Desert Ripples

"The desert is the environment of revelation, genetically and physiologically alien, sensorily austere, esthetically abstract, historically inimical"

~ Paul Shepard ~

Let's start with one of my most "favorited" photos on various sites, I would love to have your opinion on it.
This is an old photo taken in March 2008 while camping in the deserts of U.A.E.
Along with a group of friends, we often go camping here and there during our weekends to escape the stress of big cities. We mainly go camp on beaches (so we could swim/dive when hot) but we also go camp in the desert from time to time for a change.

There is really something magical about deserts. Being surrounded by beautifully curved sand dunes, with no sound except for a slight wind. One can only feel inner peace in places like this.

This shot was taken during the night, it was pitch dark, no moon. The sand was very thin and warm.
I used my camera with a tripod, a 30" shutterspeed at f/6.3 with an ISO of 400. I used a torch light I left on the ground on the right side of the photo to emphasize the ripples left by the wind on the sand dunes. I decided to shoot the ripples diagonally to give it more dynamism. The photo was shot in B&W.

It turned out to be as I wanted. No manipulations whatsoever where done on this one. Looking at the abstract forms kind of "relaxes" me, almost like a zen garden, leading the eye into the darkness.
It is times like this that one searches for answers from within, surrounded by Peace.

"To the desert go prophets and hermits, through the desert do pilgrims and exiles. Here the leaders of the great religions have sought the therapeutic and spiritual values of retreat, not to escape but to find reality"

~ Paul Shepard ~