Kgalagadi Sunset

[Morkel Erasmus]

Processed this image from June 2010. There's very little in the way of clouds in the Kalahari winter, and I am looking forward to returning in the summer (rainy season) when there are thunder showers almost daily late in November this year.

This was captured in the Rooiputs campsite on the Botswana side.

Techs:
Canon 7D with 10-22mm USM @ 10mm
f16 @ 2.5s @ ISO-100
Blended back darker exposure from the same RAW file for the sky.

[Andrew McLachlan]

Hi Morkel, love the tones and the pink on the horizon is beautiful. What lives in the burrow?

[Rachel Hollander]

Morkel - I agree, the tones are beautiful and love the light. Not sure about the inclusion of the burrow, I feel it's more of a distraction.

TFS,
Rachel

[Morkel Erasmus]

Thanks Andrew and Rachel. The burrow would typically belong to a mongoose or some rodent like the whistling rat. I felt it gives a sense of place to the scene.

[Gerald Kelberg]

Hi Morkel, I really like the tones and the atmosphere of the image and the juxtaposition of the trees, but I'm with Rachel on thinking to exclude the burrow. I find the burrow doesn't give enough interest in the foreground to warrant being there. A fairly aggressive crop to the bottom making a pano of the top 2/3rds works better for me.

Best regards,

[Ron Sprunger]

It's the kind of simple, elegant image I love. Well done. I love the light, and the layering of sunset colors. Great jobwith the double-processing. Wouldn't change a thing, and would find it duller without the burrow. How far out was your focus?

[Morkel Erasmus]

Thanks for the feedback and suggestions. Here is a pano crop...not sure which I like most...the pano has a bit better "balance" but the OP is a bit more "authentic Kalahari" to me

[Ron Sprunger]

Personally, I much prefer the OP. I feel you're losing some sense of depth and distance with the pano, and not wild about the 50/50 comp. Also, I just realized that the near foreground (burrow hole and nearer) generates the impression of a glow to the image. Pano seems a little lifeless in comparison.

[Roger Clark]

Hi,
Did you know the gray zone below the pink in the sky is the Earth's shadow? The pink zone is where light is refracting through the Earth's atmosphere.

Roger

[Gerald Kelberg]

I've never been to the Kalahari, so can't judge which image is more authentic - but I think I prefer the pano crop by a slight margin, as I do like the atmosphere created in both version.

[Robert Amoruso]

Morkel,

I was trying to put my finger on what I would suggest when I first saw this image - but the pano crop is just what is needed. The larger FG was overpowering the much more interesting MG and BG.

[Morkel Erasmus]

Thanks for the comments folks (and for the explanation, Roger!)

[Jerry van Dijk]

Hi Morkel, I would be in favor of a crop somewhere in between both posts . Seriously, I agree with Robert that the FG in the OP is a bit too overpowering, but I agree with you that the pano crop has lost some of the wide empty feeling. Great work on blending exposures, love the colors and the "stretch" from the wide angle.

[Jay Gould]

While I think the pano is the better approach, I would crop just above the burrow to enlarge just a bit more.

Lovely colors.

[Morkel Erasmus]

Thank you Jerry and Jay...