Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque

Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque

The ornately decorated columns and polished marble floor in the cloisters of Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque offer plenty of scope for interesting images on their own, but I wanted to add some human interest to this scene. The walkway leads to the female prayer hall and I had seen a few groups of women walking towards it while I was taking photos there. The shot I envisioned was of a single figure walking between the columns, so I waited for a few minutes and this lady kindly obliged and provided the perfect focal point.

The photo was taken with my Canon 5D mk3 camera and the 135 f/2L, one of my favourite lenses. Very little post processing was required. Colour correction, straighten and slight crop were done in Lightroom. I then added some contrast, saturation and vignette, using the ON1 Effects Photoshop plugin.

In all, there are more than 1000 columns in the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. They are covered in white marble plate and inlaid with coloured marble and various gem stones, including amethyst and mother of pearl. All women entering the mosque must wear an abaya, like the lady in the photo, or long loose fitting clothes and a head scarf. Men must wear long trousers and at least a t-shirt. If you visit without suitable attire, then it can be borrowed from the attendants at the mosque.

Prints available here.