Black and white photo of four hikers silhouetted on the ridge of a dune at Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes, Death Valley.

The Committee

Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes, Death Valley National Park, California

I was out scouting for sunset when this arranged itself above me: four people on the ridge, mid-argument about whether to keep climbing. One pointing, one very obviously finished. It reads like a single panel of a comic. I framed wide and let the dune take most of the picture, because the joke only works while they are still small enough to be figures rather than people.

Nikon Z 7_2 · NIKKOR Z 24-120mm f/4 S · 120mm · f/8 · 1/250 · ISO 125

February 14, 2026

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