Desert photoshoots in Dubai
The desert is the reason a lot of people book a photographer in Dubai at all. Twenty minutes past the last roundabout the city stops completely, and what is left is dunes, wind-scoured ridges and no horizon line to speak of. It photographs like nowhere else, and it is the one location here that could not be anywhere else in the world.
I shoot desert sessions for couples, families, solo portraits and flying-dress work — and after enough of them, I know which dunes hold their shape late in the season and which have been flattened by quad bikes.
Sunrise or sunset
Both work, and they are genuinely different.
Sunrise gives you cool air, untouched sand with no footprints in it, and near-total emptiness. The trade is a very early start — we leave the hotel in the dark.
Sunset is warmer light and a far easier morning, and the sand holds the day’s colour. It is also busier, and by then the dunes carry the day’s tracks.
For most of the year I would steer you towards sunrise, simply because of the heat. From December to February either is comfortable.
What to expect
We leave the hotel, drive out, and shoot for around an hour and a half once we are on the sand — the light changes fast, so the session is over before it feels like it started. Then back. Plan for about half a day in total including travel.
Bring more than one outfit if you can. Flowing fabric is the single biggest upgrade to a desert photograph, because there is always wind and it does something no studio can reproduce. Long-train dresses are available to use, free, in several colours.
What is included
- A personal driver to the desert and back — this is not a place to navigate yourself, and the last stretch is not on a normal road.
- Water throughout. Non-negotiable out there.
- A choice of long-train dresses.
- Selected, retouched images at full resolution.
Practical notes
- Wear or bring shoes you can walk up a dune in; barefoot is fine on cool sand at sunrise and a bad idea at 5pm in June.
- Sand gets into everything. Bring a bag for anything you care about.
- There is no shade. A session in June and a session in January are different propositions, and I will tell you honestly which months I would avoid.
Pricing
Desert sessions are quoted per booking, including the drive out and back. Message me with your dates and who is being photographed, and I will send a price and my availability. Book a date with a $50 deposit. Desert work is in the portfolio.
