Luminous Landscape Forum

The Art of Photography => Landscape Showcase => Topic started by: Vieri Bottazzini on December 06, 2017, 01:29:46 pm

Title: Mesquite Dunes in detail, Death Valley
Post by: Vieri Bottazzini on December 06, 2017, 01:29:46 pm
While I love the big vistas, I also like to go looking into smaller detail. There is beauty and landscapes to be found there too.

The Footprint, taken at Mesquite Dunes during one of my Workshops in Death Valley last January. Leica S (Typ 007), Leica Vario-Elmar-S 30-90mm and Formatt-Hitech Firecrest filters.

(https://vieribottazzini.com/wp-content/uploads/S0071396.jpg)

Thanks for viewing, best regards

Vieri
Title: Re: Mesquite Dunes in detail, Death Valley
Post by: MattBurt on December 06, 2017, 01:42:37 pm
Interesting little feature and slightly disorienting to look at for me with no recognizable horizon or any other key elements to make this a place to me.
Nicely processed and I do like the cracks and puzzle pieces. I'd love to see this feature with just a little more context to give a feeling of place.
Title: Re: Mesquite Dunes in detail, Death Valley
Post by: Eric Myrvaagnes on December 06, 2017, 04:32:28 pm
I love it!

If I had never been to Death Valley, I might have been puzzled the way Matt is, but this detail shot of the playa is a winner, IMHO.

Eric
Title: Re: Mesquite Dunes in detail, Death Valley
Post by: Paulo Bizarro on December 07, 2017, 04:31:51 am
Good textures and light. I think it would work well in a classic square frame, with the motif centred.

Out of curiosity, you mention use of filters in this image. May I enquire about the technical necessity for using such?
Title: Re: Mesquite Dunes in detail, Death Valley
Post by: francois on December 07, 2017, 04:54:27 am
Spectacular and a very special take on those dried mud patches. They look very prehistoric!
Title: Re: Mesquite Dunes in detail, Death Valley
Post by: John Cothron on December 07, 2017, 09:50:20 am
I love it just the way it is!  I've never been there, but the formation is really interesting and the processing is perfect for this in my opinion.  Great contrast and a lot of detail.
Title: Re: Mesquite Dunes in detail, Death Valley
Post by: 32BT on December 08, 2017, 10:20:57 am
Nice, that outerworldly look works very well here.
Title: Re: Mesquite Dunes in detail, Death Valley
Post by: Vieri Bottazzini on December 13, 2017, 06:57:24 am
Interesting little feature and slightly disorienting to look at for me with no recognizable horizon or any other key elements to make this a place to me.
Nicely processed and I do like the cracks and puzzle pieces. I'd love to see this feature with just a little more context to give a feeling of place.

Thank you Matt, glad you enjoyed it. The idea is exactly that, taking it out of context and give the scene to the detail, rather than to the wide landscape ;)

I love it!

If I had never been to Death Valley, I might have been puzzled the way Matt is, but this detail shot of the playa is a winner, IMHO.

Eric

Thank you very much Eric, I am glad you enjoyed it! :)

Good textures and light. I think it would work well in a classic square frame, with the motif centred.

Out of curiosity, you mention use of filters in this image. May I enquire about the technical necessity for using such?

Thank you very much Paulo, glad you liked it. I love the square format and use it whenever I can; here, however, given the rectangular shape of the feature, a square composition added too much "dead space" around it to make it viable. In the end, it's all down to personal preferences, of course :D

About the filters, I used two Grad ND diagonally placed to darken the top R and bottom L corners a bit. I like (and teach) to pre-visualise my images in camera, including these kind of effects, if they can be done in camera, rather than adding them in post-processing :)

Spectacular and a very special take on those dried mud patches. They look very prehistoric!

Thank you very much Francois, glad you enjoyed it! :)

I love it just the way it is!  I've never been there, but the formation is really interesting and the processing is perfect for this in my opinion.  Great contrast and a lot of detail.

Thank you very much indeed John, I am glad you enjoyed it! :)

Nice, that outerworldly look works very well here.

Thank you very much, glad you enjoyed the look! :)

Best regards,

Vieri