Sahara Sand Dunes Crossing Ridges Black and White
Two ridgelines cross in the low light, and everything else falls into shadow.
This photograph was taken in the late afternoon in Iriqui National Park near Zagora, southern Morocco. We reached the dunes by off-road vehicle with a local driver, after crossing flat stony desert, passing wild ostriches, and stopping at a small oasis. By the time we arrived, the sun was low enough to turn the dunes into dark masses edged with a thin line of light.
The composition is built from those lines. Narrow, bright ridges run across the frame, meet, and part again, drawing the shapes of the dunes against the dark body of the sand behind them. In the foreground, a pale patch of rippled sand is marked with tiny tracks, the only trace of anything alive. Above, the sky is a soft, hazy grey that barely separates from the dunes, which keeps the whole image quiet and low in contrast.
Shot at f/11 and ISO 64, the image holds fine detail in the foreground ripples while the dunes dissolve into shadow. The warm toning gives the black and white a slightly aged, print-like quality, closer to a darkroom print than to a digital file.
That night we slept in a tent near the dunes, with local families as hosts. This image is from the hours just before.
This print suits spaces that can hold silence. A wide wall, a minimal interior, or a room with natural materials where the eye needs somewhere calm to rest.
EXIF data of the photograph
- Camera Model: NIKON Z 7
- Lens model: NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/4 S
- Date taken: 19. 2. 2026
- Exposure time: 1/160s
- F-Number: f/11.0
- ISO speed ratings: 64
- Focal length: 57mm
- Size of the photo: 7961 x 5307px
