Iceland has been on my list of places to photograph for many years, but the idea of coming here had gained momentum after I discovered a passion for capturing people in otherworldly locations. Iceland is a place where movies are filmed to ensure the audience is transported to another world so it should surely work for me as well? I’ve been incredibly fortunate to be able to visit some remarkable places in the past few months and to be honest I thought I was done with my trips for this year but the network effect of having creative friends found me booking tickets to Iceland the month before.

I was holding my phone when a WhatsApp notification appeared on the screen from Elena. “We’re downstairs!” It was a dark and rainy morning in London, a perfect way to leave for a warmer island. I got in the front next to the driver and simultaneously greeted Mark and Elena behind me, whilst also apologising for the early start. Our final moments in the UK were spent in Gatwick airport sharing a homemade cheesecake that Elena had brought. A nice symbolic gesture, but also an indication of how we were all going to enjoy spending time together. Afterall, you can do anything with people that you have shared a cheesecake with before 6 am in the morning.

I was already awake when my alarm went off but it startled me all the same. I’d been awake for a while now, sleep had been elusive since coming to California as I take ages to acclimatise, but this morning was special and my brain had been busy imagining the day ahead. It was 5 am and my body still ached from being in the car for the last two days as we drove from the Bay Area to Death Valley.

My camera bag was at the foot of the bed along with my clothes ready for me to quickly get going. In the room next to mine I could hear the faint movements of life from my neighbour and shooting partner; Sirena. We’d briefly met the night before after she too had driven from San Francisco. She had greeted me in the lobby of the hotel with a massive smile and an enthusiastic hug, any signs of being on the road for eight hours had evaporated.

I arrived at Gran Canaria airport late on Saturday afternoon on a flight from London. It was March 2nd and I had left behind a British winter that seemed to never run out of rain so the heat of this Spanish island was a welcome respite. Somewhere in the arrivals hall was Cristina, my model and traveling companion for the next week, who had also just arrived from Rome.

We had been chatting about this trip for the past two months but had never met before. We shared selfies via WhatsApp so as to be easier to identify in the busy airport. Cristina was born in the Ukraine, but has lived in Italy for the past nine years and to my untrained ear sounded more Italian.

Kate and I had arrived in Valletta, Malta the night before so had yet to see the city properly. I got up and went out to find some coffee, the benefits of being an early riser being you get to experience new places in the quiet of the morning. This was my first view of the streets of Malta, it was both very new and yet very familiar. The architecture has a Venetian feel to it, the narrow streets are lined with apartment buildings each one with ornate enclosed bay windows. I found my coffee and as I sat down to drink it I spotted a nun. At the same time I got a text message from Kate who was out and about and had also spotted nuns.

We were in Malta to take photos, but also to be tourists and experience the place. If you could do both at the same time that would be an added bonus and by now it was clear we both had an affinity for seizing a moment.

You could be forgiven for thinking the salt pans of Gozo were created millions of years ago by meteorites or perhaps they are the remnants of an alien structure. Visually they are immediately ancient, belonging to a history that we couldn’t possibly have learned about at school. The islands of Malta are rich in this same history, one that attracted countless civilisations over time. At the heart of the Mediterranean, Malta is studded with ancient fortifications that illustrate the strategic importance of its location for militaries and trade alike.

I have wanted to visit Petra for many years. It’s one of those places that is immediately recognisable by your friends and yet the same people might struggle to say exactly where it is. It has been the backdrop to movies and covets history from many of the major civilisations this planet has witnessed. It’s an ancient city carved into the sandstone mountains and who’s monuments have stored the treasure of pharaohs or welcomed the Greek and then Roman empires. All of this is framed within a jagged mountain landscape that is only made accessible by enormous canyons.

I found myself in the lobby of a hotel on the outskirts of Salt Lake City in Utah waiting for a chap called Dmitriy, that classic American name, to take me to meet Jenn, the lady who would be the model for our trip. I would later establish that Dmitriy was of Greek origin but born in the Ukraine. I love to travel and I truly enjoy meeting new people, but this was definitely out there, even for me. I was alone in Utah and about to meet two total strangers for a photography tour that specialises in art nude in the desert, how did that happen?

A few weeks back I got an email from work to say that I had a lot of holiday allowance left to use, the second most in the business and we are 750+ people. Use it or lose it! This was timed with me chatting with a model who I had worked with earlier in the year and she was planning a trip abroad, a photo tour of salt lakes and the Moab desert.