Upon landing in Abu Dhabi for what was supposed to be a quick 1-hour layover en route to Muscat, Oman, we learned that Wizz Air had canceled our second flight on the connected itinerary. They then refused to refund the first leg because we’d already taken it… genius. We found a flight for the next day, so we sprung for The Ritz Carlton Abu Dhabi, which was shockingly cheap at like $150/nt or something ridiculous. When things go sideways, you might as well upgrade your experience and turn the situation into a positive.

Getting the shot: Stunning architecture, but an unfortunately sheep-y experience. We were made to follow a single path with designated “photo stop” zones marked by a sign with a camera on it (vomit) for visitors to take pre-determined photos. Nevertheless, determined to take better photos than the general public, I took this 12-shot HDR composite and compiled it in Lightroom. At 77 megapixels it is ridiculously high resolution and prints very well in large formats. Taken with my favorite prime lens, the Sony 100mm f/2.8 STF GM.

6-photo composite