Saudi arabia
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Saudi Arabia

Saudi arabia Desert Tour


Ancient Mountains - Endless Desert - Extraordinary Light.

Tour length

8 Days

Dates

2027: Feb 1 - 82028: Jan 22 - 29

Activity level

Easy

Group size

Max 8

Price

2027: €4,950.-2028: €5,450.-

This eight-day Saudi Arabia Photography Tour is your chance to photograph some of the country’s most extraordinary and rarely explored landscapes. From the towering sandstone valleys of Wadi Al Disah and the sculpted rock formations of AlUla to dramatic desert peaks and beautifully layered sand dunes, Saudi Arabia offers an astonishing variety of photographic opportunities. At times, it feels as though the rugged grandeur of the Dolomites has been transported into the desert.

Every location on this tour has been personally explored and carefully scouted by Max and Madee. After spending more than ten weeks in the region, they have uncovered hidden viewpoints, powerful foregrounds and original compositions that remain largely unknown to other landscape photographers.

This tour takes you far beyond the familiar viewpoints. With their deep understanding of the landscape, light and changing conditions, Max and Madee will guide you to truly unique desert scenes and help you return home with powerful photographs that feel entirely your own.

A Landscape Photographer’s Paradise

Why Photograph saudi arabia with Max

A Landscape Photographer’s Paradise

Saudi Arabia is a landscape photographer’s paradise, with jagged sandstone peaks, dramatic cave views, golden dunes and endless foreground possibilities. Sculpted rocks, desert patterns and natural leading lines offer countless opportunities for powerful images.

Expert Knowledge

Max and Madee have explored Saudi Arabia more than almost anywhere else. They know where to find the hidden caves, unusual rock formations, strongest leading lines and best compositions for changing light.

Personal In-Field Guidance

You’ll receive continuous feedback and composition advice throughout the tour. Max will help you find strong foregrounds and guide you with techniques such as focus stacking, shooting into the sun and using wide-angle lenses.

A True Photography Adventure

The welcoming people, fascinating culture and extraordinary landscapes make this far more than a photography tour. You’ll return home with incredible images and memories of an adventure you won’t soon forget.

tour itinerary

Day 1 & 2

We’ll meet at Tabuk Regional Airport no later than 5:00 PM. After introductions, we’ll travel to our hotel in Duba, where you can relax and recover from your journey. We’ll enjoy dinner together before preparing for our first epic sunrise shoot.

Our adventure begins among the desert dunes, where the soft curves of the sand contrast beautifully with layers of sharp, dramatic mountains. This rare combination creates striking compositions unlike anything you may have photographed before.

After breakfast, we’ll check out and travel to Wadi Al Disah for sunset. Here, we’ll photograph a spectacular mountain using caves, natural stone lines and fascinating rock patterns as foregrounds. If conditions allow, we may even find areas of cracked desert mud to complete the scene.

Arrival and Desert Dunes

Day 3

We’ll begin the thirth morning of our Saudi Arabia Photo Tour at Pinnacle Mountain, where unusual rock formations resemble spaceships. Caves, framing trees, leading stone lines and rounded domes provide endless opportunities for unique compositions.

Max will share his favourite discoveries as the rising sun sends beams through the distant peaks, creating an otherworldly atmosphere. We’ll then use long lenses to photograph Madison standing on a high rock formation for scale, while also looking for camels in the morning light.

For sunset, we’ll visit a hidden valley surrounded by towering cliffs and palm trees. A short walk through a palm forest leads to a streamside viewpoint with several impressive perspectives. If skies are clear, we may stay for an optional Milky Way shoot.

Pinnacle Mountain
a Hidden Valley

Day 4

On the morning of day 3 on our Saudi Arabia Photo tour, it is all about the layers. Vertical mountains rise above the desert, while green trees contrast beautifully with the warm, red-toned sand, creating a deep and almost ethereal landscape.

At sunrise, beams of light may sweep across the cliffs and valley below. Camels sometimes wander into the scene, while trees, rocks and natural leading lines offer endless opportunities for creative compositions.

For sunset, we’ll focus on remarkable cracked-mud patterns, framed by the surrounding mountains. Plants, flowers and natural textures provide additional foreground options, followed by an optional Milky Way session.

cracked-mud patterns
Layers at sunrise
Camels

Day 5

We’ll return to The King Area for sunrise, but this time we’ll explore entirely new viewpoints and compositions. A nearby mountain catches the first light beautifully, revealing shapes, textures and details that are easy to miss without knowing exactly where to look.

