It has been more than 3 years since I last shot the majestic Petronas Twin Towers. Although the Twin Towers have been shot to death they still attract many photographers who try to capture them from any unique angle or at any specific time when the lighting is different and unique from others. It is not an easy job capturing something that has become subject to various other photographers.
I decided to photograph the Twin Towers last Saturday. I drove there very early in the morning just after “sahur” and subuh prayer. It was still dark before 7.00 am and at 7.00am I had my first shot taking advantage of the dramatic deep blue sky at the crack of dawn. Thank God the weather was fine which resulted in very beautiful lighting without being covered by thick cloud. The nice lighting excited me and I spared no time to take advantage of it before it went away.
It is also a good opportunity to add to my collection of photographs to the image bank at which I park my photos for sale. You can browse my photos for sale at acclaimimages.com here.
Enjoy the pictures!
The Asy-Syakirin Mosque and the Petronas Twin Towers in the background at dawn
The Asy-Syakirin Mosque with the moon
The Twin Towers framed by foliage which is plentiful around Kuala Lumpur City Centre compound
Someone was admiring the majestic Twin Towers
The Petronas Twin Towers and The Menara Maxis
The Twin Towers with its surrounding buildings including Suria KLCC Shopping Complex at its base
The Twin Towers Touching the Moon
The reflection obtained from the nearby pool
And the parting shot is back to where it started - The Asy-Syakirin Mosque
Some interesting facts about Petronas Twin Towers:
- Combined the towers have 1,000,000m2 of floor space;
- At the 41st and 42nd level a skybridge connects the two towers 170m/558f above the ground.
This bridge is 58.4m/192f long, weighs 750 tons and is open for the public since the end of 2000.
The entrance is free (closed on Monday!), but only a limited amount of timed tickets (800) is given out each day. Chances are you will have to wait in line quite a while, before you get such a free ticket;
and you’re only allowed on the bridge for a mere 10 minutes. Worth it?
Maybe, but instead a visit to the observatory of Menara Kuala Lumpur is much more interesting,
though there is an entrance fee there (of RM15);
- The towers have 32.000 windows;
- The building costs were US $ 1,2 billion;
- The towers were designed to symbolise strength and grace using geometric principles typified in Islamic architecture;
- Without pinnacle the buildings are ‘only’ 378m/1,240f tall;
- The towers are part of the 100-acre KLCC Development. Other components of the development include the Suria KLCC, a six-story, 93,000 square feet shopping centre (with 270 specialty shops, cinema’s and a food arcade), Menara Maxis, Menara Esso, the 20-hectare KLCC Park, a 6,000 capacity Surau, the District Cooling Centres to provide air conditioning and infrastructure works within the vicinity. The whole complex was built on a former horse-racing track;
- The towers’ complex includes an art gallery, an 840-seat concert hall, and an underground parking lot;
- The main occupant of the buildings is Petronas, the national oil-company;
- Though completed in 1998, the buildings were officially opened on August 28th, 1999;
- Each tower contains 80,000 m3 of concrete in strengths up to Grade 80, almost 11,000 tonnes of reinforcement, and 7,500 tonnes of structural steel beams and trusses.
- When standing in front of the building and looking towards the entrance, like seen on the picture above on the left (kl015), tower 2 is the building on the left, and tower 1 is the building on the right.
