Dune Textures

As we wandered around the Dunes, a friend commented about how cool the texture of the sand was.  I knew that the sand had cool textures, but because of that, my mind (and eye) skipped over it and became blind to it.  Thank goodness for the fresh eyes of my friend!

 

One of the first things we noticed was how the sun reflected off the crystals in the sand.  The sand at White Sands is made up of gypsum, not quartz.  I don’t know if it’s the white color or the gypsum, but the sun was hitting it perfectly and it looked like bunches of little diamonds were scattered in the sand!  The little flecks of white are the little “diamonds”!

 

I like this image because the design is so perfect and complex and man had nothing to do with it.  The deeper horizontal lines and the softer vertical lines are created by shadows from the sun, the sand and the wind.  So cool!

 

When I looked at this texture, it seemed to move and flow.  When I saw the photo, it wasn’t moving and flowing, so I added a bit of blur to give you the idea of what it felt like looking at it in person.  It almost made me dizzy!

 

When I looked up this dune, I loved the feel of the texture running all the way up to the sky.  When I was processing the shot, I liked the white of the sand and the lower clouds, but the blue sky seemed out of place somehow.  So, I converted it to a black & white image and now it looks like what my mind saw out on the Dunes.  The harsher texture and pattern of the sand is nicely offset by the soft pattern of the clouds.

Enjoy!