Desert Storm

Rain in Death Valley is rare...but this year is an exception. I was lucky enough to witness the rain in the desert on my trip last month. Along with rain and clouds came chance of catching some great lighting. This photograph was taken on Mesquite Dunes at sunset. All comments and ratings are welcome.

A member of  The TimeCatcher Team.

nice shot.6/6

Looks very nice with the border. Good focal point with the driftwood. Good shot 7/6

Hello, why you compose this shot with dead wood

in the middle of the frame and not in the right

bottom as usuall? Any intention?

 

Classic landscape with good foreground interest.

I love this kinda pics...The desert can be one of the most rewarding places to take pictures , expecially in the early morning or just before sunset, I have some nice ones I made several years ago at White Sands, NM and the Painted Desert and Petrifide Forest in AZ

If I remember correctly, there were distrations to the right of this images that I was trying to avoid and I was too close to the edge of dune on the left side. So, I decided to leave the dead wood in the center and place it on the lower third...Still following the golden rule. :-))

Yet another nice shot, Jay. Always enjoy your use of foreground objects.

Beautiful shot, Jay!

A splendid composition, with lovely colors. Excellent viewpoint

Excellent image Jay..log doesn't strike me as being dead centre. Love the sky.7's

wonderful! Love how the dead wood has a similar line to the curve in the dunes. you seem to find the right spots in all your travels.

i thought for awhile about what comment to leave. i came up with a whole lot, but i think this sums it up - "good, real good."

Thanks you all for your comments and ratings. All your feedback is greatly appreciated.

Excellent composition.

you know how I read this photo, Jay? The fire of sunset burnt the sand, left a skeleton branch and went laying on softer hues on the horizon. Beautiful.

Excellent colors and tones, choice of camera position and perspective. Just curious about the polarizer: what is the effect under such lighting conditions, in your experience ? I would screw it off normally, because I use to walk around without a tripod...

Crisp and clean. Beautiful light well captured Jay.

The polarizer seldom comes of my lenses. For this particular shot, the polarizer help reduce the blue haze due to mositure in sky.

Beautiful. Jay, can polariser be effective all the time?

The polarizer is effective when there is reflection, water or mositure present. Alternatively when there is blue sky, it is effective at 90 degrees from the sun to darken the sky.

So, when is it not desireable to use polarizer? When you don't want to captured the scattered light. For example when photographing a rainbow. Another down side of the polarizer is it slow down shutter speed and can cause problems if you are trying to freeze motion in windy conditions.

Very nice shot, beautiful perspective.

Congrats Jay, as usual, great shot. Appreciate your explanation of polarizer use. I am also a frequent user in high altitudes. How big are you printing these with your 10D ?

I have printed images of larger then 12x18 prints size but, most of my customers limit their print size to 12x18 inches. At 12x18 inch print size, the prints are indistinguishable from a photograph.

Fabulous shot of the dunes Jay. The mesquite branch makes it! How lucky to be there during a storm. On my visit, I missed the rain by a few days (nearly 4 inches all at once). I heard it made for great shooting.