Ibex 5
The Ibex Sand Dunes are an isolated set of beautiful sand dunes set against the backdrop of the Saddle Peak Hills at the southern end of Death Valley. The Ibex...
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The Ibex Sand Dunes are an isolated set of beautiful sand dunes set against the backdrop of the Saddle Peak Hills at the southern end of Death Valley. The Ibex Dunes formed from sand blown east from the floodplains of the Amargosa River. The Saddle Peak Hills, a small cluster of mountains provide the stunning backdrop to the dunes; they also provide a barrier between Highway 127, and the dunes. Because of their semi-remote location, and the inability to see them from a paved road, they are one of the least visited dunes in the park. The dunes and the area surrounding them have been declared wilderness, meaning, you are not able to drive on or up to the dunes. You are free however to do the roughly 1.5 mile hike out to the them.
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May, 2018Views
2128
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Awards
Winner in Blue Hour desert Photo Challenge
Contest Finalist in The Wonders of the World Photo Contest
Top Shot Award
Winner in Sand Dune Photo Challenge
Community Choice Award
People's Choice in Natural Colors of the World Photo Challenge
Contest Finalist in Landscapes And Sand Photo Contest
Peer Award
Absolute Masterpiece
Superb Composition
Top Choice
Outstanding Creativity
All Star
Magnificent Capture
Virtuoso
Genius
Superior Skill
Emotions
Impressed
Happy
Top Ranks
Top 10 rankTop 10 rank week 1
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Top 10 rank
Categories
Ultimate
Aeri
October 08, 2018
Stunning shot with great composition and details 👍👍👍👍👍 and congratulations on your people's choice award 👏👏👏👏👏 regards Lokesh Aeri
Ultimate
JayneBug
October 08, 2018
The image is fantastic, the lighting takes it over the top! Congratulations.
nina050
October 08, 2018
Sometimes winners of these challenges I don’t feel are the best choice .... however this is clearly the exception !! This is an incredible shot and well deserved win. Congrats!
PRO
Pamelabole
October 08, 2018
Absolutely gorgeous!! Love the colors and light....amazing! Congrats on your well deserved challenge win!! : )
steveberkley
October 08, 2018
Thank you for all the comments! We hiked out in a sandstorm to this location (I don't recommend wearing shorts) and were so lucky when everything became very calm and this scene emerged. And a special thank you to the guide Marc Adamus for taking us to this amazing spot and giving great field and processing instruction.
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken in Death Valley at the Ibex Sand Dunes near Baker, California. I was with a group of photographers, and It was a bit of a hike to get out to this spot. When we arrived there was a sandstorm happening, but we decided to go out anyways. We got sandblasted and exfoliated going out, and I have some other pictures that show what it was like. If you use a Mac with Mojave, you might recognize these sand dunes on one of the default desktop photos.Time
By sunset though, the sandstorm stopped and the scene became very calm. We got to the top of a ridge looking down around 6PM, and everything just lit up perfectly. Even the shots on my iPhone came out great!Lighting
Well there was a specific angle that made this shot work with the lines in the sand leading to the dunes, so we had to get down low. The shots we wanted required us to be off tripods, and the lighting was pretty low, so the ISO had to come up a bit, which is OK especially if you are shooting sand.Equipment
This was shot on a Nikon D850 with the 14-24mm f/2.8 lens ISO 200 1/160s at f/10. As I mentioned, the low vantage point we were shooting from wasn't amenable to a tripod.Inspiration
This is a wonderful vantage point for the Ibex dunes, and when we saw it there was no question that we had to shoot it because the sunset was amazing. Finding the right spot took a bit of experimenting. In the right spot, the clouds were pointing at the dunes and the sand created great leading lines to the primary subject.Editing
Yes, using Photoshop - we got really close to the scene and so to get this image two shots were stitched together. Getting the sand lines to line up in the stitch was a bit tricky. Other than that, everything else was your standard dodge/burn, shadows/highlights, color adjustments, split toning, etc.In my camera bag
Nikon D850, Nikon Z7, Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8, Tamron 24-70mm G2, Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8, Vanguard tripod, B&H and Breakthrough Photography ND 3 & 6 stop filters, Nisi Q system filter holder for 14-24mm, Parrot Anafi drone, Vanguard backpack.Feedback
Don't be afraid to get off the tripod and shoot handheld. This lets you try a lot of different angles and do small corrections you can't easily do when on the tripod. Look for leading lines and good weather! Sometimes the light after the sunset is better than at sunset.
