Dunes, Hills and Clouds

Real nice pano, Mr. H. At first, I thought the left side dunes were too dark, but they are balance by the dark mountain and dune on the right, so this works well. The tones look great, and you have some nice texture in the dunes and the clouds. The larger version, for sure!
--P

Large in this case isn't even close to large enough.  The dunes and distant ridges are great, but those clouds are awesome.

Very nice,even though black and white is usually not my choice. Maybe a little too dark and shadowy on the left side. 

Terrific, Harley. Love the play of light and shadows on the amazing landscape, and a great sky.

Harley, could you please share with us the prayer you made to the cloud gods, it must be a good one....

It doesn't get better than this. I love that diagonal lighting across the mountains, it just pulls your eye into that center peak. In the small version I thought the dune to the left looked too dark, but it looks fine in the large version. Amazing light and weather here, and you've done a great job with the processing of it.

This is a nice panoramic view of the Mesquite Dunes(?) that gives a sense of the breadth of the place. This might look good in color as well although I don't know how much color is in those clouds. 

Another beauty from your trip. The shadows and distant lighting on the far hills is terrific.  I almost see this as 2 images.  The lighter dunes which take up about 75% of the images and the far left darker dunes.  Would make for more uniformity.  I tend to explore the well lit areas a lot more than the left, but the subtle light hitting the top of the sand is great by itself.  I think a little to much sky as well, maybe 1/2 of wht is here.  Was this a stich or a crop of a single?  Really nice work.

I see you've been holding out on us ... Man this is really good. I'm trying to visualize where/when you captured this view. In any event this is exceptional and the BW rendering works superbly with this lighting. Only thought would be to experiment with something other than a 50/50 composition. 

Harley,

This is unique, fascinating and fantastic, all wrapped up together!  It's also, 2, maybe 3 images combined; the dunes in the lower half, the light and shadow in the mountains, then that terrific sky.  The shadow line across the center separates the top from the bottom, yet these parts are linked and inseparable.

I am torn, undecided if anything needs to be done with the darker left side or for that matter, the darker right side of the mountains.  On the one hand, I wouldn't mind more detail in those areas... then I look at the sky and the light is pretty evenly distributed and the darkness in the landscape are true shadows, simply given by the clouds and what light is striking where.  so the contrasts here, while fairly strong, in the end I think are working beautifully.

As I first said, I find this quite unique and you've done a masterful job in seeing and then crafting this presentation. Perhaps up there as a favorite from your DV series.

Lon

This is awesome H.  The cloud gods really did smile on you guys.  It’s dark and moody and the sky compliments very nicely.

A pretty darn incredible scene for sure Harley.  On this crappy work monitor it darks do appear a bit too dark both on the left and in the strip of dark running through the middle.  I'll check it closer when I get home tonight.  The dunes are just amazing though, an the sky adds a bunch of drama to the image.  Looks like you and Dave had a great trip.

Excellent layering Harley. I really like the effect of the three, and I'd probably lighten that left foreground to keep the layering more distinct across the pano.