Yes, it's a composite: one shot from Dubai, the other from the Ash Sharqiyah region of Oman, taken during one of mine and Issa's trips to my favourite country in the Middle East. Both the originals are visible when you hover your mouse over the 'Show the Original' link at the bottom right of the image.

I really should explain this one, but I thought it might be more interesting if I didn't.

Here's another shot from my trip to Masirah Island (Oman). It's not quite as striking as some of the other shots of these fishing boats, but it does capture something of the peace and tranquility of the trip. I wish I was there now :)

I'm not entirely sure what this is but we found it on one of the beaches on Masirah Island.

Here's another shot from Masirah Island (Oman), taken on a kite surfing beach towards the south of the island.

Here's another shot from my recent trip to Masirah Island, an abandoned structure on one of its many quiet beaches.

My final vehicle related shot from Masirah Island, though what I especially like about this one - the way the car and wires shimmer in the heat - doesn't really come across all that well at this resolution.

My penultimate vehicle related shot from Masirah Island, a mud flap from a Nissan, found on one of the many small beaches we visited during the trip.

Every time I visit Oman I come away with dozens of shots of old vehicles. These are normally Toyota Land Cruiser pickups, dilapidated Nissans, and other Japanese utility vehicles. But on Masirah we also came across a huge number of old Land Rovers like this one (I think it's is a Series III, built some time in the 1970s), probably a result of the fact that there was an RAF airbase on the island until 1977. Anyway, whatever this vehicle's history, I think it was definitely worth photographing.

If you take a look at the original you'll see that I changed my mind about the framing on this one - the original shot seemed too tight, and lacking in context. Either way, this was an interesting find: a Unimog, parked on the southernmost beach of Masirah Island.

In an effort to introduce a bit of consistency into my remaining shots from Dubai and Oman I thought I'd stick with a motor-vehicle theme for the next five shots, starting with this one: a shot of a Toyota Land Cruiser pickup, taken on one of the very quiet roads on Masirah Island.

One of the things I really liked about shooting with my Sony A99 was the built-in GPS, something the X-T1 doesn't have, as it was really useful for shots like this: impromptu stops at the side of the road to capture something that caught our eye. So, on that note, here's the side of the road somewhere in Oman, somewhere between Dubai and Masirah.

And in case you're wondering, I removed the power cables because they'd distorted in the heat haze and I just couldn't get them looking right in the final image. So, a bit of a cheat, but they really didn't look good.

Another shot from Masirah island: three dhows at sunset. Well, four, if you count the one in the distance on the far left :-)

The third and final shot in this small series, and one that may be a bit difficult to work out if you haven't seen either of the other two.

This was taken about four minutes after the shot I posted yesterday, and despite the fact it was shot in exactly the same way it's quite different. To explain: while I was shooting this images I intended them to be silhouettes (or thereabouts) and I was shooting while Issa was attempting a slightly more sophisticated shot. He had a Profoto B1 set up on the beach, with a zoom reflector, pointing at the fisherman as he repeatedly threw the net for us. His one a one-shot deal, I had the benefit of being able to shoot the entire sequence. We did this about three or four times before Issa was satisfied he'd got the shot. So he got three or four images, I got about 40. Most of mine were very similar to yesterday's - the same light, the fisherman close to being silhouetted - but this one was different as I caught Issa's light during the exposure.

What's odd is that I was using a 1/460th shutter speed but the X-T1 syncs at 1/180th so there should have been some cut off somewhere in the frame. Also, as Issa was using a very different exposure the fisherman should have been blown out at this aperture and ISO. All I can assume is that I caught the fall-off from the flash as the power ramped down. Anyway, whatever the explanation, it was definitely a serendipitous exposure :-)

This is the first of three shots of one of the many net fishermen on Masirah island. Of the three I think that this one, or maybe the next, is my favourite, but all three are worth sharing.

As always, let me know what you think.

Moral of the story: don't fall asleep around other photographers :-)

A slightly silly shot today (of Isaa), but one that captures the flavour of our recent trip round Masirah Island in Oman.

My apologies for the lack of recent posts but at the end of GPP Issa and I headed down to Masirah Island where we met up with Catalin Marin for a few days shooting. There was an internet connection in the hotel, but it was much too slow to post anything.

Anyway, to get back to the point, we had a great few days shooting - landscapes, portraits, and another project that I'll probably post at some point - but of all the shots I took I think this may be my favourite.

As always, let me know what you think.

Taken last November, on the ferry from Masirah island to mainland Oman.