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I have always enjoyed photographing in the desert due to the many interesting subjects that can be found. This is especially true before sunrise when tranquillity and peacefulness envelop the landscape.

Last December I spent a weekend in the Wahiba Sands desert of Oman, and I took the opportunity to photograph one of my favorite subjects, sand dunes. I woke up early, before dawn, to be greeted by a cold wind. Leaving my tent, I climbed a nearby tall dune to wait for the sunrise. There was no sound whatsoever, and I simply sat down to enjoy the view and the quiet.

After a while, I walked around looking for interesting patterns in the dunes; the wind created many ripples that seemed to snake away into the distance. As the eastern horizon started to lighten, the sands acquired this strong red colour. I knew these conditions would last only a few minutes, so I quickly tried to find a foreground with ripples leading the view into a large sand dune in the distance.

Finding a good framing, I set up my tripod and camera and took the photo with a wide-angle lens. I chose the base ISO in my camera, together with an aperture of f/8, which resulted in a long 20-second exposure. I like this photo for its simple composition and for conveying the feeling I got when I was there that cold December morning. I took a few more frames, and after the sun came up, I went down to my tent for a well-deserved breakfast.