Sunset at the Palace Fountains

[Gem]

I feel like I really dropped the ball on this one and that I was presented with a great opportunity to take a fantastic picture but fell faaar short of that. I welcome any suggestions as how to improve so that next time I can take a better photograph.

Emirates Palace Hotel Fountains, Abu Dhabi, UAE

[Ben H]

Wow - what a photo opportunity, indeed!

[Marko]

The bolt of sunlight is too bright and is stealing the impact of the beautiful water fountains. I'd change my position for next time.

[landon9720]

would it have worked better with the sun behind you?

[Mad Aussie]

That's a tough one Gem ... waiting until the sun was lower would produce less light (lessening the too powerful sun highlight) and then necessitate a longer exposure which would blur those fountains. That might be a nice alternative shot but I like the way the fountains have been caught as this is now.

Maybe a circular polariser turned to block more light from that left side could help but would need a higher ISO I would think and may ruin the backlighting throigh the lamp posts which is so cool.

Perhaps Marko's suggestion is best, reposition a little to eliminate the sun in the photo just enough to still get the strong gloow and 'suggest' the sun is there. By doing so you might also be able to get more of the reflections of the fountains in the foreground.

Having raved on about all that ... when I first opened this page and saw the photo I had a 'wow moment' which I always take to be a positive sign personally ;)

[Gem]

I thought about shooting with the sun behind me but there were too many people in the background and I didn't like that.

Aussie, thanks for the suggestions and comments! I can't really use a polariser since I only have one of those advance point and shoot cams. Hopefully, I'll be getting a dSLR in a few months though :)

[Mad Aussie]

Damn nice work with a point and shoot camera.