Dang! I wish I could think of ideas like this. Right on the 1/3s! What I really like about this image is the statement it makes. It's one of those photographs where the title is essential for the image to make sense.
I love this setup and think that with a few improvements you'd have a top-notch shot and should even consider a series of these. The square crop works very well, here. (Of course I'm a rare fan of square crops). Here are my thoughts; take them for what they're worth:
I can see a couple of spots where the base material is showing. I think that this could have been avoided by putting the sand in a pan or somehow getting a thicker layer. That might have also given you deeper grooves which would have given the image more depth. I think the "gold" is the key element of the image and has not quite been done justice. I'd be in favor of some softer light, sharper focus, a lower angle and possibly a tighter crop. You might also get some good results with different DOF. Regardless of my nitpicks, it's quite interesting and gets high marks for creative thinking!
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