Dubai

Living and working in Dubai for a couple of years meant the city views often came right to the balcony. It’s a place that genuinely doesn't sleep, which you feel pretty acutely, but there’s something about all those night lights that makes the endless concrete and steel a bit more agreeable, even pleasant, especially with a delicate crescent moon hanging above the Burj Khalifa.

Beyond the skyline, you find yourself chasing down things like elusive flamingo lakes, only to end up a bit off the beaten path. That’s how I stumbled across a lone camel doing its thing in the dunes, with a massive solar power tower just glowing brightly in the hazy distance – quite the strange sight, ancient desert life right next to something straight out of a sci-fi flick. The sunsets over Dubai Creek Harbour, with dhows sailing past the modern architecture, always seemed to deliver a good shot too.

It’s a city that keeps growing, and trying to get the full scale of it, especially a panorama of the skyline, often meant stitching a few frames together. Whether it’s the quiet grandeur of the illuminated buildings or the unexpected juxtapositions out in the desert, Dubai certainly has a way of pulling the camera out.