A simple idea of just taking a portrait shot and doing something interesting with it.

I took a serious of shots of the professional model with a digital camera and decided on the best pose from a series of 9 shots. The location wasn't important as she was going to be cut out of the location.

I took a background shot from an image library which was a real photograph and not a painting or digital image and composed the model against it so that both model and background complimented each other. 

I changed her clothes to more suitable attire. Once I was happy with the clothes, I started working on the lighting to give a more dramatic look to the face. 

I presented the final shot to the model which she approved and authorised.

The background desert was to create a feeling of mood specifically  of warmth and tranquility. At one with nature.