The cropping is good and I like the effect of the arc of light in the sky. The ripple patterns are captivating.
But I am getting a confusing view of the ripples. They looked blurry at first to me. Then I realized that was simply the shape of the ripples. But none of them are close enough to the camera to show the grains of the sand and establish sharpness in the viewer's mind.   Posted: 01/05/2025 00:11:14

Yes, the distance between the ripples is in feet, not inches. The entire image was far enough away that the sand grains are not in focus. These hills are very large.   Posted: 01/05/2025 08:24:27

I like pattern pictures like this as well, but unlike Stephen, I didn't like the vignetting at the top. In fact, I cropped the top to get rid of it and concentrate on the dune itself. In fact I'd take a little off the bottom to reduce the dark shadow on the left corner although I understand that it helps to give shape to the dune form. I have some very similar images when we visited the Great White dunes in America and the sun/clouds obliged with drifting patterns across the sand.   Posted: 01/05/2025 09:38:02

The ripples make a nice pattern. Good contrast between the ripples and the smooth area behind them. Thank you for telling us the size of the ripples, it informs us of the size.   Posted: 01/09/2025 15:43:36

I finally went to Great Sand Dunes N.P. a few years ago, and you are right about the immense size of the dunes. I like the ripples, but agree with Diana that I find the vignette distracting. I don't know how you feel about doing so, but if you're not entering this image in a competition/category where it would be prohibited, what about cloning/coping some of the ripples on top of the middle hill and darker sand from the dune on the right to fill in the hot spots? Given that this is a scanned version of an old film image, as well as a very tricky environment, there's actually far less of an issue with the contrast than I would have anticipated, but filling those in would be a pretty quick, easy fix if you're so inclined.   Posted: 01/26/2025 21:54:31