Daniel Cheong’s surreal cityscape photos capture some of the world’s tallest skyscrapers engulfed in fog. The photographer stakes out incredible vantage points in the city of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to shoot the tops of ghostly gray buildings as they puncture the thick carpet of fog.
Because the intense fog typically occurs at the change of the seasons, capturing these photos requires patience and planning. Cheong studies weather patterns, waiting for ideal conditions. Once the natural elements seem to align, he ascends to 70th– and 80th-floor skyscraper levels to achieve the unique perspective and lets his shutter fly down at the clouds.
Cheong’s photos are created through blending multiple exposures of a scene into one composite image. This technique lends depth, a sense of movement and an augmented spectrum of color to the images. “‘Straight out of the camera’ is a concept which I am not familiar with,” the photographer says on his website. “I don’t pretend to show reality, but an idealized version of it.”
