FOCUS STACKING a Landscape Image | Exploring the Sand Dunes for STRONG Composition
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- čas přidán 7. 09. 2024
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I realised it had been ages since I’d ventured up to Lancelin, a quiet coastal town north of Perth. So far on my CZcams channel I’ve really only shared landscape photography adventures around Perth or down south. This was a perfect reason to pack my camera gear and take the hour and half trip north. Just outside the sleepy little town there is a large area of sand dunes which is popular with tourists and locals for sand-boarding and motocross riding.
I spend the day there climbing the hills and exploring the sand dunes to try and work out what would make an appealing composition. In the afternoon as the sun started getting lower, I start taking some shots, trying to look for strong leading lines and textures and ripples in the sand.
Perched on the ridge of a sand dune, I used the ridge line as it snaked it’s way up to the top of the peak as a leading line. Not worrying about a polariser, I experiment with my little and big stopper 6 and 10 stop Neutral Density filter to slow the shutter down. Happy with what I captured I started walking back, but the best was yet to come. As I headed to the car I spotted a gorgeous snaking ’S’ curve providing an awesome leading line up to and top of a large sand dune. To capture the entire scene in an image that was sharp from the foreground to the background I decided to focus stack three image together, I’m really pleased with the results and it topped off a perfect day!
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Where's your favourite Sand Dune location in your part of the world!
Andrew Marr, if you’re in the eastern U.S., try to see the dunes in Provincetown on Cape Cod in Massachusetts. Many miles of scrubland and dunes in the National Seashore
Tarifa, Andalucia
Andrew Marr lovely video mate !!!
North Norfolk, Redcar, South Uist, Bridgend. Too many 😁
Sounds interesting George, I’ll check it out on Google!
Thanks Andrew for another masterful tutorial and exquisite photos
Thanks so much Glenn, glad you enjoyed this one mate! :)
Wow..that looked like extreme conditions. Beautiful photos Andrew ❤
Thanks for your comment Leanne, I must admit these are probably the harshest conditions I’ve vlogged in, but I was happy with the results! :)
Excellent vlog! The last image is stunning! Thanks for showing on your camera Live View your focus stacking technique!
Pleasure Pedro, glad you enjoyed it mate! 👍
Excellent,the wind is a blessing in disguise, I like the shot with sand blown off ,gives an extra dimension. Great job !
Gorgeous last shot! I love the pastel tones and the simplicity of the photo. Great to to a new video. Cheers mate!
Andrew great to see another photography on location video for you. Right on for toughing out those winds! The 3 image focus stack was a beauty and enjoyed the black and white images as well. It was cool to see on video how the light started changing the color of the dunes. I recently returned from Death Valley National Park in California. I had the great opportunity to photograph the mesquite flat sand dunes there. It’s also my favorite video/vlog of all the ones I filmed there. Something about hiking and climbing dunes. Love it! Enjoyed the video. Cheers.
Lancelin Dunes is on my list to photography. After this video I can't wait ;-)
Loved the last image. Focus stacking really can make a huge difference. I feel for you cleaning the sand out, last time I was in a sandy location it took me nearly a day to get it all out!!
Very beautiful
Thanks very much Mashaole! :)
Superb images. Absolutely loved the last one?
I really enjoyed your video. You tackled some tough conditions but got rewarded with great images, I loved the shapes of the dunes.
Best Lanscape vlogg!!! You must come to Norway!
Good video with a cracking location and some beautiful images
Great to see you back with your D800 Andrew, you lost me with the iPhone landscape photography for a while.
Great images, Andrew. Richard sent me an email indicating where the sand dunes were, a part of our vast land I’ve never visited. Very much impressed. Many thanks.
Stunning...that last shot 👏
regards,
Ben
Welcome back Andrew! I was wondering when the next photo trip would be. Goes to show how tough landscape photography is in a Perth summer but luckily autumn is almost here. I can relate to what you said about most photo trips being down south but Lancelin is such a beautiful spot. Will the Pinnacles be next? Beautiful images as always and thanks for sharing. Makes me happy to see Western Australia featured for the world to see.
Hi Andrew, just discovered you channel, your videos are fantastic. Great to see a Perth local delivering such awesome photography content.
Andrew that was absolutely brilliant. You fought through those conditions, which did not look fun, to create a fascinating video for us. The images were truly superb too. The 10 stop black and white is a beautiful image. I love how the light is catching the sand blowing off the surface as it’s set against the shadow in the background, it really generates interest. That last image............speechless!!!!
Thanks very much Adam. The entire day I was worried the audio wasn’t going to be clear and that could have messed the video up. I was so pleased the mic muff worked and the sound came out reasonably ok. I was pleased with the 10 stop long exposure as well but I did notice softness in some of the sand texture in the foreground. I’d love to go back and experiment a little more with images of the blown sand, as the wind picked up there were times when scene looked quite ghostly. Hope you are well mate!
Great stuff Andrew
Well done Andrew! I'd be hard-pressed to pull out any of my expensive lenses for a good sand blasting of the glass.
Great work and vlog Andrew
Beautiful light during the sunset, the sand dunes looked amazing even if the sky didn't have any colour! Stunning images!
