The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
Great Sand Dunes NP is one of my favorite places on the planet. I visited there in the early winter of 2014 and on my last morning there it was really clear and cold and I literally had the place to myself. I got so many keepers that morning that it’s hard to choose but this conversion has garnered many comments over the years. This was moonset at about 10 o’clock in the morning. It is not a composite. >=))>
Technical Details
Sony A77
Sony 70-400 G @ 280mm
ISO 100, 1/640 @ f8
Critique Template
Use of the template is optional, but it can help spark ideas.
Totally cool!! (Looks COLD, too!) The composition and treatment are both wonderful, but I think there could be another effective crop, coming up from the bottom with that last dark area removed. I’d add a gradient there to keep the eye in the frame. Had to give it a try.
My monitor reveals some tonal detail in the sky that was probably not intentional. Put a Levels or Curves above the image and pull the right end far left to reveal it. I’ll use a temporary curves layer like that to see if I need to clone or otherwise touch up dark areas on layers below.
Bill, this is a great catch, with the moon above the dunes. The dunes have good depth, with the moon then adding even more. This looks good as presented, although I wonder if you’ve tried dodging the bright tones in the moon. While it may be natural, it seems like they ought to be similar in luminosity, since both are the reflections of full sunlight.
WOW! Other worldly. Such an engaging composition. I like how the light on the dunes coming from the right side, is also somewhat from the same direction on the moon. I do like the crop suggested by Diane.
I did two reworks, both with @Diane_Miller’s and @Mark_Seaver’s suggestions for the crop and the exposure of the moon and an AI expand on the bottom as a counter to Diane’s crop. >=))>
