Amber Waves of Grain

This image was taken during a magical sunset in Death Valley, from the vantage point of the unique and ever-changing sand dunes.

I really enjoyed the wave-like patterns the wind has formed these dunes into. As someone who lives near the ocean and finds joy in exploring seascapes, this was like being in the middle of an ocean, that of sand and desert seaweed.

Single Shot
16mm - f/11 - ISO 100 - 1 sec

While the sky and land are both from the same frame I shot, the post-processing was done by working on the sky and land portions of the image, separately, and then painting in the modified sky, later. This is a technique I recently learned and have been working to improve. The challenge is always avoiding haloing. I used a "nip and tuck" method to remove the halo effect.