Deserts Are More Than Sand

Most deserts are not dunes

When people imagine a desert, they picture endless sand. In fact, most of the world's deserts are rock, gravel, clay or salt. A rocky desert gives you cliffs, scattered stones and hard, cracked ground, which is often a better stage for a story than empty sand.

• Iconic Jordan Desert Valley: 275 photos of Wadi Rum in southern Jordan at 6240 × 4160. Its red rock and sand have appeared in many films, from Lawrence of Arabia to Dune (2021).
• Israel Arid Landscape: 140 photos of the bare hills of the Negev Desert.
• Arid Tunisian Landscapes: 89 photos of rocky desert and dry hills.
• Aerial Red Arid Australian Desert: 103 photos of the red and brown deserts of central Australia, taken from an airplane at high altitude. It costs $4.99.

Reading the sand

Sand records the wind. Ripples form across the wind direction, the gentle side of a dune faces the wind and the steep side faces away. Wet sand is darker and holds sharper edges than dry sand. These packs let you study all of this:

• Giant Sand Dunes: 378 photos of huge dunes in the north of New Zealand. It rained the night before, so you can watch the sand dry through the day. The pack adds 4 video clips and 3D samples of the sand surfaces, each about 1 million triangles with an 8K texture.
• Arabian Desert: 104 photos in the United Arab Emirates at different locations and times of day.
• Nordic Sand Dunes: 430 photos from a national park at Thy in northwest Denmark. Cold, grey and moody, for deserts that are not hot.

Tracks, fences and a buried house

People and machines leave marks in the sand that tell a story. The Aerial Sand Dunes with Tracks pack (455 photos, Australia) shows vehicle tracks on dunes at dawn, dusk and midday, from the ground and from a drone. It is useful for rovers, convoys and chase scenes. The Gray Dunes pack (241 photos, New Zealand) shows dunes held in place with mesh and fencing, and a house that sand is slowly swallowing.

Salt, mud and sand turned to stone

• Salt Desert: 77 photos of a salt flat in southwest Tunisia, with panoramas.
• Mud Lake: 177 photos of a salt lake in Otago, New Zealand, that dried out in the dry season and became a mud swamp.
• Sand Canyons and Dune Formations: 215 photos of old dunes that hardened and then eroded into cliffs and canyons at Hokianga, New Zealand. It includes 6 video clips and a 3D sample with 1.5 million triangles and an 8K texture.

For walled towns and bazaars, see our desert city and Silk Road page.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use desert photos for an alien planet?

Yes, and many artists do. Red rock deserts like Wadi Rum and the Red Sandstone Arid Canyon in Kazakhstan are natural starting points. Shift the colors and add a strange sky. See alien landscape reference for more.

Which packs include 3D samples?

Giant Sand Dunes and Sand Canyons and Dune Formations include ready 3D meshes of sand surfaces. You can also build your own meshes and textures from the photos, as the license allows this for your projects. See photo sets for photogrammetry.

What light is best for desert reference?

Low sun, at dawn or dusk, shows ripples and dune shapes best, because the shadows are long. Midday light flattens the sand but shows its true color. Packs like Arabian Desert and Aerial Sand Dunes with Tracks include several times of day, so you can compare.