We made special arrangements with the Park Ranger to enter the White Sands National Park before sunrise. He met us at the entrance gate at 6 AM so we could capture the first light of day falling on the sand dunes. We had scoped at the dunes the day before noting locations of interest with our hand held GPS device so we could return in the dark the following morning. We were rewarded with the soft first light of day as we explored the park to ourselves. This image was made just as the snow was still below the horizon, so there is warm tones in the sky and cool tones on the landscape.