Dunes, Oregon

Halfway up the Oregon coast there’s a sliver of land
      that’s home to a few hundred acres of sand dunes.
I happened across it several years ago
      when I spent ten days photographing by myself,
            never knowing where I’d be from one day to the next.
On that trip I learned that when you stay close to the ocean shore,
      atmospheric conditions can change rapidly.
It’s sunny one moment, foggy the next.
That’s not the way we do our weather in Indiana.
I composed this image
      by focusing on the sharp plane of sand in the foreground.
I liked the way the animal tracks led my eye into the distance,
      almost inviting me to follow.
I liked the way the dune was almost a burnt orange in the sun’s morning light.
But before I could steady my tripod in the sand and set up the first image,
      a white mist rolled in, transforming the scene,
            creating a depth that wasn’t there before.
It was one of those times I could not have planned any better.
Indeed, planning could well have limited the final image.
So I accepted what came, and photographed what stayed,
      and smiled my gratitude as the morning unfolded.