After I endured the buzz over of that fighter jet, I headed up the sand dunes. Hiking sand dunes with camera gear can be exhausting. The key is to hike on firm sand, not the soft stuff. A cloudy day was producing flat light. With flat light, you don’t get any shadows which is vital to bringing out the ripples in the sand. However, there was a dark soot or dirt embedded in the sand that provided some good contrast that made these images pop!
The sun struggles to appear through the clouds at Eureka Dunes at Death Valley National Park, California
There are actually people at the top which gives you a sense of scale. I was about a 1/3 of the way up
dawn2dawn photography 
The 2nd to last image is really interesting. It looks like a bird (or jet) in flight, kind of mimicking your buzzed experience. It is also disconcerting how you lose your sense of scale on a barren landscape. What I am wondering is where the heck does the soot you mention come from?
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Thanks Susanne. I concur with your mention of the 2nd to last pic. There is a lot of abstractness at these dunes. I had never seen the dark soot you see in the sand. It must be a heavier dirt that is blown into the sand but because it is heavier, it tends to stay on top.
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Are you on NalGeo assignment, Michael? Awesome shots!
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Thanks Amy. I wish I was on assignment for Nat Geo!
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you should be… NG is on the Instagram.
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Beautiful textures, both in sand and clouds.
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