Just a Bunch of White Sand

[GB1]

.. plus sky, bushes, and twigs. From the same roll of Kodachrome 64 that came back strangely soft; most shots were taken with a tripod, so I am thinking the heat might have affected the film?

Gb

Taken at White Sands NM.

[Greg McCary]

I think they both need something. A person, footprints. A person standing at the edge of the white sand in the first one would really work.

[Herriot]

I like that these have come out slighly soft, particularly the second, there is a warm quality to these that increases the impact of the subject matter.

[MB1]

The first seems better than the second to me but I want more foreground and less sky (since there isn't anything going on) and perhaps a footprint or lizzard front and off-center.

Looks like a good place to shoot but I guess it is pretty hard to get to.

[Lori11]

I Love the first one makes me want to be there!

[GB1]

Thks guys.

Yeah they are kind of plain. In some ways, it seems to give them a calm simplicity. There's only so much you can do with shots like this. It sort of reminds me of shooting at the beach: there's only sand, sun, shadow, water (at the beach), sky, and maybe a man-made object or two, like a fence or whatever. You have to use your imagination, observation skills etc to see something that looks good. Or just choose a simple scene and leave it at that. I think that's what these two shots are.

Greg, perhaps a person in hiking outfit standing there with their back to the camera contemplating what it will take to cross the dunes.......... That would be good.

Herriot, I really had to sharpen these up to even get them to this pt. The wind was blowing fairly hard that day, but since they all came out like this it had to be something else. I also didn't see this level of softness on the Mamiya film shots I also took. I must have fried that film, but glad to hear you dont think it's a total loss.

MB, White Sands isn't hard to get to, though actually hiking there is a chore. With all that sand it can also mess up your equipment - sand gets into the lenses I need to check them and see if it did this time. Btw I have a cattle skull I bought just for situations like this but since I was sleeping in my Jeep I didn't have the room for all my stuff (and the skull is fragile, gotta be careful not to kick it in the middle of the night).

Lori, you should get out there. If you have kids think of it as the world's largest sand box

G

[Lori11]

Does being one count? Im a beach nut, my son is grown, so I get my own sandbox lol

[jkriminger]

..a naked model?

only because that is some of the stuff you do. Not that the scene begs for it or anything.

[Dave Smith]

I love the first one. It shows the pristine condition of a dune before it is invaded by hikers, dune buggies, etc. Makes one feel that they are the first to discover the place.
Thanks for posting it GB1

[GB1]

Rod - Ive seen shots of nude models out in the desert and they have been great. It's a bit of a challenge to arrange the logistics for such, since these places are normally far away from major population areas. WS is only about 70 miles from El Paso though - may be worth a try some time.

Dave, I see what you mean. What's nice about this location is that the winds tend to blow out footprints, usually by the next morning. Very nice !

Lori, you'd be in paradise then

G