Day 6:
After getting to sleep in, got up and ready to go. Today was a day that I was excited for, getting to go into the desert. When I had first learned that I was going to Oman, the desert was one of the first things I thought of. Eager to photograph the dunes and their abstract lines, I could not wait to get there. But we had a long day and relatively unexciting day of driving between us and that destination. Taking what seemed to be a detour, we stopped at a Wadi. on our way. After the Wadi, where we seemed to linger a little to long, we raced the rapidly falling sun to the dunes. However, we did stop for an instant to allow a group of racing camels to cross and decided to get out and shoot them for a moment. They told us there was a big race the next morning near-by.
After deflating our tires for sand driving, we raced into the desert towards our camp. Huge orange dunes rose on either side of us. In a race against the sun, an all to common theme on this trip, we dumped our gear and piled back into the trucks to get up into the dunes.
With a big grin on his face — Saleh loved sand driving — he guided us up into the dunes, revving the engine in low gear. The sand was soft and powdery. After getting out of the cars, Saleh told me to kick off my shoes, as they would only be a hindrance to getting around. Jason told me to focus on lines and shadows. With only a half hour of light left, I took off looking for those things. Before I could get very far, a heard a roar behind me. Looking around, there came one of the trucks, barreling over the dune on top of my footprints. I had to shuffle through the sand out of the way as fast as I could.
When I got some distance again, I felt like I was in a giant adult sandpit designed for photographer’s. When I wanted a low angle, I didn’t kneel down, but just plopped on my butt. The sand was so soft and welcoming, it felt like sitting on a mattress. The viscosity of the sand did make for difficult movement. Any journey up a dune took some fancy footwork and a bit of forward momentum.
Wish we had had more time. Got some really great stuff. But then saw one of Jason’s shots that blew mine outta the water. Pure Lawrence of Arabia shit. Must learn how to do that. No matter what, it was truly an awesome experience.
Camel racing in the morning will be great. Jason seems to like my pics, but
It’s hard to tell. He reacts to some I don’t care for. Need to learn more about training my eye.
