Jockey's Ridge State Park, NC - Feeback

[Michael Van der Tol]

Hi All,

Let me know what you think about this image I captured when I was in North Carolina last week. Details are:

Camera: D70S/Manual Mode
Lens: Sigma f/4.0 10mm-20mm

Settings: Mode: Manual
Aperture: f/11
Shutter: 1/500s
ISO: 200
Focal Length: 10mm
Image Format: RAW

Post: Camera RAW - Exposure/Clarity/Sharpness/Luminosity adjustments
Photoshop - LucisArts Plug-In (Whyeth & Exposure tweaks)
Photoshop - Lab Color Channel "a" push
Photoshop - light vignette added

5 minutes or less of post.

[tirediron]

Excellent; I love the composition of this image. The way the eye follows the wind trails of the sand to the crest is perfect. The sky however looks just a little processed; is that a CPOL, or post?

[Michael Van der Tol]

Hi tirediron,

Thanks for the feedback.

What you see in the sky (one side darker than the other) is due primarily to a low sun off to my NW (as you look into the image). In addition to having my lens hood on I've got my hat waving in the air to prevent most of the suns rays hitting the front glass. I do have a CPOL on. I tried to balance this out by adding more heavy vignetting above the left horizon.

One thing I didn't mention in my original post was that I use Adobe Standard Camera profiles in camera raw. My starting point for this particular image was "Camera Vivid Beta 1", which is slightly different than the default starting point when you normally bring your image into Camera Raw. If you have Camera Raw (or Light Room 2.0) you can try this out (http://tinyurl.com/3jfjq7). This may be the reason for you comment about the Sky.

Thanks again.

Regards,

MikeV

[Marko]

I quite like this shot MVDT!

My eye is always out to give opinions though so;
-I might like to see the foreground sand a touch sharper.
-I see you burned the edges which is a nice touch. I like the colour of the sand in that burn and think if you applied it to another inch to inch and a half in the foreground that would make the sand pop harder.
- the bush on the right edge could have used some sand to separate it from the edge.

These are details though, this is still a strong image that works my eye nicely!

[Michael Van der Tol]

Hi Marko,

Reflecting back on the shot, your feedback is spot on. I especially like your comment that the image needs "some sand to separate it from the edge".

Thanks!

MikeV