Desert Sunburst Cocktail
Feb, 2016Views
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headstandphotography
March 17, 2016
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Bluestarpaul
August 31, 2018
Thank you Tracy for your kind words and everybody else who has taken the time to comment, all much appreciated.
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
This image was taken at Corralejo Dunes Natural Park in Corralejo on the Spanish island of Fuerteventura. It is a very large area of fine white sand and dunes North of the island sitting next to the turquoise waters of the Atlantic ocean.Time
I had previously visited this beautiful place the year before just before the sun dipped below the hills at around 5.30 in the evening and managed to take some photo's that I was really happy with. So this time I wanted to arrive at the dunes more or less at the same time, It was early November so the sun was actually setting at around 6.30 pm.Lighting
On arriving the sun was slowly setting in the sky and casting long shadows on the ground. There were a number of small clouds scattered across the sky and the light as usual was great.Equipment
Nikon D750, AF-S Nikkor 24-120mm 1:4 G ED Lens. Hand held, no other equipment.Inspiration
As I said earlier I had in the previous year visited Fuerteventura and this beautiful area, so my aim was to see what I could do on this occasion. I sent my son and girlfriend off into the setting sun as I wanted them to be in the picture, my aim was to take them from a long way off so that all you could see was their tiny silhouette against the setting sun and the sand dunes. I was apprehensive about shooting strait at the sun and obviously concerned that the image would be completely blown out. However never be afraid of trying to experiment, the settings used were, 160th sec, F14, 100 ISO, 120mm lens. As it was late in the afternoon there were many flocks of birds flying home to roost and I was lucky enough to have them fly right across my shot.Editing
As you can probably tell from looking at this image quite a lot of post processing went into the making of the final image. I always shoot RAW and use Lightroom to fix the highlights, shadows, white balance etc along with the aim of subduing that very bright setting sun. The image was then brought into Nik Colour Efex Pro 4 (which is now free by the way) where I tried to obtain an overall colour and enhance the subject. I then took it back into Photoshop to do a lot of dodging and burning to bring out the natural contours that were present in the frame, along with a touch of Gaussian Blur to smooth the sand and put the final finishing touches before saving.In my camera bag
I have recently come from a Canon to the Nikon D750 with at the moment only one lens, AF-S Nikkor 24-120mm lens, a tripod, Various filters including Polaroid and naturally Cleaning equipment and protective covering.Feedback
I can recommend the island of Fuerteventura to any photographer as it has very diverse terrain, ranging from the sand dunes to magnificent mountains and volcanos. Be prepared to try anything that goes against your natural instinct like taking photo's directly into the sun. Early morning or late afternoon when the sun is rising or setting brings with it the best light, however you can still take great pictures in the middle of the day especially if it is overcast as this will give you hopefully a nice even spread of light. Post processing of course can be your best friend when turning an average picture into something stunning that you can be proud of. I had my son and girlfriend to give some perspective to my shot, so if you can find somebody to do the same with your image that would be a definite bonus.
