Located in Dubai, Burj Khalifa is the world's tallest building to date. Wanting to see this monumental building for myself, I booked tickets a week in advance to see the sunset on Expedia.
My journey began on the ground level of The Dubai Mall a week later. Walking through the mall was cool. There are signs everywhere that lead you directly to the Burj Khalifa. While I miss them (Lol), my wife very easily pointed them out to me – finding the elevator entrance to the top of the skyscraper.
Despite having a ticket time, there is still a line. This was something I wasn't expecting. There were several tour groups that get to go ahead of you and even a fast track lane. :( I was nervous because the sun set was fading fast, and at the pace the line was going I thought I would never make it to the top before sunset. I was right. I didn’t.
As the line started moving and I was able to go, a man behind me shoved me forward in to the ticket collector and my tripod hit a woman in the forehead. While she sat there in pain, all I could do was say "sorry". Then the impatient idiot behind me looks at me and pulls a stupid face while saying nothing and moves on. While I'm not a violent person, I wanted to hit him. Nevertheless, there was nothing I could really do short of causing a scene and run the risk of being removed from the building, so instead I apologized again and continued onto the elevator line.
The elevator is unique in a way that was built to promote anticipation by showing you the floor numbers on the doors and counting down till it arrives at your feet. Once on the elevator, you’re shot up 2,717 feet (the length of 25 US football fields) going from “0” to “124” floors in less than 60 seconds. What’s incredible is you wouldn't even know you're moving if your ears didn't pop. It’s no wonder it’s the third-fastest elevator in the world!
Inside, there is an elaborate display of LEDs in the walls and ceiling for your entertainment during the 1 minute trip. When the doors opened up and with much dissatisfaction, I couldn't see. By now it was night and reflections in glass made for very poor photos of Dubai’s cityscape.
I tried scoping for several shots, by pressing lens on glass and cupping my hands around to block light – still a very ‘SMH’ moment that left me filled with disappointment. At this point I had given up any hope of getting a good shot from the tower that night, so I decided to be a tourist by looking through gift shops and taking novelty green screen pics. I spent time looking through their electronic binoculars. When I was about to leave, I decided to take a lap of the whole observation deck just for the sake of saying I had done it. I found a revolving door to the outside!
Once outside, I noticed that there were glass balconies with horizontal slits! The first thing I did was stick my hands out to take pics of the cityscape. I then decided to turn my back and look the opposite direction of everyone else to get a truly unique shot. It was then that I captured one of my favorite shots of Burj Khalifa. I'm really happy with this shot, as the reflection off the glass and the duality of the light and dark really makes it resonate. What do you think?
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