I was actually heading back when I turned around for one last look at Lake Michigan for the morning. I saw the start of a rainbow, so I decided to wait to see what would develop. It took awhile, but I think it was worth the wait.
Nothing in particular here.
1/320, f/11, ISO 200, 32 mm
Not much processing with this one. Just used Adobe Lightroom “Auto Settings” and removed a few dust spots. (Any good resources on how to clean a Nikon Z6 II?)
It was worth it! Nice shot. I like how the dune edge leads you to the rainbow. I have used the eyelead as a sensor cleaner and found that it works well without being too ‘wet’ like a have found some other cleaners to be. It’s a bit pricey but for me it’s been worth it. Eyelead Professional Camera Sensor Cleaning Kit Authentic Made in Germany https://a.co/d/cWJJjb8
Always turn around is a thing I try to remember when I’m doing landscapes and it’s so great that you did here at the end. That rainbow really makes the shot. The dunes are dune-y, the lake is present but not overwhelming and the path is a nice leading line. If it were mine I’d select for the sky and add a touch of dehaze and maybe clarity to bring up some of the layers and textures there. Careful not to darken the rainbow too much - you can paint it out with a minus brush if needed. A nice addition to your series.
Oh and I don’t need to clean my sensor often because the camera shakes off dust every time I turn it on, but when I did I found just a rocket blower was enough. Turn the camera upside down and blow gently without touching the sensor. Worked like a charm.
Yes, Matthew, always turn around. You landed a wonderful scene here. I like he rainbow and the sky. The light on the foreground is terrific and with the trail heading out to the ocean under the rainbow, it’s just icing on the cake.
Cheers,
David
Have you picked up a dust blower yet? It usually removes 90% of the dust on my sensors. Otherwise, really any cleaning kit will do the job. A single drop of cleaning solution on the wipe and then start at one end and lightly drag it across the sensor. Lots of videos on YouTube.
About the photo- I would exclude the near dune- it’s quite bright opposed to the rest of the scene. When I look at the photo I don’t know what it’s about really, other than a photo of a rainbow in a somewhat random spot. I’d like to hear your thoughts on why you chose to include certain parts of the photo. Cheers!
The goal with these images is to find a scene that would be easily recognized by someone familiar with the park, but a bit more difficult for someone who hasn’t seen it before. The images would then be shared with people who like the state parks in general, but want to learn more about them. To say it another way, I want people to say, “I’ve been to this park, but don’t remember this, and it looks fabulous. Next time, I will have to find that spot.”
As far as the image, personally, I think the brightness of the foreground dune gives the true sense of warmth and brightness of the day. (Maybe the warmth was just because I did a lot of dune hiking to get here.) I also think including a bit more of the scene might help the viewer recognize the location since I was right on the hiking trail. (“Oh, I remember getting to the top of that dune. What a view.”) I did try a rough crop from this image, but didn’t think it worked. In the future, I might try a different angle.
As always, thanks for the feedback!
I moved this to this week’s weekly challenge. I am allowed to do that or should a weekly challenge image be a new submission? (I can move it back to landscapes. I don’t want to cheat. 
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Hi Mathew. Good move checking behind and then waiting to see what happened. It paid off. The things that I like about the image are the rainbow, the broken clouds with the sky peeking through, the path leading from the bottom, the sea and the trees. The only problem with this is that most of these are all on the right side of the image. For me the left side is just not as interesting. I think this image is a great candidate for a square crop.
I like it, and agree with everything you said. Good eye.
