+++ The Weekly Landscape Thread - #8, 2025.03.28

Nice! I like the first for the distant view of Mount Teide and Tenerife, and for the backlit foreground plants. Maybe a lower viewpoint would have given them a bit more prominence?
The second is good too, with its layers and god rays.

The black level and shadows on the wall have been lifted, but with a radial gradient that was then painted over and erased (there are about half a dozen masked layers adjusting various parts of the image), albeit a bit too coarsely along the left hand edge. However, painting it accurately up to the edge doesn't really change the impression of a darker line because the corner bricks are in fact darker than the facing bricks. The overly bright patch you noticed is actually where the wall has been repointed, so the cement on that side is in fact brighter. There is an argument for reducing the amount of lift and possibly dropping the contrast level below that of the rest of the image which I might experiment with at some point should I ever decide to do anything with the image.

The attachment below shows (from left to right);

• the original image as first posted.
• the same image, but with a more precisely painted mask on the left hand edge. The bottom has been left deliberately uneven.
• a version with all edits other than the crop removed, but the blacks and shadows lightened uniformly across the frame to reveal the hidden details.

The details of wall and other foreground elements don't really add anything to the scene (in my opinion) and were intentionally left in silhouette rather than cropping them out which would have left the image feeling compositionally unbalanced to my eye.

That's just beautiful. A scene right out of Heidi. Therefore, I would probably try to get rid of some of the modern buildings somehow.

Fascinating formations. They remind me of the goblins in Canyonlands NP.

Thanks for such a detailed response. I felt so fortunate to be there when I was, right after the Zen gardener finished his work, because by the next day few of the formations were visible. Footprints everywhere. But that morning after the storm was a photographer's dream. Too many compositions to choose from.

Gorgeous image, such wonderful colors. The tower is fascinating, and I cannot help but anthropomorphize it: eyes, nose, mouth, and a tiny hat. It seems alive.

Thanks, and yes indeed much to explore. The desert plants existed only at the edges of the dune area, so they were the first thing I saw when I arrived that morning, and I knew it would be great fun. Choosing a lens was a big consideration since it is very unwise to try to change lenses on the dunes.

Thanks, and good points. One reason I chose what I did was that I have a compositional preference for anchoring a diagonal in the lower right corner. But what you suggest would have been nice too! And oh yes, formations in sand are wonderful fun all by themselves without the purple Panamints lurking in the background.

All these are beautiful. The colors and light are lovely and you've captured and presented them so well. The middle one is my favorite.

Thanks, the forms are just mesmerizing, and they go on forever it seems. I'm afraid one of the challenges of my photography has always been figuring out how to overcome the shortcomings my exceedingly humble equipment. Compromises are always required. But on the bright side I would have hated lugging a big camera and tripod through that sand, it was absolutely exhausting to slog through.. As it was, it was just me with the little Oly slung around my shoulder. I watched a couple of Japanese photographers actually climb the largest of the dunes with big rigs, and it took them forever.

Thank Mike. You know I took hundreds of pictures in this place! Landscapes, closeups of details, abstracts in every direction. We wandered the dunes for several hours. As the morning wore on, the light got less warm, and other people started to arrive so I didn't have it to myself footprint free for all that long. This shot, made when I first arrived, was one of my favorites. That first hour was magic!

Thanks minniev , as to the modern buildings,...
I see what you mean, but this photo was part of a series of local images, some of which were displayed in our local open air gallery.
The locals here love to see local pictures, and if a few recognisable buildings are visible, then they are even more popular.
This year, the open air gallery will host pictures only from Italy. It will be like a tour of Italy without leaving Pilsbach. We'll see how that is received ;-)