Soft and Pink Sands

Gallery: LandscapePosted March 22, 20184,277 views11 comments

I just returned from my very first trip to Death Valley with a few friends. On a still morning, we overlooked Mesquite Dunes with our telephotos. I liked how the colors changed from magentas from 50 minutes before sunrise, to tans, and then golden yellow as the morning progressed. Comments and critique are welcome.

Comments

11 comments

Comment posted by Preston Birdwell on March 22, 2018 at 2:42 PM

This is wonderfully abstract. You might consider burning down the lighter streak at the top. Great color, and a nice composition. I like the pastel color palette a lot.
--P

Registered on November 1, 2003, 471 Posts, 5188 Comments

Comment posted by Mark Seaver on March 22, 2018 at 3:42 PM

These dunes are lovely in their gentle pink/magenta coats. This will be great printed large.

Registered on January 23, 2011, 1103 Posts, 17270 Comments

Comment posted by Ed McGuirk on March 22, 2018 at 5:37 PM

Doug, this is another nice dune-scape, you certainly got a lot out of your DV trip.. When I first looked at the thumbnail and saw all the blue/purple tones, I thought it was a shot of snow mounds. You don't often see dune images presented with this type of color pallette, but I think it's pretty unique and interesting to see dunes with this twilight color cast. The spacing and arrangement of shapes in your composition is very pleasing, nice job on this one.

Registered on November 29, 2017, 19 Posts, 260 Comments

Comment posted by Nick Bristol on March 22, 2018 at 7:17 PM

Beautiful work Doug! Excellent composition with great light and shadows. The pastel pink tones are really quite wonderful.

Nick Bristol
Lone Rock, WI.

Registered on February 1, 2004, 752 Posts, 14140 Comments

Comment posted by Harley Goldman on March 23, 2018 at 9:15 AM

Real nice dune image, with a very unique color palette. Fine take on the DV dunes. No suggestions here.

Registered on November 19, 2003, 586 Posts, 11271 Comments

Comment posted by Doug Koepsel on March 23, 2018 at 12:11 PM

Thank you for your comments.
Preston, thanks for noticing the light slope along the top. I went back and darkened it on my master file.

Registered on April 1, 2010, 196 Posts, 1592 Comments

Comment posted by Brian Schrayer on March 24, 2018 at 9:51 PM

There is so much to enjoy from this photo, Doug. The soft pastel color works well with the graceful and elegant lines of the sand dunes. The subtle interplay of light and shadow also works well and adds to the composition.

Out of curiosity, is this a stitched panorama or is it cropped from full frame? I am just curious because I have an interest in shooting panoramas from time to time, but the support gear is very expensive and I don't feel like I would use it enough to justify the investment. I'm curious what others do.

Registered on May 28, 2004, 114 Posts, 2890 Comments

Comment posted by Doug Koepsel on March 25, 2018 at 4:36 PM

Brian, this is a pano crop of single exposure taken at 500mm from an overlooking hillside. I have stitched some multi-exposure panos by making sure the tripod plate is as level as i can get it with a bubble for 2 axis on the tripod plate . I have not done anything to address the nodal point or used a leveling head.

Registered on April 1, 2010, 196 Posts, 1592 Comments

Comment posted by Genny K. on March 25, 2018 at 8:28 PM

Wow, that is awesome! It swings back and forth between abstract and pure landscape. Beautiful color and shapes in this! The sharp edges of the dunes contrast with the soft curves. Lovely. Well done!

Registered on June 5, 2006, 132 Posts, 2001 Comments

Comment posted by Eva McDermott on March 30, 2018 at 12:34 PM

Lovely pastels and form Doug. I am really enjoying this.

Registered on January 4, 2009, 1015 Posts, 13229 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Fach on April 7, 2018 at 1:27 PM

Doug: I've only been there once but was treated to a similar light show. Love the textures and shadow play. Congrats on the WP.>=))>

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1805 Posts, 26981 Comments