Battle of The Dunes.

Kelso Dunes, March 2025

As still and simple as my work may look, it has always been quite physical. I often find that images that appear to have been made just by stepping out of the car, are in fact the ones that took the most effort. Using my recent image above of the Kelso Sand Dunes in the Mojave, I hiked for about an hour to find the right spot, (and an area not covered in footprints), just in time for the magical light. As it was a little chilly and my physical level not half bad for 52, I reached the summit cool, calm and collected. A most beautiful sunset and another hour later I was in complete darkness, great for a bit of ‘Astro Photography’, but not so great for getting back to my truck. This was certainly not the first time I had been alone in the darkness with no cel phone signal in a landscape I was not familiar with and experience has always told me to stay calm and think a little. The mountain I had used as a location point was no longer visible, and I had not taken a compass reading for years, but the answer was simple; I had spent an hour avoiding areas with no footprints but in turn had created my own set of prints. The fact that the footprints were not in a straight line was another matter, and I somehow ended climbing up several more sand dunes. After a good hour I was convinced that I had gone completely in the wrong direction and would have to make some kind of sand-cave and stay the night. Sweaty and feeling totally out of shape, I stopped, turned around, and the truck was right in front of me. Having won the battle of the dunes, I emptied the sand from my boots and drove off triumphant before getting completely lost trying to find the freeway…