Dubai photographer reveals how to capture city's stunning skyline from your balcony

Dany Eid learnt how, with some creativity and experimentation, his high-rise building could offer a great vantage point

Dany Eid says he was lucky with how the weather changed over the past few weeks. “It rained and I was able to capture the lightning along with the skylines.” All photos courtesy Dany Eid

Eid says more interesting photographs can be taken during the 'golden hour,' which falls during the early morning and late afternoon, as the light is softer

Eid has learnt to make the best out of staying home, taking a series of photographs of Dubai Marina from his balcony

Shooting during the golden hour can also help achieve more dramatic results, especially if the sky is cloudy

The golden and blue hours will vary depending on where you are, so Eid recommends using the PhotoPills application to make sure you don’t miss them

As shooting from a balcony provides certain limitations, Eid says the experience has inspired him to think more creatively and experiment with different equipment

Eid’s favourite time of day to shoot is during the blue hour, a period of twilight when the colour of the sky ranges from blue to dark blue

The evening can be a great time to photograph, but it can also present its own set of challenges

A photograph of the Aldar Headquarters building in Abu Dhabi, taken by Eid before the stay-at-home measures were put in place

Eid has been working as a professional cityscape photographer in Dubai for the past eight years

A photograph of Downtown Dubai, taken by Eid before the coronavirus measures were put in place

A shot of Burj Al Arab, taken before the coronavirus pandemic

Staying at home has given Dany Eid a newfound appreciation for the view outside his balcony.

While most of us are still adjusting to our makeshift home offices, as residents are urged to stay indoors due to the coronavirus pandemic, the situation is arguably more challenging for photographers like Eid, for whom mobility is a key requirement of their work.

"What would a home office mean for us?" Eid asks fellow shutterbugs on his weekly blog, in which he posts about his experiences as a landscape and cityscape photographer.

“We could be tidying up our photo libraries, editing some images, checking online tutorials or browsing what other photographers are sharing online. But after some time, you miss holding the camera and shooting,” Eid, who is also one of the official photographers of Dubai Expo 2020, writes.

The Lebanese photographer, however, has learnt to make the best out of the situation. Clutching his Canon camera on his balcony, Eid started photographing the skyscrapers huddled on the Dubai Marina skyline.

Scroll through the gallery above to see some of Dany Eid's photographs, taken from his home balcony.

"My balcony overlooks Dubai Marina as well as parts of Jumeirah Lake Towers," he tells The National. "It's an impressive view, but there were still some limitations to consider."

Having a restricted vantage point means there’s only so much you can do in terms of composition, but Eid says the limitation has inspired him to think more creatively and experiment with different equipment.

“I used a wide angle lens as well as Telephoto lenses to capture as many details as possible,” he says, adding that he also began photographing the buildings during different times of the day.

“Shooting during the day time can be ideal if you want to take close-up photographs, play with shadows and later convert the shots into black and white.”

Eid says more interesting photographs can be taken during the 'golden hour', which falls in the early morning and late afternoon, as the light is softer then. Shooting during this time can also achieve more dramatic results, especially if the sky is cloudy.

Eid’s favourite time of day to shoot, however, is during the 'blue hour', the period of twilight when the colour of the sky ranges from blue to dark blue.

The timing of golden and blue hours will vary depending on where you are, so Eid recommends using the PhotoPills app to make sure you don’t miss them.

And then, of course, there’s night-time photography, which can present its own set of challenges.

“When photographing a city or skyline at night, one of the most critical factors that will impact the image is light metering and to control the highlights in post processing,” Eid says, adding that he is careful how much light he lets slip in by adjusting the shutter speed and the f-number. “I usually do multiple exposures and blend several images together in Photoshop.”

There’s also the weather to consider, though Eid says he was lucky with how that changed over the past few weeks. “It rained and I was able to capture the lightning along with the skylines.”