This is the second image I've finished from my recent trip to Death Valley. Boy, this afternoon was quite different than my morning experience. The main lot for the Mesquite Dunes was overflowing with cars. The dunes were frightening with crowds all over the place. It was instantly obvious that the taller dunes were completely trampled, as I could see groups at all of the peaks.
Fortunately, in the huge loop I walked earlier that morning, I found some really neat features northeast of the parking lot. Since those dunes were shorter, I was hoping people wouldn't be drawn in that direction. Had the wife with me and as we reached the area I had in mind, I was happy to see only the occasional footprints. Since I only shot sand in the morning, I wanted to try to get an interesting image incorporating cracked mud.
I came across this spot and I really liked the combo of crumbled chunks of mud in the foreground, the S pattern the cracked mud took along with the back lit bushes. I thought having the sun in the frame might work well for this scene. The image consists of a few exposures manually blended (land, sky, and a number of exposures to try to tame the highlights near the sun). Hope you enjoy and as always, feel free to comment. Thanks for looking
This is very nice indeed, I like the different look to the dunes. I also really like how you worked the sun, that looks fantastic! A really nice overall look here.
Fantastic photo! I'm really impressed at this. I love the golden light and the backlit bushes, as well as the shadows skipping along the cracked mud. Actually makes me want to visit Death Valley!
You nailed your vision of the scene. Love the Dunes, not many people there when I was there in October. Thanks for sharing, also love the sunburst. Best, Bob
Hate to rehash "old" stuff, but couldn't help not commenting on this one!
The light on the dunes, the rocks, and the shrub is great. I love the post processing done on them, it seems like a very very subtle Orton effect, but done right where it's not obvious. The soft look to that light is to die for!
The only thing I wish for is that we more photos to look at!
