So having moved into my new villa there was the proverbial snag list to be listed and sub-contractors sent in by maintenance to fix the building snags - one minor one being two damaged kitchen unit doors that needed replacing. So whilst the other contractors were tearing up the marble doorway into the main ensuite bathroom which the a/c guys had damaged with their ladder ( yes, it is a comedy of errors), I was washing dishes whilst the kitchen doors were being replaced by a young tall Egyptian who wanted to chat in his broken English. it transpires that he was a qualified social worker, and diver but having witnessed his best friend die in a diving accident he had promised his mother to give up diving and to follow his father's profession as a carpenter despite being a degreed social worker ( he cannot practise in Dubai). But it was his manners which set him apart from the other contractors - quiet, polite, smiling and he gave me the most beautiful compliment I have ever received ... You smell like ... sunshine ! That touched me deeply because despite the chaos around me and my nerves being frazzled after being told that the livingroom floor would also have to be ripped up because of hollow tiles... he had recognised something beautiful and unusual in me . Smile , yes I did ... and glowed ... and am still glowing two days later !

Last night I went out with my good friend Dominic to photograph the world's largest fountains at the base of the Burj Dubai - I have never seen anything as beautiful and challenging to photograph. So whilst he used his wide angle lens on his Nikon D300 firmly settled on a tripod ( maybe one day I will listen to you and bring the triffid with me)  , I settled for some handheld shots of the water fountain itself . By no means an easy task - as the lighting of the water is extreme - thank goodness for my Canon 50D, exposure compensation which I stopped down by -3. This was far more challenging for me as a photographer  than the firework display that heralded the opening of Atlantis last year... and this was the result :


And that was only the one end of a huge fountain that is impossible to capture in a single shot ... the only way to achieve that will be from the Burj Dubai when it is eventually opened to the public. Another shot which will give you an idea of the complexity of the fountain itself ...


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