Thanks Aadya! Yeah the best light was saved for the end, you just can’t beat that evening light. I would have loved some cloud but it wasn’t to be. Just means I’ll have to go back and give it another try.
Love the focus stacked image. It’s a beauty.
Thanks very much Jonathan, I was please how the final image ended up. Waiting around for the softer light was a good move!
Another winner. Thank you.
Thanks for that SubSailor! 👍
Nice to see you back again Andrew. Lovely images as ever and a great location. All the best.
Thanks Trevor, glad to be back mate. Appreciate your comments! 👍
G’day mate,glad to see you back,what a great setting,reminds me of the Sand dunes in Moonta.
Spectacular piece.
Thanks David, I was really impressed with this location, sand dunes were amazing. If I ever get over to SA, I’ll check out Moonta!
Andrew Marr thanks for the reply.
Your videos make me homesick,such a beautiful country.
I must add,my Moonta days were probably before you were born so don’t spend a lot of quid to go over,but I doubt that the dunes are gone.
Cheers.
Nicely done Andy, you make it look easy.
Cheers Jim, that’s nice of you to say! :)
Andrew it’s alway a pleasure to watch n learn from your videos. 👍👍👍🇦🇺🇦🇺
Thanks Anthony, really glad you feel that way, it’s nice to hear you’re enjoying the videos! 👍
Great video Andrew! Beautiful images of those sand dunes!
Cheers for that Tomas, appreciate your comments!
Great video and wonderful images. Glad to see you back!
Thanks Marine, that very kind of you. Hope you are going well!
Thank you Andrew, I am and planning on returning to CZcams soon!
Wonderful images Andrew and congrats on 20,000
Cheers Jarrod, glad you enjoyed this. I’m also stocked with the 20k sub milestone, so thank you! :)
Beautiful images Andrew specially the last one! Amazing pastel colours!!!
Thanks mate, I was hoping for some cloud but it didn’t eventuate, but I was happy with the soft colours in the end. I’m tempted to go back when there’s more chance of some cloud and cloud in the sky.
Nice images Andrew especially considering the challenging conditions.
Thanks John, I must admit this is the windiest conditions I’ve vlogged in, I’m happy the audio turned out!
Excellent images mate and what a stunning location 👍
Cheers Paul, glad you enjoyed this mate!
Brilliant video Andrew, back to the stuff that makes your channel great, good solid landscape vlogging.
I loved the colour grading in this video too. Was that your own doing or did you use a LUT? Care to share any info on this?
Wonderful video once again mate!
Great pictures and great Vlog!
Thanks Constantin, glad you enjoyed this one!
Hi Andrew, Once again a brilliant video with cracking images. Well done.
Thanks so much Jim, appreciate the support and kind comments mate!
Good to see you out again Andrew. That last image was the best and looked a stunning location. We are getting heavy snow again just now and hope to get away for a few days up the West Coast to Assynt. Atb
Thanks Ray, good to be back mate. I was very happy with the light at the end which helped light up that sand dune beautifully. I think Scotland in the snow would be a dream shoot for me. Stay warm and I’ll look out for your Assynt video! 👍
Ooh..i miss the sun, we had the last 2 weeks -20°..❄☃
Beautiful images. Looking forward to getting over there one day:)
Thank you very much Kim, definitely worth a visit! :)
Hey Andrew, this is one of my favorites... Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve (U.S. National Park Service) nps.gov
Ex-Pat living Stateside, this is the one of the closest and more interesting places that i regularly visit from where i live, but It is truly unique! They are the Highest Sand Dunes in the Lower 48, up to about 800ft, also remember that this National Park is 1-1/2 miles above sea level so the altitude kicks your butt climbing the dunes if your not acclimated. Dunes one side of the Medano Creek and the Snow peak Mountains to the North & East. Awesome camping, 4wd, tracks, hiking, wildlife. I just love it here. The Medano Creek flows and surges, sometimes it's flowing then it stops, crazy.
Check it out...
Cheers, Wes.
Thanks for the comment Wes, I’ll definitely check it out. They sound like some massive dunes round those parts. I know we have some large dunes down south near Esperance that I’d love the check out, but I think there’s some serious 4WDing needed to get there.
Maybe you could do a short focus stacking tutorial Andrew... I've never done it?
Great video and images. Well done.
Thanks for that Keith! 👍
Quality work.
Thanks so much! 👍
Great Video Mate, as usual... Ha! got to watch for all those footprints from where you were walking lol. But with those kinda winds i'm sure they're gone pretty quickly.
Thanks for that mate, that was honestly to only good thing about that wind, that footprints left by me or other people were gone in just a few minutes.
Hey Andrew, welcome back Mate! Missed your smiling face out in the field for the last few weeks :-) Another great video and some fantastic shots. I'm a sucker for those shots with the sand blowing off the ridges. No large areas of dunes near me sadly but some good ones in Discovery Bay near Portland but you're like to get run over by dune buggies and 4WDs as it's the only place you can legally drive on sand in Vic. Cheers, Ian
Cheers Ian, great to be back mate! The landscape photography gets a little challenging in the summer over here. It was good to capture the sand blowing off the ridge but I did notice the long exposure did tend to make the image a little softer.