For sunset, we’ll photograph a striking mountain illuminated by the final golden light of the day. Its elegant shape works beautifully with a variety of foregrounds, including trees, natural rock lines and small caves that can be used for creative framing.

Return of the King

Day 6 & 7

From the evening of Day 6 until the morning of Day 8 on our Saudi Arabia Photo Tour, we’ll stay in AlUla, a region filled with extraordinary rock formations reminiscent of Cappadocia. Exploring this landscape is incredibly rewarding, with endless foregrounds hidden among the fascinating shapes, colours and textures of the rocks.

With so many pinnacles and formations, choosing the strongest background can be challenging. Fortunately, Max knows the area intimately and will guide you toward the best viewpoints while helping you refine your compositions.

Our comfortable hotel on the Saudi Photo Tour, is approximately 45 minutes from the main photography area, giving us access to a wide variety of spectacular sunrise and sunset locations.

AlUla

Day 8

We’ll begin our final day with one last unforgettable sunrise shoot. Afterward, we’ll travel directly to the airport, stopping for lunch along the way.

The tour may be coming to an end, but you’ll return home with memory cards filled with powerful and original desert photographs. More importantly, you’ll take home the memories of a remarkable adventure through one of the world’s most extraordinary landscapesβ€”an experience you won’t soon forget.

Last sunrise
Tabuk Airport

INCLUDEd & EXCLUDEd

Max is one of the most experienced guides you could have on a Saudi Arabia Photo Tour, with extensive firsthand knowledge of the best locations, compositions and changing lightβ€”from the extraordinary landscapes of AlUla to the dramatic desert valleys of Wadi Al Disah. Alongside him is Madison McCardle, an incredibly talented landscape photographer and assistant, always ready to offer guidance and help every participant get the most from each location.

During the Saudi Arabia Photo Tour, we’ll stay in a carefully selected range of hotelsβ€”from luxurious and comfortable properties in Tabuk and Alula, to more basic accommodation inside the nature reserve of Wadi Al Disah. Although simpler, the nature reserve lodge offers a beautiful and peaceful setting, with a lovely garden and plenty of outdoor spaces to relax. We’ll also enjoy delicious breakfasts and dinners prepared at our accommodation, allowing us to experience the tranquillity of the surrounding landscape.

Great food is an important part of our Saudi Arabia Photo Tour. After each morning shoot, you’ll enjoy a delicious breakfast at our accommodation, while evenings feature a generous buffet of authentic Saudi Arabian cuisine.

On travel days, we’ll stop at a local restaurant for lunch or dinner. If our photography schedule doesn’t allow enough time, we’ll visit a supermarket to stock up on fresh food, drinks and snacks for the journey.

Depending on the group size, our Saudi Arabia Photo Tour will use two or three comfortable 4x4 vehicles, providing plenty of space for everyone and their photography gear as we travel between AlUla, Wadi Al Disah and the country’s other spectacular desert locations.

After signing up, you’ll receive a massive bonus package: all 18 of Max’s editing tutorials, 9 Lightroom preset packs, and 3 exclusive In-the-Field tutorials. Everything is downloadable and comes with lifetime streaming access, so you can keep learning long after the tour is over.

One photograph of your choice can be edited by Max from start to finish, with the entire process screen-recorded and shared with the group. While completely optional, these edits can provide valuable ideas for processing images from each locationβ€”and give you access to additional editing videos featuring photographs and techniques from across the tour.

q&a

Max Rive and Madison McCardle will ensure your Saudi Arabia Photo Tour is smooth, productive and unforgettable. With extensive knowledge of the region and its most spectacular photography locations, they’ll provide expert guidance, hands-on assistance and personal support throughout the journeyβ€”helping you capture the very best of Saudi Arabia’s extraordinary desert landscapes.

The Saudi Arabia Photo Tour has an easy physical difficulty level. Most photography locations are close to the vehicles, with little to no hiking required.

However, those who enjoy exploring will have plenty of opportunities to search for unique viewpoints and original compositions. Max encourages this creative freedom, helping you get even more from each location.

Despite its past reputation, Saudi Arabia is a remarkably safe and welcoming destination for tourists from around the world. The country is undergoing an exciting transformation, with significant investment in tourism, modern infrastructure and excellent highways.

Throughout our Saudi Arabia Photo Tour, you’ll also experience the genuine warmth and hospitality of local people, who are often excited to welcome international visitors and share their country.

