Spent another weekend in the spectacular desert of Abu Dhabi collecting ample amounts of sand in the sensor of the trusty Fujifilm XT-4 and majestically waking up in the desert fog.

At the last petrol station that was on the way to the dunes, we saw a bunch of guys with a falcon. They were blowing water on the bird for it to cool down. Husband went to chat with them, and I trotted along with my camera hoping they would be ok with a photo. They were very happy.

This video is made with Insta 360 Go 3s.

Generally, this spot is known for being quite dark, and we did go there because there was supposed to be a planetary alignment or a parade of the solar system, I am not exactly sure, but always happy to look at the pretty stars.

The Best Time To Shoot The Dunes

At 4 PM the light was just incredible, the sky so blue and the sand so orange… Most of these photos are just JPEGs straight out of Fuji.

The sunset wasn’t very interesting because the sky was very bare, and the foreground was looking rather dark and textured, but I will show you anyway.

We looked (or tried to look) at the stars once it got dark and there were plenty and they were pretty, but it was just a bit annoying that we all had to use the app to locate the planets all the time to keep being amazed… somehow just looking at the stars didn’t cut.

I don’t know why, but I didn’t go take photos of the night sky although there were plenty of opportunities, but it was getting rather cold and I didn’t feel like leaving my spot by the fire (lame excuse).

Waking Up In The Desert Fog

At around 4 AM, the whole place turned into Silent Hill… it got very cold and everything got covered in a thick layer of dew.

At 6 AM I couldn’t sleep anymore because it was too cold and generally uncomfortable, so I decided to climb the dune and wait for the sun to show up to warm up my chilled bones.

Apparently husband got up as well and accompanied the dune climbing.

It was really worth the wait, but it got quite fogged up at some point that it was hard to see anything.

So even though I didn’t shoot any stars and I had abysmal sleep experience, the trip was definitely worth it.

Here is also a photo of a young camel spider who decided to take residence in one of the tents.

Would you like to experience Waking Up In The Desert Fog – Abu Dhabi, UAE?