Under construction

"A local camel herder stands on a dune overlooking Exit 77 near Lahbab, unaware that he has been framed by a broken construction board next to the road," states a small note jotted down by Garth I. Stead, ANM Magazines' Photo Director. Curious to know how to take pictures in a desert, I seek a few pointers from him. He begins: "Shooting in the desert does have its challenges.

The light becomes very harsh, very quickly and so early
mornings and late afternoons are always better for people who want to shoot in those areas."

That said, this picture was taken after the 'magic hour', the hour after sunrise and the hour before sunset. "You expose for the highlights and make the picture 'as saturated as possible' as it allows the colours to come through."

"Play with the clichés of composing with 'thirds', which means that the subject in question should never be in the centre of the picture, and this is what every entry-level photographer on the planet has rammed down their throats in 'how-to-click' books," he adds.

"Creating a sense of depth, of a third dimension, so that the viewer feels they can climb into a picture, is also important.

Controlling the aperture to blur the foreground is the trick in this image. Of course, ultimately, the main point of this picture is its meaning.

The pathos of it – the traditional confronted with change, unaware of its own precariousness - the perfect dune in the background, giving way to the gravel-choked sand near the road.

"One specific tip I want to give is not to leave your digital camera 'on' when changing lenses as the CCD (sensor) pickup has a slight static charge and it would attract dust. So if the camera is 'on', it literally pulls dust into the camera."