.

In the evening, there was a little color in the sky. My intention for a picture to convey "dark" was to find a low key subject which could be photographed in low light. This could be a sunset, a persons face or a storm cloud for example. I took a photo from the end of the marina where we were staying of skyline of boat sheds and skyscrapers. I cropped out most of the light sky to allow the dark skyline to dominate the frame.