Home to the largest gypsum dune field in the world, White Sands has a unique look unlike anything I've seen. Since gypsum is naturally water-soluble, it can compact and become more solid than other types of sand (Wikipedia), so unlike sand dunes on an ocean beach I found it easy to walk up and the dunes at White Sands. We arrived about an hour before the monument closed for the day and soon set out across the dunes exploring.
It didn't take long for the late afternoon light playing off the ripples in the sand to catch my eye...
A little later, after climbing up to the top of a dune, I looked in the opposite direction of the setting sun and saw an expanse of white sand and clear, cloudless blue sky...
Looking in the other direction was the dune blanketed in ripples of sand in the foreground and the dune behind it, cloaked in shadow, a study in contrast...
Then the sun faded further on the horizon, plunging the east side of the landforms into shadow...
Dunes crisscrossing one another, intersections of light and shadow...
Long shadows as the days fades away...
The next morning we went back to catch the sunrise, a cool, clear, quiet morning, perfect for meandering around the dunes...
When processing the photos later, the insistence of line, form, and shadow in catching the eye informed the decisions made in the digital darkroom, leading to experimentation in tone to try and invoke the feeling I got when in that moment...
All photos taken with a Nikon D7000 camera body, and a Nikkor 16-85 DX VR lens
View my online portfolio here
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