Another photo from my photography workshop in the dunes. I had to share a typical dune shot. I love the line down the spine.
Just some background information about the dunes for those who are interested - Bruneau Dunes State Park is a very unique landscape. It boasts the tallest single-structured sand dune in North America with a peak rising 470 feet above the surrounding desert floor. The dunes have formed near the center of a natural basin which has acted as a natural trap for sand and sediment for over 12,000 years.
A few of you asked me to share what I learned from the class. One lesson that made the most impact on my desert photos was how important the white balance selection can be. I typically have only shot in "auto" but the instructor had us change our settings to "shade", which was odd to me because it obviously wasn't shady. The shade selection assumes a heavily blue image and counters the blue with more red tones. In this case, the shade selection effectively turned the naturally gray colored dunes to this rich brown color. I switched back to WB "auto" a few times so I would have a compare and he was right, the shade selection made the landscape a richer, more pleasing color.
This is absolutely beautiful! If and when I ever get a "real" camera! I would love to take classes like that. It sounds so helpful to put things into practice right away! Excellent shot!!
I love this - the ridge is awesome. How interesting about the white balance. It's something I struggle with - I try not to use auto but when I get it wrong, it's frustrating. Thanks for sharing.
So many shades within this and a fantastic shape. I started playing with white balance too a couple of weeks ago after reading an article on it and it's been a revelation! Things come out the colour I see them!
Brilliant shot - am a great fan of 'leading lines'. Thanks for the tip on use of WB. I'm doing an evening class and our tutor is often encouraging us to use WB in a 'crossover fashion' i.e. a different setting from the one you'd normally choose - makes for some interesting effects!
Another gorgeous picture of these dunes. It seems not so easy to me to make really good pictures in this landscape. Well done and thanks for sharing some of the lesson
Gorgeous! Don't forget to shoot in Raw as well. That way you have the power to tweak the WB to anything you want it to be should you forget to change it for any reason. Actually, if you fluff it in a JPEG you can still open that in camera Raw too (if you have Adobe Photoshop and Bridge) - if you know the trick!
Great shot and leading line. Have never ever used anything other than auto WB, and would certainly not have thought to have used shade in this synario, who knew!
I recently discovered RAW which means you can change the white balance in processing - its amazing what a difference a change in white balance makes. I would never have thought shade would work in this scenario though - brilliant!
I love this...you captured the dunes so beautifully and love your commentary.. I used to climb the dunes of "jockey's ridge' as a child and miss those days.. you brought them back :-)
That's fab, thanks for the tip, I've never thought to change the white balance to create an altogether different image, I tend to only use it for 'correction'. I've done it a few times by accident and turned everything blue but i will remember to experiment more now, especially when going to the beach!
Nice trick. I should try it in snow sometimes because of the heavy blue tint we get here at high elevation. While I like the blue, it would be good to try something different. Back in the film days we used an 81A filter. I love the curve along the spine of the dune.
What a beautiful shot. I've been really slack the last few days, and look what I missed. Great advice from your course. Wow, I really have so much to learn!
The first two shots from your class are great. Hope we get to see some more!
I recently discovered RAW which means you can change the white balance in processing - its amazing what a difference a change in white balance makes. I would never have thought shade would work in this scenario though - brilliant!
Thank you for sharing your class info, usable info for sure. Great shot!