Evening Solitude + ALTERNATE

The cloud gods were nice indeed. This is gorgeous, Dave. The warm lighting is outstanding and I love those diagonal ripples in the sand. Of course the sky is killer and those bird tracks are a wonderful additional element to the scene. Great work.

Ed

This is sweet, Dave! Great perspective with the dune lines heading into the scene and lots of depth heading out to the great sky (viewed from afar by a lazy old guy). No suggestions here, most enjoyable. 

Dave, This is some very nice work! The detailed version looks fantastic to me. Super job capturing this wonderful scene and these conditions.

Nick Bristol
Lone Rock, WI.

Dave, you've brought the gentle gold in the dunes and in the sky together beautifully here.  I think I can count the grains of sand near the bottom in the larger view.  That's amazing sharpness and detail.  The shrub and the critter tracks show well and add interest in the larger view.

Fabulous colors in this, Dave.  Sweet light indeed.  The diagonal ripples leading to the bush, with its shadow, and the distant dunes and light pushing me back up and to the right make this a very pleasing composition. Exposure blend looks great. 
ML

A wild sky reflected some nice light on those dunes. Good job keeping the top of the bush from running into the background . The cloud gods were on your side indeed. Beauty.

Dave, you've got a real gem here. I love the angle of the backlight to accentuate the ripples in the sand. The radial patterns of the sand is wonderful. The animal tracks really spark my curiosity.

Now that is some sweet light you had...
 

Dave: OOOOOOoooooooo!, or something like that came out of my mouth when the larger version opened. Spectacular light throughout the frame. I especially like the little touch of the tracks which gives this a bit more life. Superbly crafted image.>=))>

Dave,

I love everything about this, the light, the color, the patterns in the dune, the little tracks and of course the amazing nature story of this plant in the middle of the dune.  Love everything... but not crazy about the composition.  I think not unlike some of the recent ice/shore images, it's difficult to include everything, from a terrific sky, to a compelling dune image (or ice formations..)  I think you actually did the best you could in terms of composing - while choosing to include all these elements.  I'm also betting that you may have tried to isolate the plant and the classic, but beautiful ripple patterns in the sand?

Looking forward to more from you and Harley from this quick trip to DV

Lon

Lon, Thanks for the candid feedback.

Curious if a landscape orientation is preferred where the bush is a bit less prominent. . 

Nailed it with the repost. I really like the landscape view. It gives a better sense of space, depth and vastness. I like the other one, but like this a whole lot more. 

Dave,

Yeah, what Harley said on the repost. :-)  While the original is slightly more dramatic and a tad more contrast, the landscape view is just more "comfortable" and matches the gentleness of the dunes.  I like how the sky/clouds can kind of spread out in this view.

Thanks for putting up this view.

Lon

Beautiful image, Dave. I like both orientations, but prefer the original vertical. In a perfect world, I would have preferred the bush to be placed on the left of the foreground, so it is leaning in, but nature does not always cooperate, and I realize a comp with the bush on the left may have overall not worked as well. 

The lighting and colors are fantastic. I like both versions but probably the repost a bit more. I agree with Scotts observations about the plant's location and direction. It's not a deal-breaker though. Actually, that is minor thing that shouldn't be overstressed imo. The image looks really good.

What a colorful scene, Dave. Hard to choose the best. In the first I like a lot the sand's drawings in the very foreground. They give much a sense of being there. While in the repost the bush is better positioned. Sorry for not being of any help :)

Mattia

Love the light and color in this, Dave.  As for favored compositions, I definitely prefer the second one, the horizontal image. It still shows the fine detail of the sand ripples and the great color, but it also introduces a sense of vastness to the scene.  It makes me want to search and explore the image beyond just the bush.  The bush is a nice element but in the vertical it's kind of a solo show, but in the horizontal, it's just one of many elements in a much stronger image.  Just my .02, of course.  Truly beautiful capture.

Sweet, Dave. I like it.