Today’s Photo Of The Day is a little different. It’s a bunch of photos.
My friend Alex Kunz, also a photographer, pointed out a little place known as the Algodones Dunes in Southern California as a great place for photos. This was about a year ago. He lamented, however, that the coming winter brought throngs of ATVs and other Off -Highway Vehicles (OHV) that tend to leave tracks in the sand. He had visited during the heat of the Summer to capture some great images and they intrigued me. But the crazy fool made them all black and whitey and I wanted to know what they looked like in color!
So we waited out last Winter and then made plans for this Summer. Those plans changed a few times, once when the highs hit 115F. Finally, I had a break in my schedule that didn’t match up with Alex’s, unfortunately. I decided to marshal on any way and hope I could find my way around.
The dunes are amazing. You should go see them. In person.
But it can get hot and when it gets cooler, the noisy (but fun) OHVs come out.
Here then is a gallery of my short time spent at the dunes. I decided to sleep in my car so as to shoot sunset and sunrise. There were no clouds in the sky so I started looking for shapes, patterns, form in the sands.
I might make another trip out this year if the timing works. It’s hard walking in all that sand and it froze up the quick release on my tripod legs, but the challenge of a new landscape is always alluring.
Click on an image for a larger version. If you would like to buy a print of one of these images, drop me a line at peter@peterwestcarey.com.
What a fantastic set of images, Peter! I’m so glad and happy that you liked the place and that I inspired you to go there. It’s great to see the dunes through another photographer’s eyes. And knowing the place and seeing your vision of it also makes me appreciate your photography so much more.
But how come you left out the episode about getting stuck? 😉
Finally I know what this place looks like in colour! 🙂 Great images Peter – I enjoyed this set.
Great shots, Peter. My 1st assignment for Sunset Magazine many years ago was to the Algodones Dunes… 4 weeks after ripping my knee out of its socket. Walking on sand w/ no knee support plus camera gear was a real PITA.
Btw, across the highway (north) from the OHV area is wilderness. No motor vehicles allowed.
Cheers,
– Gary.