The photographer has shared comprehensive information about their intent and creative vision for this image. Please examine the details and offer feedback on how they can most effectively realize their vision.
Self Critique
This is from Death Valley NP, January 2023, Mesquite Dunes. I’ve really enjoyed processing my dune images in b/w, and this one really feels right with that treatment. I like the balance of light and shadow, curved and straighter layers. I wonder about cleaning up the image more than I have; dunes are rarely unmarred. I decided I’d clean up evidence of humans, so I removed some footprints on one of the layers. Otherwise, if nature did it, I left it. I’m curious if you think it could be improved with more touch up?
Creative direction
I wanted to convey a bit of the mystery of the dunes, the play of light and shadow. I’m interested in what you see and what emotions surface as you look at it.
Specific Feedback
I’d appreciate feedback about any aspect of the aesthetic, conceptual, emotional or technical elements of the image. As mentioned above, I do wonder about how much/little to clean up. I also would like your assessment of the b/w processing. I don’t feel particularly sophisticated in my approach to processing; I definitely do more than just tap “V” to convert it, but with entire books written about b/w, I’m sure something is giving away my amateur status. Suggestions welcome.
Taken handheld on a Canon EOS R. It was evening, and I’d just two frames before been taking ICM, and I hadn’t adjusted the shutter speed or aperture.
Description
Taken during my first trip to Death Valley, Jan 2023. There seem to be a million ways to interpret the dunes, and being a lover of layers, my first impulse was to focus on where I saw the most interesting contrasts and lines.
what an awesome image! I love those dune abstracts and I have been there myself in February (we stayed in Bishop).
I think you spotted an interesting part of dune layers, that was indeed worthy an image. Concerning the clean-up, well … I’m a clean-up guy, so personally, yes – I would have cleaned-up more. But what bothers me more is some kind of ghosting that I see, especially at the bottom layers. I don’t know what it is, but I can see, that you took a 500mm shot at a 1/13th of a second. I guess, it’s just blurred because of a slight movement.
The same happened to me this winter with some shots as I did not pay attention to the shutter speed. There’s a rule that says, your shutter speed should at least correspond to your focal length (500mm=1/500 s). In the worst case I crank up my ISO, because I know that with the new algorithms in Lightroom and Topaz, noise just doesn’t play any role anymore.
Otherwise you could use some Orton effect to blur the highlights. Maybe that eliminates the problem, too. I guess that’s what some of the photographers that I like do with their dune shots to introduce some more atmosphere.
Anyway, I took a shot at another crop that leaves out those smaller layers at the bottom and strengthens the ones that have the same size. Sure, you would have less layers, but the image appears a bit more uniform to me. Also, you start with a darker bottom which kind of leads me more into the frame. What do you think?
I think @Markus_Albert found the right crop here! The softness in the image bothered me also, as it didn’t appear to be intentional. I hadn’t peered at the details to see the SS but he pointed out the 1/15 sec and that would account for it. Even on a tripod, the slightest instability would be a problem at that focal length. I wonder if anything like f/18 was needed here – that just necessitated a very high ISO and short SS. That’s the sort of thing to bracket and choose later, and of course maybe you did that.
At any rate, other than the blur, it is a lovely image. I think the B/W conversion is very well done. The noise doesn’t bother me, I think because the B/W gives it a film look.
Thanks, Markus, for your thoughtful feedback and the crop/cleaned-up variation - I like it! You’re right that my shutter speed was ultra low considering the lens. Looking at my images from that outing, I was taking ICMs immediately before this (and therefore no tripod) and probably just decided to stay still for a moment, not thinking to adjust my settings. It was also evening and fairly low light. I’m familiar with the focal length/shutter speed guideline, but it’s obviously disregarded when I’m doing ICM. It’s a good reminder to me to slow down (it was my first time/day in DV and in the dunes and I remember taking a while to settle in!) and check my settings.
I’ve never tried an Orton effect on my dune shots - interesting way to get around certain issues. I appreciate the point about ghosting lines and providing a resource to learn more. And your crop is great - improves it quite a bit. Thank you!!
Thanks, Diane, for your kind words and feedback! I’m glad the b/w processing hits the mark. As mentioned in my reply to Markus, there were circumstances that led to the softness/blur that, now that it’s been brought to my consciousness, will be more top-of-mind for me in the future . Your point about bracketing is well-taken. I’ve not done it before and need to learn. In the field I also realized that focus stacking - another technique not in my bag of tricks - should be bumped up on my list of skills to learn! Thanks again for taking the time to comment, Diane.
Ahhh – I hadn’t seen your reply to Marcus – it was while I was writing. A very good “excuse” – If I had a dollar for every time I haven’t checked my settings, I’d be able to buy every lens there is!
There is often minimal need for focus stacking in distant scenes – maybe 2-3 focus points, if any. It becomes more important in close-ups, as DOF becomes less with smaller distances to the subject. (But it is a complex equation with many variables, so I don’t want to oversimplify it. It varies with focal length, sensor size, aperture and subject distance, as well as the amount of diffraction softening that is tolerable the subject.)
I’d love to see some of your swipe results! That’s a tool I need to use more often.
Great photograph. The question of how much Photoshop is too much has been around forever. I usually leave it the way it was though I could see myself cleaning up a few footprints, but not the way nature presented itself. I think Markus’ crop works better than the original in terms of leading the eye from the bottom up. But as I said, great photograph. Thanks for sharing.
. Your point about bracketing is well-taken. I’ve not done it before and need to learn. In the field I also realized that focus stacking - another technique not in my bag of tricks - should be bumped up on my list of skills to learn! Thanks again for taking the time to comment, Diane.
If I had a dollar for every time I haven’t checked my settings, I’d be able to buy every lens there is!