The old photographic cliche of "f/8 and be there" refers to the notion that the most important part of photography is being in the right place. Not in terms of the angle you take a photograph from, but more importantly, leaving your office, home or wherever and going out into the world to make pictures.

This can simply be pictures of your street, but it can equally be the other side of the world, and that's what British photographer Sean Gallagher has done.

My first contact with Sean was a few years ago when, having just returned from a trip to Beijing, he e-mailed in a set of pictures to our yourpics@bbc.co.uk address. The photographs showed tourists having their pictures taken in front of the famous Mao picture in Tiananmen Square, near the Forbidden City, China.

The series stood out immediately and, just as importantly, he'd taken the time to explain why he'd shot the pictures. This wasn't just a random set of images thrown together having returned from holiday, this was a well-planned series. Once we'd agreed a fee and Sean had expanded his captions, we ran them on the site.

A few months later with the fear of bird flu spreading to the UK, Sean shot a story for us covering the north of England's biggest poultry and caged bird market in Clitheroe in Lancashire. Not so glamorous maybe, but again, a well-executed series of images.

Since then, Sean's work has progressed to new levels. Recipient of the first Emerging Photographer Fund grant initiated by photographer David Alan Harvey in 2008 and awarded by the Magnum Foundation, Sean has shown how it is possible to find ways to cover stories you are passionate about.

His project entitled The Silent Wave: Desertification in Western China was sparked by an article he'd read in 2007 about increased desertification in the north and west of China.

It's a story he is continuing to cover, delving deeper into the complexity of the situation, and he is currently on a six-week trip from one side of China to the other, stopping along the way at key points which each represent issues in the wider context of desertification and environmental changes.

The trip has been made possible by a grant from the Pulitzer Centre On Crisis Reporting. Again, it's about commitment.

Sean notes that the:

"Application for the Pulitzer Center grant involved writing a detailed project proposal, along with outlined logistical and financial planning. The proposed project also had to fall in line with the Pulitzer Center's aims and ethos. I made my initial application in July 2008 and got the green light in February 2009."

To be a photographer you need more than an eye for a good picture. You need self belief and a deep passion in your subject, not to mention a fair degree of business sense and organisation.

While on his trip, Sean has shot a story for us from the town of Hongsibao, which was built to relocate some 200,000 environmental refugees from the dry mountainous regions of China's poorest province.

Update, 16:34, Thursday 18 June: As a follow up to this, Sean has now competed his trip and you can see his full report, China's Growing Sands, on his website.

