Sands, Peaks, and Clouds
And maybe I should add, Footsteps. This is a shot looking at the Grapevine Mountains to the east over Mesquite Flats Sand Dunes in the early, early morning on an overcast day. I was re-working it with some new techniques to see if I could overcome or moderate the surrealistic mood of the dunes; in places, they almost look like snow! Failing in that, I decided to go with what I'd captured, surreality be damned! Unlike some, I deliberately chose a rise with what I considered compositional possibilities and waited in the eerily silent dawn. This is one of the first images that called to me. I must have planted my tripod in that spot for a couple hours, reaching out with my telephotos or opening up my angle of view. Each was different. Each had it's own mood. I chose the B/W rendering because, to me, it's about layers and curves and contrasts between light and dark. Similar to some of my earlier posts, but I hope you like it.
FYI, this was a single frame with my Nikon 800E and the Nikkor 24-120 f/4 @ 120 mm, f/8, 1/45 sec, ISO 200. After raw conversion in LR 5.7, it was converted to B/W in PSCC 2014 using Nik SEP 2, then brought back into LR where highlights and shadows were adjusted slightly. — with Tom Reiter, Beatrice Screve, Mark Alberhasky, Layne Kennedy, Hal Tearse, Tom Stewart and Daniel Benn at Death Valley National Park.
If this is not a place of mystery and awe, I do not know the meaning of these words. Enjoy your weekend!
