One of the challenges of taking great expeditions to photograph an amazing place on earth is letting go of expectaions. We set off determined to get one of those pristine, crisp sand dune ridge shots in Death Valley in the early morning light. The first trip brought reality crashing down. Footprints were everywhere and were seemingly made just to ruin the shot we planned to capture. Then one night we saw a big storm forcast with high winds and said, oh yes, now the dunes will be pristine early in the morning. Nope. People everywhere and footprints too..ugh. As we gave up and were leaving I glanced to my left and saw this rock exactly as the photograph shows. Wet, shiny, dappled with light and shadow. To say it spoke to me would be too much, but it did fascinate me--and still does. I love the near monotone nature of the shot, the textures and the light play from the rising sun. Yup, I went to Death Valley and my favorite shot is of a rock in the sand. Whaddya think? Crazy?