Ruth Sprain
February 2025 - Walking on the Dunes
Original
About the Image(s)
I took this photo in Great Sand Dunes National Park in October 2021. An early snow outlined the dunes in white. I used my Canon EOS 7D at 90mm, f/11, 1/750. In Lightroom and PhotoShop, I adjust the contrast, dodged and burned, and converted the photo to b&w. I’d appreciate your input.
9 comments posted
Hi Ruth,
In this image, the single person at the immense sand dunes makes the image more impactful!
In my personal opinion, I'd prefer to have a bit more space on the top since the trees are too close to the frame, and to leave the image in color because of the trees in fall season and the early snow on the dunes are so beautiful! Let see if other people agree to it. Posted: 02/04/2025 15:14:59
In this image, the single person at the immense sand dunes makes the image more impactful!
In my personal opinion, I'd prefer to have a bit more space on the top since the trees are too close to the frame, and to leave the image in color because of the trees in fall season and the early snow on the dunes are so beautiful! Let see if other people agree to it. Posted: 02/04/2025 15:14:59
Kieu-Hanh, thank you for your comments and suggestions. I agree with you and Michael that the line of trees is too close on the top of the frame. I was looking for photos to submit for a monochrome category in club photo competition, so I was only considering black and white. However, you're right that the autumn trees are beautiful in color. Posted: 02/06/2025 17:02:50
Hi Ruth.
Your image has some interesting shapes and nice tones. The lone person gives scale and an appreciation of just how vast these dunes are. With respect to your composition and the monochrome conversion, I'm in agreement with Kieu-Hanh. I think a different composition that included more of the trees and a presentation in color would, indeed, have been more impactful.
If you were to leave this in monochrome, I would suggest a tighter crop to eliminate the trees at the top of the frame and allow the viewer to focus better on the dunes and the lone walker. Posted: 02/04/2025 18:03:00
Your image has some interesting shapes and nice tones. The lone person gives scale and an appreciation of just how vast these dunes are. With respect to your composition and the monochrome conversion, I'm in agreement with Kieu-Hanh. I think a different composition that included more of the trees and a presentation in color would, indeed, have been more impactful.
If you were to leave this in monochrome, I would suggest a tighter crop to eliminate the trees at the top of the frame and allow the viewer to focus better on the dunes and the lone walker. Posted: 02/04/2025 18:03:00
Michael, thanks for your comments. I agree that cropping off the top row of trees helps with the balance of the composition. Posted: 02/06/2025 17:04:32
I like the image in monochrome. The walker is more of a focus and the lack of color in the original makes monochrome a good choice. But I do agree with Michael about cropping to remove the trees on the top . Posted: 02/06/2025 01:59:17
Andres, thanks for your input. I agree that cropping off the trees would help the composition. Posted: 02/06/2025 17:05:30
I too prefer the image in monochrome. I prefer the crop that removes the trees. Wondering how it would look if you added some sky with generative expand in Photoshop Posted: 02/10/2025 20:15:35
Ruth, this is a beautiful image and the lone walker gives it scale. I appreciate both versions...in the color version I can see the beautiful fall colors of the trees and appreciate the snow. I agree with others that the crop here is too tight on the top. The monochrome version works well with the tones and lines of the dunes and the walker is more apparent. I agree that cropping off the trees in this version works better. Posted: 02/19/2025 13:52:43
Ruth I like your B and W version of the dunes as they make perfect monochrome images because of the contrast. The one tiny person gives us an important idea of the scale. My only suggestion would be to remove the top layer with t he trees and just show us the dunes.. I wrote this connect before reading the rest of them, but I still stick to it. Posted: 02/19/2025 22:54:37