Sunset - Near Dune 45

[Manfred M]

Shot of one of the 800+ year old trees that died, but have not decayed due to the extreme dry conditions of the Namib Desert in Namibia. This is beside Dune 45.

Obviously a sunset shot...

[Wavelength]

Fantastic

[Lon Howard]

Not just any sunset

[ST1]

That’s a wonderful image Manfred, well composed, great tones


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[Antonio Correia]

Many people shoot these trees in Namibia desert.
However, this one is different and better from others I have seen before.
You made a nice work giving some light to the foreground.
Back in 2003 I was not yet so dedicated to photography...

[Manfred M]

Thought I would throw in the SOOC original image. Doesn't look much like the final product... This was a really quick edit; only 8 adjustment layers + two edits on the SmartObject. As always with my work, lots of local dodging and burning.

I took this shot 8-1/2 years ago on my 12MP Nikon D90 with its 12.5-stop dynamic range.

The "trick" is to learn to see the potential of an image. Had I thrown out this image as unusable back then, I could never have pulled out what the camera captured now that I have those skills and knowledge.

[Antonio Correia]

Oh yes. That is why when we dig and find old photographs, it happens to look at them with different eyes and get the work done under different and better skills.

[Rita]

What a stunning image you created from the original. I think you hit the nail on the head when you said "The "trick" is to learn to see the potential of an image". A good thing for us to keep in mind and learn.

[FootLoose]

Nice work, Manfred.
I noticed a bit a fringing on left branch. I thought it might have been an artifact from the hard processing but it is evident in the original you posted too.

[mugge]

Manfred, I fear I would have ditched the original image, not being able to see the potential in it. I am learning to see though.

[Manfred M]

Nice work, Manfred.
I noticed a bit a fringing on left branch. I thought it might have been an artifact from the hard processing but it is evident in the original you posted too.

I see that in a lot of the images I took in that area and am not sure what is causing it. I got this in shots taken in different areas even on different days. It was taken with a pro lens (Nikkor f/2.8 24-70mm) on my D90.

This area is absolutely full of tall sand dunes that keep on going right to the Atlantic Ocean, some 70 km due west from where I am shooting. I suspect what we are seeing is the reflected light from the setting sun bouncing off some of the tall dunes in the background acting as a rim light.