The Images in this post look particularly good when enlarged ... don't forget to click on anyone of them!

Two weeks ago, I spent a couple of days in Death Valley.  It was the fifth time I've visited with camera in hand, and the photographic opportunities it presents continues to fascinate me.  

I particularly like being in the Sand Dunes at sunrise.  The sweeping lines and the ever changing light as the sun rises are amazing.  On this trip, we hit the jackpot ... the wind had been blowing fiercely the previous night.  As you will see, that means the human footprints from previous explorers will be gone.  It also means the sand patterns will be at their best.  And, as a bonus, the early bird has fewer people to deal with in the viewfinder.  And so it was!  We trudged about a mile out into the dunes before any rays of the sun hit them.  We were rewarded with this view:

The sand patterns were really cool ... even in the flat pre-sunrise light:

Slowly, the reflected light from the rising sun starts to fall on the dunes changing their color from the dark purples and blues; to tan; to the red end of the  color spectrum; and finally back to sand color.  It can be magical!   

I found a little ridge to shoot from and decided this was the place from which to shoot this sunrise.  

This is essentially the same shot as the one above but taken a few minutes earlier:

Finally, the rays started hitting the upper part of the dune.  I couldn't resist taking a selfie ... Adam-style ... thirty feet tall; wider at the bottom and narrower on top!  :-)

I turned around, now facing east toward the Sun, and spotted the first rays hitting this area below my feet.

I immediately recomposed and took my favorite picture of the morning  ... the Sun's rays breaking over the ridge line casting great shadows; helping to sharply define the sand patterns produced the previous night's wind.

At the base of the ridge in the photo above, you can just make out a "white" patch.  It is shown in the image below.  I'm not completely certain but I believe it is formed by water that has collected in that area and evaporated.  I captured this image with some of those Sun rays.  Do you like this one or the next image which is identical except I removed the rays?

Here is a close-up of the sand patterns taken after the Sun was in full display.

I close with this shot which is almost the same as the third image in this post except taken later in the shoot.  

It was a great morning in the dunes!  Much different than Rome ... I'll return back to it in the next post.  I hope you liked this little breather!

Bye for now,

Adam