The Shadows of Dunes

I hesitate to post this in the critique section because I was limited to processing on a laptop balanced on my knees in a hotel room. The only work was in ACR and removal of a few small twigs or roots in the shadowed area.

I posted a couple of others in the Gallery section for that reason, but thought I’d try for a little feedback on this one. We set aside two days at White Sands National Monument in New Mexico on our cross-continental jaunt, but were limited by circumstances. We were rained out the first afternoon and evening, then lost the next morning to a road closure for a launch on the adjacent missile range. Then the afternoon and evening when we finally got to shoot we had bald blue skies and virtually zero light color. On top of all that the sands were distinctly pocked and textured by the rain!

What technical feedback would you like if any?

Anything you have to offer.

What artistic feedback would you like if any?

It wasn’t the circumstance for iconic photos from an iconic location, so I went with my instincts. I tried to focus on what was unique and convey that into a new look at the dunes. My artistic tastes run to the abstract and impressionistic in any case, so it became an afternoon looking for and working with very strong graphic shapes. There’s more over in the Gallery section as noted, but I’m curious how people react to a departure from traditional landscape into the graphic. Love to hear if anyone has ideas for my further processing once I collide with my desktop computer in 3 weeks.

Pertinent technical details or techniques:

Handheld with a Nikon D7200 and Nikkor 24-120mm f/4

You may only download this image to demonstrate post-processing techniques.

I am liking what you have going here, Hank. I would be inclined to bring in the black point quite a ways and pop it that way. Heading B&W I would consider a good option as well (and popping the contrast). Real nice lines and sand textures.

Hank, as a graphic abstract this image works very well for me. Given that you had bluebird skies, this was a smart way to go. What I like about this abstract is that there is no sense of scale. I initially assumed that this was a long telephoto extraction, but then I saw you used a 24-120mm lens. I agree with @Harley_Goldman, that you could bring in the black point a lot, abstract images can often successfully take more contrast than more traditional landscapes.

Hank, that oval of shadows in the immediate foreground is very very pleasing. I like it a lot in this composition. I think going B&W can be very good here because of the reasons @Harley_Goldman mentioned. Hoping to see more from this trip!