Dunes at Dawn

Gallery: LandscapePosted March 30, 2011188 views8 comments

I spent this particular morning on the crest of a small dune in the middle of a massive dry salt pan (called Goera Pan) in the Kalahari desert, South Africa. The Kalahari is an amazing place of solitude, expanse and beauty, yet sometimes quite difficult to convey in landscape photography. I hope I have succeeded in my goal here.

This is a blend of 3 exposures.

Techs:
Canon 7D with 10-22mm USM
f22 @ ISO-100

Comments

8 comments

Comment posted by Larry Fischer on March 30, 2011 at 8:09 AM

Good dynamic range with the blending.
The sand lines make good texture.
Sun and bush balance the composition.
Pleasing lens flare.
Wonder about brightening slightly. A little dark on my monitor but that could be my monitor.
Very nice work.
And I like the animal tracks...

the fisch

Registered on July 28, 2008, 155 Posts, 874 Comments

Comment posted by Nick Bristol on March 30, 2011 at 9:47 AM

This is very nice, Morkel. I really like the color of the sand in that early light. The ripples in the sand lead you back in to the scene very nicely. I like this comp too. The sun rays look very cool here. I like the looks of this as it is here, and I could see this just a bit brighter too, as Larry mentioned. It does have a nice feel of the sunrise as it is and would not want to loose that feeling. Nice work!

Nick Bristol
Lone Rock, WI

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

Comment posted by Guy Tal on March 30, 2011 at 9:57 AM

Excellent timing and great composition. I like the long shadows on the lower left.

Guy

Registered on November 1, 2003, 566 Posts, 15507 Comments

Comment posted by Nancy Lea Sandy on March 30, 2011 at 10:52 AM

Wonderful color and texture.

Registered on January 24, 2011, 576 Posts, 6942 Comments

Comment posted by Eva McDermott on March 30, 2011 at 12:03 PM

Wonderful textures and shadows Morkel. Beautiful and tranquil.

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

Comment posted by Stan Rose on March 30, 2011 at 9:02 PM

NIce! Definitely captures the mood well. It is slightly dark, but i prefer it that way--looks like how it would appear with really dark shades on

My only nit is that the sunstar is a bit asymettric--especially the top right portion where flare starts to appear. But overall, a real pretty shot.

Registered on September 15, 2005, 836 Posts, 17099 Comments

Comment posted by Tony Kuyper on March 31, 2011 at 12:03 AM

Tough light, but you certainly pulled it off well. Foreground feels a bit busy, but this feels very typical of many dunescapes.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 364 Posts, 22328 Comments

Comment posted by Morkel Erasmus on March 31, 2011 at 9:04 AM

thanks very much for the kind and constructive feedback, folks!

I played with it a little brighter but still came back to this feel as best representing the mood of that morning.

Registered on March 22, 2011, 385 Posts, 2068 Comments