Dune Photography

Sanddunes offer countless possibilities for landscape photography that require you to focus not less on your artistic composition skills than on technique.

1 ) Locating sanddunes

As I see it, sanddunes are among the most beautiful places in the whole wide range of the earth. Below I give some of my best hints for taking pictures of sanddunes and taking amazing pictures. Here is a short overview of the most important hints for taking pictures of sanddunes before I start: Don't switch glasses when it's breezy.

Be sure to use a clear aperture correction mask to keep your objective protected. Watch for small samples in the sands. Go find some sandy dune. While it may seem harsh not to be living in the wilderness, there are more dune areas in the whole wide variety of the planet than you think. Otherwise, you may find stunning dune scenery somewhere where you are traveling.

Death Valley has lovely sandy dune areas, but did you know that there are five different dune areas in the parks, varying from favourite to rare? All of them have special features for photography, and you might choose one over the other, according to what kind of photo you want.

Find out as early as possible what you can know about the dunes: sizes, heights, access and so on. Most important is to be willing and able to take the desired pictures. Larger problems are that the winds on sandy dune are very frequent. So how can you keep your gear safely when you walk through a whirling sea of sands?

Best starting point is with the objective as well. A lot of objectives out there aren't waterproofed for such use. For example, if enough grit ends up on the focus ring, the ring may become coarse and grainy. Once that happend to me and it took a few month for the objective to return to normality.

Even worst, some objectives move on and off when zooming or focusing. If only a few grain of gravel falls on the lense while it is out, it can get caught inside. Doing so will cause a scratch tone at any subsequent zooming of your objective. If possible, therefore, bring with you a objective that does not move outwards when in use.

That is the case with certain zooms and most primary objectives. 3 ) Should you replace the glasses? When you can switch the lens with your digital stills, much of what I said above is even more important. Never uncover delicate parts of your gear when dust is blowing around. Therefore it is not recommended to exchange the glasses at a dune - at least if it is breezy.

When you can't switch objectives or use a movable zooming objective, are you trapped with just one primary objective? Must you take every picture in the dune with the same focus? A number of objectives - mostly more costly but not always - do not move when zooming in.

Or if you have several cameras, this is an ideal opportunity to use a different objective for each one. Except when you're in the midst of a sand storm, you can probably get away with a zooming objective and home-made weather resistance. Grab a nylon sack, make a perforation for the front of your lenses and close all delicate areas with elastic straps.

When zooming the objective in and out, do not drop grain of gravel on the open part of the objective tube. Should it be necessary to replace the glasses, please allow the winds to ease as much as possible. Rotate your back to the breeze and switch objectives as quickly as possible, preferably pointing the cameras at a down slope (sand may drop into the compartment to minimise time).

There is no good way, however, if it is a windy sunny night, and the best way is to try to prevent the glasses from being changed. In addition to your lens, you also need to keep your cameras and tripods safe. Generally, you do not need to take any additional measures to keep them safe from sands. Odds are it's already waterproofed for the amount of grit you're about to come across.

If it' not breezy, you probably get a lot of beach on the bottom of your legs just because they lie on the dune. And if you haven't already heared, the number one hitman among tripoods is sand. It is my highest proposal not to put the lock mechanism of your stand under the sands.

If you then collapse your stand after photographing, make sure that there are no grain of gravel on the pipes before closing them. When there is dirt everywhere, especially if you have a low corner, you should keep the front of your lenses protected.

It is very easy to scrape the front side of the coating, even with today fitted glass. Normally I don't use a clear filters for my landscapes. While this is just a matter of individual preference, it' s uncommon for me to be in a position where I am particularly concerned about damage to the front of my eyelids. Sanddunes are the exceptional case.

When you take photos in the dune and it's breezy, some dust hits your front. Your objective may not be scratched - there is no way to be sure - but it is certainly not perfect, especially not for long durations. In photography, everything revolves around the imaginative side of things, and there are more ways to train your art muscle in sandy dune than in almost any other area.

Basically, sanddunes are nothing more than the mere compositionallements.

Due to the natures of the sanddunes the simplicity is very obvious. Sanddunes are ideal for exploration. There' just so much to take pictures of. They can come back with several good and singular pictures of one to two hour at the dune. Normally this could work in landscapes photography - to find a good piece and wait for the lights there - but I don't suggest it here.

Sanddunes have too many possibilities for photography. When you' re photographing on sandy dune, it's very simple to walk from one piece to the next - and then wreck them all because your own footsteps are in the picture. Sometimes the sandy surface can show some colours in the skies, just like it does when it is snowing.

The interesting lights you can find when taking pictures of sanddunes are inexhaustible, and it is important to keep an eyes out for anything that can happen. Sanddunes are excellent for photography. Definitely needs some planing to take pictures of sanddunes. When the lights are right and you have found good dune, you will come home with great pictures.