A lone pine on the oxidised orange and black ash of the Painted Dunes at sunset, Lassen Volcanic National Park.

The Lone Guardian

Painted Dunes, Lassen Volcanic National Park, California

I gave this an entire evening. The dunes only separate into bands when the sun is low enough to rake across them, and the window where the light held on this one tree — and not on the fifty others around it — lasted about two minutes. The rest of the evening was spent standing still, working out where I needed to be when it happened.

Nikon Z 7_2 · TAMRON 150-500mm F/5-6.7 Di III VC VXD A057Z · 490mm · f/11 · 1/50 · ISO 160

June 28, 2026

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