Tempest

Gorgeous light here! Normally I wouldn't like the horizon centered, but here I actually like it. You can't crop from the top or the bottom with out losing a key part of this image. This makes we wish I was back in Great Sand Dunes. Nicely done!

Wonderful light and lines Phillip. The centered horizon works well here.

the clouds are amazing
i'm wondering if you lighten the sands a bit more

well done :)

Beautiful sky to go along with the dunes. I like the little bit of light at the very bottom of the image on the dune. Very nice.

Beautiful light, colors and scene. Really like the repeating patterns in the dunes. Excellent work.

Great clouds.

I like sand dune shots, this one is a winner.

The patterns in both the dunes and clouds are very appealing. Thumb looked underexposed, but this looks right on.

Phillip,

I agree with Benjamin in that you can't crop this because you would lose either the sweet light and layer at the bottom OR drama in the clouds up top. This is quite a wonderful capture and despite the 50/50 comp, I think this captures the Great Sand Dunes AND the dramatic weather in one shot and does it quite well. Great capture.

Lon

lovely - interesting layers here. actually, i'd suggest trying a square, cropping from the top and bottom ... might be interesting to capture all those colours and tones there.!

I haven't seen you here for a long time. Great image.

- Dan.

Magnificent image Phillip! Obviously Friday the 13th is good luck for photography. I like the relative darkness of image as compared to what you normally see here. The clouds of course are amazing, but what I think really makes the difference here are the golden highlights on the ridges, and how they compliment the color in the sky.

I was there on Thu the 12th Great skies, Phillip! My preference would be to crop a bit off the bottom since the 50/50 comp bugs me a bit, but im pretty used to seeing the bottom half of this shot so im a bit biased there

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions. I tried various crops but in the end I couldn't bring myself to do it. I usually try not to do a 50:50 split but I'm just not going to worry about it for this image. "Rules" are meant to be broken!

@Dan--Yeah, been pretty busy with life! Hoping to spend some more time on NPN as I get my image collection under control.

@Stan--We were keeping an eye out for you! Saw another photog but when he whipped out a MONOPOD we knew it couldn't possibly be you!

Tremendous mood captured here with the wonderful light, shadows, and texture. The 50/50 split doesn't bother me here at all. I've got to get back down to the Dunes sometime.

A dynamic and moody image. Really well done, Phillip!

I like the repeating patterns in the dunes and the sweet light on them. The darkness of the overall image has a nice mood to it for sure. I'd be interested in seeing a crop off the top to emphasize the wonderful dunes.

Nice drama and beautiful sand patterns. Very pretty shot, Phillip.