Windswept Velvet

Located in Death Valley, the sand dunes at Mesquite Flats are exemplary of the beauty and solitude of this wasteland.  Hiking through sand dunes is challenging and searching for the perfect dunes that I had envisioned required patience and perseverance.  This scene was created somewhere in the middle of the dune field on a dark moonless night during springtime when temperatures are still reasonable.  The softly lit curves of the dunes contrast with the jaggedness of the surrounding mountains.  The dreamy sky featuring the Milky Way and planet Jupiter is the result of the nearly transparent scattered clouds that occasionally appeared.