High Desert

Taken at Nubra Valley, Ladakh, in the Indian Himalaya. The camels seen here are the double-humped Bactrian variants, descendants of those that plied the old Silk Road centuries ago between China and the Mediterranean. Sand dunes are a common feature in this valley, and camels pad along over the sand with snow-capped peaks behind them. The wind whips the sand and dust up around their feet and over the dunes creating halos and whirling eddies that are difficult to capture on camera but enormously rewarding when one gets it right.