John,
I like the repost best. I was going to say to bad you did not have a polarizer to tame the sheen at the top of the frame, but did not want to insinuate that the photos were a bust due to not having the means to correct something in the field. Nice that you were able to tame it in post.
I have seen colored sands here in California as well on a couple of the local beaches. The colors come from different minerals that have been released in the erosion process. Dark/Black sand comes from magnetite or basalt from volcanic rocks. Green sand from olivine or from glauconite a green mineral formed in marine environments. Red sand is an oxide of hematite and Yellow sand from limonite. White sand from quartz, feldspar and crushed shells, and Brown sand from silica.
It is amazing what we can find when we look. I find that photography has really helped me develop my skills of observation, and from that, an increased curiosity, which leads to satiating that curiosity by studying the subject and then you learn about the nature of this incredible world we live on.
When I first started my journey in nature and landscape photography, I was enamored by the books from John Shaw. Aside from the technical skills I learned his most important bit of advice was āIf you want to be a better nature photographer, then be come a better naturalistā. Knowing your subject inside and out, backwards and front gives you the best opportunity to capture that subject at its best.
Stumbling upon a jewel of a subject like this sand, John, is so fortunate and I applaud you for your effort and skill to present it as you did.