Moadh Bukhash sometimes wakes up well before the crack of dawn. He then checks his photo equipment, and drives, sometimes for hours, to find the right location, well away from Dubai’s bustling city life.
It's all about getting there in time to catch that narrow window of time that gives him the best conditions for drone photography. "Sunrise works the best. You only get about 45 minutes before it's too sunny to shoot," he tells The National.
Bukhash, who works as the director of group communications for Enoc, always had an interest in all things creative, with a love for photography stemming from ‘back when Flickr started’.
When Instagram cropped up and gave a platform for amateur photographers to showcase their work, he naturally started posting pictures online. But it only was after a friend introduced him to drone photography, that he realised he could combine his love for photography and technology to create some truly spectacular shots. That was about four years ago now.
“What I love about drone photography is that it gives you an incredible vantage point. You get to see angles that people wouldn’t otherwise have the opportunity to see. Sometimes, I use virtual reality goggles and I can basically see what my drone is seeing. It’s hard to use it for more than 10 to 15 minutes without feeling giddy but, during that time, it’s like you’re flying,” he says.
While a lot of drone photographers simply take as many pictures as possible and hope for the best, Bukhash believes that capturing that perfect shot is all about planning and preparation. That means using Google Maps and satellite imagery, and scouting a location prior to a shoot.
Clearly, what he’s doing is working: scroll through his Instagram, and you’ll find breathtaking images capturing UAE’s topography, all taken from a bird’s eye view.
Having been born and raised in the UAE, it probably comes as no surprise that Bukhash’s ultimate goal is to showcase a side of the UAE that people don’t generally get to see.
“When people generally think of Dubai, they think of its city life –but it has so much more to offer,” he says.
“The UAE as a whole has the full spectrum: beaches, deserts, mountains and hilly regions, clear water. It’s absolutely remarkable. And I want more people to see these landscapes.”
