Desert Escape

Within California's vast landscape lies a stretch of sand known for its amazing beauty and uniqueness. The California sand dunes are home to very few creatures, yet packed full of life and excitement due to the high expectations of tourists. People travel from all around in search of some good old fun in the sand where there is much to do, including; dirt biking, sand sledding, and much more. During the summer two tourists made their way up and down the winding hills in search of a good time. The young father and son had a blast hiking the steep dunes, weaving their way in every which direction. Eventually mother nature started to take her toll on their bodies as the heat of the day reached its prime. The father made the decision to head back for the day, leading his son by the hand as they carefully made their way back to the comfort of an air-conditioned car. All that is left of their presence among the vast landscape is a silhouette and their slowly fading footprints as the wind starts to recreate its original form.

This photo is an example of true love in guidance as this father gracefully lead his child back to a place of comfort and safety. The remnants of their travels can be seen within their footprints in turn providing context from within their exciting journey. It is key to understand the emotion found among moments in time, yet it can become challenging to fully comprehend the true emotions found inside the mind of a subject, therefore by becoming familiar with the common connection between the environment and personage a truly emotional moment can be recreated.

I myself was a tourist looking for photography opportunities within the California sand dunes, therefore I understand the emotional connection there is to be made within the landscape. I had fun hiking to the top of some of the largest sand dunes in the hopes of witnessing the amazing view, and remember the exhaustion that came along side, yet how it meant nothing as adventure pushed me past the limits of discomfort. I remember thinking about the mass scale of it all and how it could be explained in four words; nature's giant sand box. As I reached the top of the largest dune I looked down to see nothing but the vast sand-scape and the wind caring millions of fine particles away into the distance. I felt the most calming peace within that moment, standing on top of the world from my perspective and listing to the sound of the wind beat against my hands. Eventually, I made my way back down, sliding a majority of the way until reaching another much smaller dune that piqued my interest. This time I sprinted my way up thinking that it would be easy, but it turns out that sprinting up a hill made out of sand is extremely unreasonable and after about five steps I had to stop and reconsider how I approached the situation. I slowly climbed my way up and upon reaching the top proceeded to take out my phone, in order to capture the moment. I was surprised to see a young man walking up the dunes with his son not far behind him and could only watch as the little boy struggled getting to the top. At one point it looked as if they were going to have to turn back, but the good father helped his son as they slowly made their way up to the top. After ten minutes or so of walking around after reaching the dune's peak, the young man made the decision to head back for the day, leading his son by the hand as they ended their fun and adventurous journey. Their story will always sit amongst the sandy landscape as this photo describes the story of their perfect adventure.