/ 2025 / Nature / Landscape

• Prize
  Honorable Mention
• Photographer
  Matteo Strassera, Italy

This image was captured in Rub' al-Khali, wandering alone in the desert for several kilometres.
When I found this dune, with a texture so delicate that it seemed to have been sculpted by an artist's hand, I knew it was going to be perfect.
I waited for the sun to descend so that the dune in the background was completely in shadow and only the outline of the dune was illuminated by the light. Then, lying on the hot sand with my 100-400mm telephoto lens, I picked the perfect moment when the wind swept across the top of the dune, raising sand that created a golden veil around its profile.