Shooting extreme sports is no mean feat. It's a high-pressure environment, where sports and action photographer Naim Chidiac often has only a few minutes to capture an image. Taken during the 2023 Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia, this image is a favourite of his as it conveys the sheer size and emptiness of the desert, and how solitary the riders are who navigate it as part of the race. Taken on a Canon EOS R5 with a Canon RF 70-200mm F2.8L IS USM lens at 70mm, 1/1000 sec, f/2.8 and ISO 125. © Naim Chidiac
Hanging outside a fast-moving helicopter as it crosses the sun-kissed dunes of the Arabian Peninsula sounds like the kind of adventure reserved for the likes of spy heroes in Hollywood thrillers. But for extreme sports photographer Naim Chidiac – who regularly covers motor races that cross the desert – it's just another day at the office.
Even when you're shooting in the sky, you need to keep calm and remember the fundamentals. "I try to design my pictures in many ways," says Naim. "To see lines, guidelines and compositions. This is very important – even when you're on a helicopter, moving at high speed, you need to be able to see it."