Black dunes are a rarity. Because of Iceland's volcanic past and present, there are black sand beaches, black dunes like these, and unique black lava formations. It was extremely windy when I took this picture. I estimate the wind to be between 50 and 60 miles per hour. The black sand was blowing close to the ground, fortunately, so I made a point of keeping my camera at least four or five feet above the dunes. I also kept my back to the wind to protect my camera. Years ago I had a camera seriously damaged in a sand storm in Utah, and I've never forgotten how much the repair cost. To make this shot, I used the classic landscape formula to add drama and perspective. I shot with a wide angle lens (my Canon 16-35mm III), I made the shooting position very close to the foreground (in this case about four feet), and I used a small lens aperture for complete depth of field. My settings were 1/200, f/20, 800 ISO. I focused about eight feet into the scene.
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