I first captured this image on Fuji Velvia 50 35mm color slide film in 1997 at Great Sand Dunes National Monument, Colorado. Since then, the monument has gained national park status and the art and science of photography has come a long, long way, and my vision has evolved with my personal development and values.
Back then and for many years following I created images in a representational style, chasing magic light by backpacking many miles up and down mountains and sand dunes. The more remote, the better. I was influenced by John Fielder, Galen Rowell, and a few others to explore with my camera.
These days I shoot for a different purpose without the justification for all that exertion and edit my images with a perspective on what I wish to communicate that is 24 years older. I am interested in imagined realities in an abstract style.
The image above is a contemporary version of the original capture, edited with modern digital tools to fulfill my vision of one such imagined reality.
Specific Feedback Requested
Technical Details
Is this a composite: No
Unknown settings
Processed in Lightroom
Yes, that’s very subtle but makes all the difference. Transformative. Can I borrow it?
Actually, @Igor_Doncov, the image you reposted never showed up clearly on my desktop browser and I mistakenly thought you jokingly reposted a strongly pixelated image. My response to that was also intended as a joke. Then I see on my phone app the image you reposted was not a joke. My bad. Please accept my apologies.
As I look at your repost on my phone, the only difference I see is in a lightening in the bottom third of the image to open up some of the shadows, I think. It’s very difficult to tell on the phone.
Matt, really nice dune abstract here. I love the darkness at the bottom of the image, I think that helps the image a lot. I also how long of a line there is in the foreground dune. Processing looks good to me.
My only suggestion (albeit a subjective one), is that I wish there was slightly more breathing room above the crest of the shadowed dune in the URC. In Photoshop, I added 2% canvas at the top, and applied content Aware Fill. I thought that improved the image slightly.
@Diane_Miller, @Ed_McGuirk, Thanks to both of you for your comments. Diane, you are right about tracks - it’s so important to limit where one walks to preserve those areas where the camera points. It’s good to find an area and walk out the same as one walks in.
Ed, thanks for your feedback on the luminosity and about breathing room. I’ve been considering doing something with that URC as well. I think Igor lightened it somehow, too in his repost.
I like this. The curves and luminosity changes are captivating. On my screen (a 5k iMac) there are some digital artefacts in your image. For example on the right hand border about a third from the bottom there is a bunch of pixels which are pure black and there is some banding for there. I can also see some artefacts on the ridge going from the LRC.
