Desert Silence

Minimalistic interpretation of a desert scene at dusk.

Specific Feedback Requested

Composition and impact.

Technical Details

Aperture: f/16
Shutter: 1/20s
ISO:400
Focal Length: 105mm

Processed in Lightroom and cropped to a square frame.

1 Like

Mohib welcome back. I look forward to Alex’s thoughts on this image, but I will just say WOW.

Subtle beauty at its best. I love the simple lines and soft tonal gradations.

Mohib, this is a beautiful image and I love it. I really enjoy the brighter, yet duskier, feel you’ve given it.

I have only 4 suggestions: one, I would darken the top layer above the peaky dune, in a gradient from the top down. I feel like I get sent out of the top of the frame by that brightness. I can also see how keeping it brighter would make the light source feel more discernible, so this is a matter of taste.

Second, I would slightly darken the light on the dune ridges as they approach the right edge of the frame. Pretty bright over there in the upper right and I feel like I get sent out to the right as well.

Third, I love the color, but I don’t think it needs to be that saturated to get the point across. It feels more graceful to me desaturated a bit.

Lastly, I feel like the foreground layer is a bit too prominent - there’s basically a rectangle of empty space at the bottom 1/3 of the frame that has a bit too much weight relative to the rest of the image.

So if you’re comfortable with it in Photoshop, you could try this: stamp the whole image into a layer, and use the rectangular marquee to copy “slices” of the image from that layer, one for the empty bottom section and the other for all the dune layers upward. Then, with free transform, squish the bottom slice and stretch the top slice to fit the empty space.

This may sound complex, but it is a tool I commonly use to shift the relative weight of different areas of an image.

Demonstration:

Wow Mohib, this is an excellent photo! It works very well on its own but I think Alex’s suggestions would make it even stronger. Well done!

Stunning image Mohib! Just stunning. Dune images we get to see fairly often, but pretty rare to get a gem like this. I can’t even suggest anything. It’s a wow image for sure.

great to see you chiming in and participating. Hope to see more in the near future! Welcome back!

Lon

Thank you, David. Great to be back and I really appreciate your kind words.

Thanks, Chris. Much appreciated.

@Alex_Noriega - Thanks so much for your detailed and incredibly helpful critique. I’m a huge fan of your work and I really appreciate you taking the time to share your insights.

@Steve_Kennedy - Really appreciate your input. Thank you.

@Lon_Overacker - Great to be back and thanks so much for your kind words. I look forward to participating more actively.