White Sands National Monument

[Ian Cassell]

Canon 7D
Sigma 50-150 mm f/2.8 @ 83mm. Polarizer.
1/200 sec f/18 ISO 200

Converted in NIK SilverEfex Pro

(near Alamagordo, NM)

I took a couple of days to visit White Sands for the first time after spending a few at Bosque. I would definitely recommend the side trip (it's a couple of hours away). I also took side trips to the Albuquerque Zoo and the Alameda Park Zoo (in Alamagordo) which are also recommended.

[David Stephens]

I love the repeating wave patterns and the strong diagonal shadow of the plant, which lead the eye and everything else in that direction. I think that your choice of Contrast level and B&W conversion are excellent. Composition is ideal in my eye, so I don't have any suggestions that would improve.

[Don Railton]

Hello Ian

I love the composition, with the shadow and the repeated patterns and I agree its a fine candidate for B&W. So well done here. I don't know how coarse the grains of sand actually were, but they look overly coarse and I think its because the sharpening maybe a little over done. I might be wrong but am basing that opinion on the look of the vegies making the shadow. I think the coarse sand texture does not work as well with the curves as a finer texture IMHO.

regards

DON

[Morkel Erasmus]

Nice simple and elegant composition and nicely converted too, Ian.
I agree with Don above - it just seems too crisp/coarse/grainy for my eyes - but then again I wasn't there. :eek3:
I'd love to see it bigger as well, you can post up to 1200px these days on BPN :5

[Andrew McLachlan]

Lovely work Ian...I like it as is! :cheers:

[Diane Miller]

It would be interesting to compare a version with a little less sharpening. You have enough contrast, the sharpening to me feels like a little more than necessary -- but hard to tell without seeing it. And definitely your choice anyway!

I do love the composition, and applause for finding an area without footprints. The sand there is very hard in most places, more like hard snow than loose sand, and footprints don't get blown away easily. And because its easy to walk on, the footprints go on forever.

[Gavin Slabbert]

This is really cool, very nice work, it is simple, it has fabulous repeating patterns and has a leading line the draws your eye into the image.

[Bill Jobes]

This is totally cool, Ian.

It is a most unexpected sight.

I personally, like the way you presented it with the sharpness and contrast. It is a stark scene that, to my eye, benefits from this extreme clarity.