All places

Sand / Colorado, USA

Great Sand Dunes

Soft ridgelines below the snow-covered Sangre de Cristo Mountains.

Sweeping sand dunes beneath snow-covered Cleveland Peak in Colorado.
Colorado, USAPhoto: NPS / Patrick Myers

Great Sand Dunes sits in Colorado's San Luis Valley, beside the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. The dune field and the mountain backdrop give the eye two very different kinds of line to follow.

A ridge can be bright on one side and almost blue on the other. Look at the boundaries between light and shadow before trying to take in the whole scene.

Landscape background: NPS: Great Sand Dunes landscape and geology

A few things to notice

  • The repeating curves of the dune crests.
  • Warm sand against the cooler mountain shadows.
  • How a single bright edge makes the next ridge visible.

How much of a landscape's shape belongs to the light falling on it?