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
Overall I think it is OK but maybe a bit too bright in the UR
Creative direction
Open space; recovery from the storm
Specific Feedback
Whatever you wish. All of the above
Technical Details
Canon EOS 5D II; Canon EF 16-35mm @ 35mm, f/16 @ 1/125 sec, ISO 100; Gitzo tripod, RRS BH55; Canon RS-80N3 remote switch
Description
Soft, warm, low-angle morning sunlight, below clouds from the previous night’s rain, strike the great wave-like dunes of glistening gypsum sand, rising within White Sands NP in the heart of the Tularosa Basin. The park opens at 7:00 and I wanted to be on-site as early as possible for the best light, before other visitors arrived and left their footprints. The rain had obscured all signs of humanity as I sought a photogenic scene. I chose the Soaptree yucca as primary subjects and used the dune crests, shadows and ripples to lead the viewer toward them. The high contrast of the shadows and bright sand are irresistible “eye magnets.”
Nice photograph. The URC corner is very bright as you already mentioned, but at the same time that is where the eye goes in the image anyway due to the two yuccas up there. At the same time the foreground is very strong and does hold interest. It might be worth the effort to bring down the brightness of the URC and see how it changes the photo.
Thank you @Youssef_Ismail for your comments. What I found, after attempting to reduce the brightness of that area, was that there was no texture revealed, only a bit of dullness. The RAW image was just blown out there. I apparently did not have the “blinkies” turned on just didn’t see them. Learning curve.
Nice one Bob. The composition and contrast is very dramatic. Even though this is a soft and gentle subject the treatment is really not that calming, but more on the dramatic side. That may be partly due to the repeating light and dark furrows that stream across most of the image.
Thank you@ Igor Doncov for you comments. I think I am guilty of knowing the park was empty and quiet without other tourists and the sand is soft which is what I was thinking when filling out the form field. Clearly that is not how I depicted it. Maybe I should edit the post to make the appearance sync with the description.
This is a great graphical image, Bob, with a strong composition.
I agree with Igor that the way you processed it s not really calming, and mainly suggests the drama associated with surviving in this harsh environment. Even though I only know it from landscape photographs, I wouldn’t have guessed it was made in the White Sands NP. So if your intention was to depict that special feeling of that place, your treatment didn’t really work,. My guess is, however, that you mainly wanted to show the effects of exposure to and shelter from the elements and I think you were successful in achieving that.
I’m not bothered that much by the white in the URC and it doesn’t appear blown out to me. Tother with the lack of ripples behind the crest, the white fits with the feeling of shelter experienced by the yucca’s. The two larger black patches are a bit too black to my taste, so you could consider opening them up a bit with local adjustment.
Hey Bob – A beautiful, creative treatment here, especially the way the dune shadows at upper right set up your Yuccas. I do find myself wondering: Why not more sky? If the clouds have reasonably good contrast and detail, they could balance the image and set off the dune patterns, which are totally different.
Thank you to @gerard and @james7 for your observations and comments. I will reiterate what I said to Igor with respect to my creative direction " I think I am guilty of knowing the park was empty and quiet without other tourists and the sand is soft which is what I was thinking when filling out the form field. Clearly that is not how I depicted it. Maybe I should edit the post to make the appearance sync with the description" or vice-versa. I am not a poet or philosopher. I am someone who responds to the scene in front of my lens and makes an attempt to depict it as best I can, without trying to figure out why. Documentarian?
I minimized the sky because I didn’t think it needed to be more important. I would need to either get lower, tip the camera up or widen the view. I went through that series of exercises and settled on what you see.
You may not be a poet Bob but this is a poetic image. Black and white is, after all, an abstraction in itself, and so emphasizing contrast and creating visual drama is only what makes sense. I’m going to go look at some of my own desert work and see what might be possible with B/W treatments.
