REWORK (brought up darks, increased contrast in darks):
ORIGINAL:
This is from another fine evening at MacKerricher Park in Mendocino County. The dune features there are rather subdued, and often the most interesting things are the low plants and ripple marks, rather than large dune faces.
Specific Feedback Requested
Any comments welcome, especially about the color. I had a polarizer on (should have taken it off at this point), and it gave the file some weird color casts that I had to even out.
Technical Details
Is this a composite: No
a7r3, 46mm, 1/60s, ISO 800.
bonnie_lampley
4 Likes
I like how the colour ended up. And i love the patterns created by that low light and dark sand.
To me i looks a bit dark, maybe that’s the way you envisioned it, but i would like just a bit more light overall.
But it’s an interesting subject and gorgeous image, thanks for sharing.
Nice directional light image. The dune feels almost alive as it stretched towards the sunlight. Kudos for creating an emotionally charged image that’s more than what’s there.
Beautiful, low, directional light in this image Bonnie. I really like the contrast between the the rippled sand and the relatively flat sand in this scene with the small bush catching exquisite side light. The rule of thirds really paid off with the composition.
Very nice capture. I just love how you make art out of things most people would walk right by without seeing. You have a rare eye for seeing the little things that I wish I had.
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@João_Ferrão, @Igor_Doncov, and @David_Haynes, thank you. João, I’m ok with the relative darkness of this, as I was going for a bit of drama between the light and dark. Maybe it could use some more detail in the shadows behind the plant. Igor, I like your reaching out metaphor; that’s probably a better title than holding on. And David, you’re too kind.
Beautiful composition and very creative, @Bonnie_Lampley! The very first impression I had was that the shadowy dunes, on either side of the bush, look like wings and the bush looks like the body of a butterfly or a bat. I’m leaning towards butterfly! 
I do agree that you could lift the shadows a bit, in the darker areas, if that fits your vision for the image.
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@Jimmy_Arcade, thanks for your thoughts.
Since most of the comments suggested lifting the shadows, I went back and did that, plus increased the contrast in the shadows a bit. The shadowy area behind the plant did look a bit muddy.
I think it is an improvement. Once again, NPN provides good advice - thanks all!
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This is lovely.
It is a pleasure to wander trough the image and never get tired.
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@Bonnie_Lampley I like the re-worked version. I think it works quite well with lifting those shadows and the shadowy area behind the plant looks better. Great job on the re-work!
The one additional aspect I noticed is the very top 1/16 of the image. The textures at the top are a little distracting. You could clone them out, crop and do a content-aware fill, decrease the clarity in that portion, or do a little frequency separation. I really do think it would help to keep the viewer’s eye in the most important areas of interest, if you were to reduce the amount of distraction up there. Just my additional two cents. 
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Thanks, @Jimmy_Arcade. I actually fiddled with those bits of darker textures at the top, and went back and forth more than once. In the end, I settled on a middle course, leaving them in, but toning them down a bit. I didn’t do a frequency separation to eliminate them, but maybe I’ll try.
I really like this image, Bonnie. But to be honest, I don’t think the colour adds much to it . I’d love to see it in B&W, which would emphasize the marvellous texture, light and line that is this pictures strong suit. I realize it would be an entirely different photograph but, hey, two for the price of one 
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I much prefer the original. I like how the darks emphasize the light sweeping in on the plant. The lighting almost gives a feeling of motion.
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