Saudi Arabia offers excellent drone photography, but bringing a drone can be complicated because entry rules are not always clear. Drones may be held on arrival in Riyadh, while customs in other cities may ask about your intended use. We only fly at two locations, both of which are also excellent for ground photography.

Saudi Arabia’s landscapes are unlike anywhere else on Earth. Their beauty lies not only in their scale, but in their unusual mountain shapes, intricate rock textures, hidden caves and natural leading lines.

One of the greatest advantages for photographers is the incredible variety of perspectives. Moving just a few metres can completely transform the scene, revealing an entirely new foreground, frame or composition. As a result, every sunrise and sunset offers the potential to capture multiple portfolio-worthy images.

During this Saudi Arabia Photo Tour, Max will guide you to all the spectacular locations featured in the itinerary while encouraging you to explore, experiment and discover your own original compositions.

January brings mild, mostly dry conditions to Wadi Al Disah. Daytime temperatures generally range from 15–25Β°C (59–77Β°F), while mornings and nights can fall to around 5–10Β°C (41–50Β°F). Occasionally, temperatures may feel colder before sunrise, especially when it is windy.

The comfortable daytime weather is ideal for photography, but we recommend bringing warm layers, a light down jacket and windproof clothing for sunrise, sunset and night shoots.

For the Saudi Arabia Photo Tour, we recommend bringing both a wide-angle lens and a telephoto zoom. A focal range from 14mmβ€”or widerβ€”up to 200mm or 300mm will cover most photographic opportunities. If you own an ultra-wide 10mm lens, Saudi Arabia’s dramatic caves and rock formations provide the perfect opportunity to use it.

your guide

Few places on Earth offer so many powerful photographic compositions within such a compact area as Saudi Arabia.

Max Rive

Photographer. Explorer. Storyteller.

Max is driven by discovering new perspectives and original compositions in the natural world. His distinctive landscape photography has earned him international recognition and taken him to some of the most spectacular and remote places on Earthβ€”including the extraordinary deserts of Saudi Arabia.

Every location on this tour has been personally explored and carefully scouted by Max, from dramatic mountain ranges and hidden caves to sweeping sand dunes and surreal rock formations. His detailed knowledge of the region allows you to photograph unique scenes that remain largely unknown.

Max also genuinely loves guiding and sharing his knowledge. Throughout the tour, he’ll help you refine your compositions, understand the light and make the most of every location. His goal is for you to return home not only with outstanding images of Saudi Arabia, but also as a more confident and experienced landscape photographer.

testimonials

See more testimonials inside the tour PDF

Yun Thwaits

Saudi Arabia exceeded my expectations in both comfort and photographic potential. Our entire group returned with some of our best landscape images and unforgettable memories. Max and Madee were exceptional guidesβ€”we truly couldn’t have asked for a better experience!

Yun Thwaits

Saudi Tour '26

MARK TEITELBAUM

I strongly recommend Max Rive’s workshops. His carefully scouted locations, timing, composition guidance and post-processing advice made my first Saudi Arabia workshop outstanding. He supported every participant in the field and continued helping us even after the tour ended.

MARK TEITELBAUM

Saudi Tour '25

AMY WONG

My Saudi Arabia tour with Max and Madee was an incredible experience, and the photos were even better! Their composition feedback and hands-on assistance were excellent throughout. If you’re considering Saudi Arabia for photography, I wholeheartedly recommend joining them.

AMY WONG

Saudi Tour '26

YOUR ADVENTURE STARTS HERE

Questions?
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Have a question about the Saudi Arabia Tour or ready to join? Send me a message below and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.

tour pdf

all you need to know

tour pdf

Download the complete guide to the Dolomites Autumn Photo Tour, with everything you need to know before joining.

  • Full day-by-day itinerary
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  • Packing list & gear recommendations
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REFUNDS + CANCELLATION POLICY

Refunds

Refunds will be issued using the same payment method as the original transaction. Please note that transaction fees and currency exchange differences may affect the final amount received. Approved refunds will be initiated within 72 hours of the request being confirmed.

Cancellation

The €1,500 deposit is transferable and may be applied to a different photo tour.

For the remaining balance, which is due 90 days before the tour start date, the following cancellation and refund policy applies:

  • More than 60 days before the tour: 70% refund
  • 45–60 days before the tour: 35% refund
  • 30–44 days before the tour: 15% refund
  • Less than 30 days before the tour: No refund