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First visit to the sand dunes

Discussion

19 replies
Posted by Aleksei Saunders on October 2, 2009 at 6:29 PM
First visit to the sand dunes
I took 3 days to visit the Great Sand Dunes for my first time. Wow - what a place. I had a great time and came away with some images I'm pretty happy with. I learnt quite a few things, not least of which is :eek: GOOD G@D :eek: dunes are hard to climb with a pack on you back.

The wind really picked up on Wednesday and I decided I had cleaned enough stuff out of my gear.

Love to hear comments, suggestions, critiques if you've got them.

Cheers all,
Alex
Posted by Aleksei Saunders on October 2, 2009 at 6:29 PM
Climbers
Posted by Aleksei Saunders on October 2, 2009 at 6:30 PM
Dune Devil - a little artsy with this one :smile:
Posted by Aleksei Saunders on October 2, 2009 at 6:31 PM
The wind on Wednesday afternoon and a few brave souls going for a climb.
Posted by Pam Colander on October 2, 2009 at 6:40 PM
Love 1, 3, and 4 Aleksei...really crisp, creative, and demonstrative of the place. Nice work and I hope you were able to de-sand everything :wink:
Posted by bill meikle on October 2, 2009 at 6:47 PM
Agree with Pamela, and #1 is almost confusing, cool shots. Looks like you had some tough (=interesting) weather. And I found them hard to climb too!
Posted by Michael de León on October 2, 2009 at 8:31 PM
I love em! the Dune Devil one is my favorite!
Posted by Morris McClung on October 2, 2009 at 9:29 PM
! and 3 are just rippers! Fantastic stuff.
Posted by Brian Jackson on October 2, 2009 at 9:58 PM
First one is really nice!
Posted by Bill Pelzmann on October 2, 2009 at 10:44 PM
#1 and #3 are my favorites. Glad to hear you had such a good time, before the wind hit.

I hope your lenses don't have that "grinding" sound as you focus. That drifting sand can make for some interesting images, if you are brave enough to take out the camera.:biggrin:
Posted by Mel Ladewig on October 2, 2009 at 11:01 PM
That dune devil is really cool. And now you've seen why I'm afraid to take my 4X5 out there. A shutter CLA after every trip does not sound like my idea of fun.
Posted by Stan Rose on October 3, 2009 at 6:33 AM
Cool! I love #1 and the dune devil simply rocks!
Posted by Scott Bacon on October 3, 2009 at 9:45 AM
Great collection. I'd love to see dune devil printed!
Posted by Dan Walters on October 3, 2009 at 10:08 AM
Love the shadow and light in the first image. Very nice.
Posted by John Mumaw on October 3, 2009 at 5:10 PM
As noted earlier, #'s 1 & 3 are outstanding!
Not a bad start at all for your first time. Sorta gives me hope...
Posted by Erik Stensland on October 3, 2009 at 6:53 PM
Sweet! Great shots! Love the first and third most of all too!
Posted by Aleksei Saunders on October 3, 2009 at 7:27 PM
Thanks for all the nice replies. It was a blast. I've never took a dedicated photography vacation before and I can see how productive they can be. I also understand a little more the dedication needed to really produce some of the wonderful images I've seen here.

:toast:
Posted by Paul Wegemann on October 3, 2009 at 9:03 PM
1 and 3, like everyone else says. I like #2 a lot as a pano. Nice stuff, Alex.
Posted by Kurt Bowman on October 4, 2009 at 5:51 PM
Another vote for 1 &3, great stuff!
Posted by Kelly Black on October 5, 2009 at 1:53 AM
I'd say you came away with some great images for your 1st visit!
That 2nd one really shows the scale of how huge the dunes are.
Nice display of the wind in # 4.
Love the detail in the ripples and the ridge in the 1st one.