kimayres

Desert Sunrise

Out in Morocco, at the edge of the Western Sahara Desert, we had camped overnight. As the sun rose over the dunes, I took this photo.
A full back story to...
Read more

Out in Morocco, at the edge of the Western Sahara Desert, we had camped overnight. As the sun rose over the dunes, I took this photo.
A full back story to this photo can be found on my blog here: http:--kimayres.blogspot.co.uk-2016-11-camels-in-sahara.html
Read less

Canon EOS 7D Mark II

settings

Aperture 8/1 ISO 100 Shutter 1/200 Focal Length 22/1

upload_date

Nov, 2016

Views

2111

Likes

+273

Awards

Contest Finalist in World Wonderer Photo Contest

Contest Finalist in Favorite Travel Memory Photo Contest

People's Choice in Morocco landscape Photo Challenge

Staff Favorite

Peer Award

+182

Superb Composition

+22

Absolute Masterpiece

+12

Top Choice

Magnificent Capture

Outstanding Creativity

Emotions

Impressed

Top Ranks

Top 20 rank

Top 20 rank week 1

Top 10 rank

Top 10 rank week 1

Top 10 rank

Top 10 rank week 1

Top 10 rank

Top 10 rank week 1

Top 10 rank week 2

Top 10 rank week 1

Top 10 rank

Top 10 rank week 1

Top 20 rank

Top 10 rank week 1

Top 10 rank

Top 10 rank week 1

Top 10 rank

Top 10 rank week 1

Top 10 rank

Top 30 rank

Top 30 rank week 1

Top 20 rank week 1

Behind The Lens

Location

This photo was taken at the edge of the Western Sahara Desert in Morocco. We had trekked out to the camp the night before, on camels, through a rain storm complete with thunder and lightning - not something we were expecting in the desert!

Time

At 5am, lying on my bed, I could still hear the rain on the roof of the tent. It seemed that we would not experience the sunrise over the Sahara after all. It was a bit disappointing, but nothing was going to detract from the experience of being in the storm in the desert the night before. At 6am I got dressed, picked up my camera and wandered out of the tent. It had stopped raining and the clouds were beginning to break up. I noticed a fellow photographer starting to climb the huge, 150m high dune the camp was nestled beneath, so I went over to join him. About a 1/4 of the way up we looked back and the sun was rising through broken cloud. This was where I realised I had the wrong lens.

Lighting

With the sun was now skimming the tops of the dunes, I realised if I could get low, it might look good if I could get a camel silhouetted against the sky, and use the curve of a dune to create a leading line up to it. It took a bit of scrambling about and quite a few photos, but eventually I got what I was looking for.

Equipment

Before we left Scotland, I decided I would only take one lens on my Canon 7D Mk2. I didn't want the hassle of constantly changing them, particularly in the desert, so had settled on the Canon 10-22mm wide-angle, with the idea it would be ideal for large, sweeping landscapes. Unfortunately the higher up the dune I went, the smaller everything appeared in the camera. These beautiful dunes spread out below me were as small as ripples on a pond. So I left the other photographer to continue his climb while I went back down into the dunes I realised I needed to be down among them, so left Roger to continue the climb alone.

Inspiration

As the sun rose I noticed a camel hobbling up the dunes. It was on 3 legs and the other was bent back up on itself. It must have broken it's leg, I thought, wondering if the guides knew. Then I noticed another camel limping up behind it in exactly the same way. This was too coincidental and suddenly I realised the legs had been tied up - and ideal way to prevent the camels wandering off in the night, and probably a technique that's been used for as far back in time as people have domesticated the animals. The camels then stood completely still, staring into the sun as though it was some primeval worship, and I knew I had to get shot of them.

Editing

Basic adjustments from Raw, primarily reducing the whiteout from the sun and adding a touch of vignette to draw the attention back towards the camel.

In my camera bag

My Canon 7D mk2 is my primary camera. The 3 lenses I use most are my Canon f/2.8 24-70mm, which is pretty much my workhorse lens; a Canon f/2.8 70-200mm which is fantastic for shooting live performances - getting in close in low light conditions; and finally a wide angle Canon 10-22mm for when I need to take in a lot in a small space. I also usually have 2 or 3 Canon speedlites to hand and an assortment of softboxes and modifiers.

Feedback

If I was doing the trek again, and was still restricted to one lens, I would take the 24-70mm rather than the wide-angle - it gives you much more flexibility. I had to fight hard to get this image and feel my life would have been easier had I not been restricted to the 10-22mm

See more amazing photos, follow kimayres

kimayres

kimayres

Desert Sunrise

Out in Morocco, at the edge of the Western Sahara Desert, we had camped overnight. As the sun rose over the dunes, I took this photo. A full back story to... Read more

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow kimayres

Share photos. Enter contests to win great prizes. Earn coins, get amazing rewards. Join for free.

Out in Morocco, at the edge of the Western Sahara Desert, we had camped overnight. As the sun rose over the dunes, I took this photo.
A full back story to...
Read more

Share photos. Enter contests to win great prizes.
Earn coins, get amazing rewards. Join for free.