Our last stop on our winter snowbird season in Southwest USA was at the Mesquite Sand Dunes in Death Valley National Park.
After visiting Coral Pink Sand Dunes in Utah, White Sands National Monument in New Mexico, and Imperial Sand Dunes in California, I knew I was in for a tough trek on earth that moves underfoot with each step.
Please click the images to view larger versions.
Footprints were everywhere as we started out. I softened the image above in post-processing to minimize the trampled look of all the footprints and give it a dreamy effect.
Ray and I were both glad we went after we considered giving it a miss earlier in the day because it had been extremely hazy for a few days and there were no good sunsets since we got there. But I knew it was my last chance, my last real photo shoot of the season before we started to head home.
We were treated to a glorious sunset. I would have been so mad at myself if I didn’t go! The only thing I could have asked for was a dune with little or no footprints, but that was not going to happen in this very popular national park unless I hiked a lot further and was willing to hike all the way back in the dark.
The image above is a high dynamic range image made by combining three exposures in post-processing.
Next time I’ll try to wait until a wind storm passes through erasing all the footprints and wiping the slate clean.
This is Ray walking along the crest of a dune with the mountains in the background.
Well done, that is a wonderful location and you treated it right. Have a safe trip home.
Anne, I must thank you for sharing these marvelous sets of images…. Every shot has its own charm…. The footsteps and the walk along the crest just standout…..
Thank you very much for your kind comments Debopam!
These sand dunes are so beautiful Anne, all of them I see as shapes and it’s so attractive. I’m so glad you didn’t pass them up, you have some incredible images. I like how the sky mimics some of the curves of the dunes in the second image and love the pastels of your most recent post.
Thank you very much for your kind comments Pat! Sand dunes are amazing for finding abstract shapes and curves and the light always seems different on every visit.
Beautiful images, the second stand out, great tones and shadows.
Thank you very much Alberto!
Quite hard to believe this is the USA. You have captured the scenes really well
I know, Nat, before I travelled so extensively in the USA I had no idea there were sand dunes like this! Thanks for your comments.
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Beautiful set of images Anne!
At least these were other peoples footprints – I didn’t think ahead and put footprints in my own shot last week on a beach in the Okanagan! I learned a lesson there at least…
Hi Michael, I hate it when that happens. I think I have trained my husband not to walk in front of me when I’m photographing too. I especially hate when the dog gets out of control and ruins all the sand 🙂 but then again who could blame her? Sometimes I think it’s her mission to be in all the photos!
These are super images Anne. I particularly love the second one that illuminates the outline of the dunes perfectly.
Thank you very much Len, your comments are always appreciated!