Another great video Andrew, was getting withdrawal symptoms.
Haha, I sorry for not uploading as regularly as I’d like, but I’ve been a little busy and summer photography can be a little challenging here! There is more content coming, I promise. Thanks for the support! 👍
Great to see your vlog Andrew. The mono images were very striking and the last colour image was magical with the colour toning between the sky and the dune. The sand dunes on the Canary Islands were impressive and was keen to see if Cape Verde offered up something similar but had to cancel that trip last minute but certainly want to go and see what the area is like.
Hi Jim, turning the image to BnW allowed for more of the texture to be drawn out and featured the contrast of light and shadows better. That’s usually the case when the sunlight is harsh. Once the light softened those pastel colours could be captured which I think complemented the textures of the sand. I agree the images I’ve seen of the Canary Islands do look impressive.
Great Video Andrew
Thanks very much Kreyg! 👍
Andrew, great to see you back with a 'real' camera - not being an I-phone user I much prefer the DSLR videos. This Vlog took me back to 1976 and the cover for the band Gong's Shamal album, happy days and great photography - thanks!
Dune de Pilat in France is my top dune - amazing place.
Where's my tripod....
It’s great to be back Steve with the D800 in hand! It looks like I ripped the image straight off the cover. I’ll check out Dune de Pilat! 👍
Nice images Andrew and I really enjoyed your vlog. Were you inspired by Thomas Heaton’s sand dunes Image that he made during his Namibia trip? His image is also outstanding!
Great! Very interesting chanel!
Thanks for the comment, appreciate you dropping by the channel! 👍
Great Images Andrew and I enjoyed your Vlog. Were you inspired by Thomas Heaton‘s stunning sand dunes image that he made during his Namibia trip?
Good stuff 😁 nice images
Thanks very much! 👍
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Not to shabby Andrew, considering the conditions... With a little luck, on your next visit the conditions will work more in your favor...
Have always wanted to check out the sands of the Kalahari...
Bill Farr... :-)
Hi Bill, you’re right they weren’t ideal conditions but as you know as landscape photographer we don’t get much say! :) Kalahari would be an amazing location to explore.
My apologies Andrew for the " Novella " in comments on your previous video on LR post processing. Getting exposure correct can be a challenging feat at times with respect to bright skies with foregrounds in shadow...
One thing I failed to take into consideration is your use of grads on the sky allowing for a more centered exp. on the histogram... I currently use CPL's on occasion & typically " shoot to the right " doing landscapes knowing that in post, I simply pull those highlights down.
Getting exposure correct, " in camera " is a constant and this would make a great subject matter to cover again & again as you deem appropriate...
Bill... :-)
Nice images Andrew, no need to go to Namibia for sand dunes eh?
Cheers Mike, haha why go to Namibia when these dunes are just an hour up the road. If given the opportunity though, I definitely go to Namibia! :)
Great dune photos Andrew thanks. I have question re hanging bags on tripods in high winds though. I understand the theory but my logic questions it, many 'togs will remove the strap from their camera so the wind won't catch it and cause vibration. So, doesn't hanging a bag there act like a big sail and counteract any possible benefit? Curious minds want to know...thanks!
Great images Andrew, you will spending the next week cleaning your kit now though 😂
Haha, it’s taken days to just get the sand off me! I had it in places I didn’t know I had 😳
Nice to have you posting again. Bet you did the stacking in PS not LR, right?
Cheers Mike, it’s great to be back mate. Yes, I did some initial adjustments in Lightroom and then merged the three images in Photoshop.
I cringe thinking of the sand hitting the camera and lens. Great work.
Haha, cheers Andy, I must admit they weren’t ideal conditions and the gear did need a good clean afterwards.
Hello sir, One question - did you have a cpl filter on the lens of your vlogging cam the whole time of did you edited that in post? Because it looked like it and cpl gives the sky just about that sweet amount of contrast.
Beautiful work Andrew but I bet it took hours to clean the kit afterwards. Greg
Thanks for that Greg! Hour…several days later and I’m still finding sand! :)
Interesting vlog, Andrew. I’ve put it on the list for a possible day out next trip to Oz. I’m interested to know if you felt the longer exposures enhanced the photos once they were out of the camera. It was difficult to tell on the iPad but I could imagine that the sand spilling from the top of the dunes was enhanced, perhaps at the cost of some loss of definition in the nearer sand ripples. We have some dunes along the coast here, but nothing like those in the Canaries or White Sands mentioned in other comments. Thanks for posting, looking forward to the next.
Cheers Brian, definitely one to add to your next Ozzie trip. Yes, once I was in post, I could see how the longer exposures had enhanced the sand that was blown off the ridge but I did notice some softness in the ripples in the foreground. Thanks mate! 👍
Didn't say it before, but thought the final image was magnificent. Did you blend the frames yourself or let PS do it? Either way it worked a treat. Cheers.
Great video, Andrew. What amazing images with only the sand dunes in shot. One question please, how do you protect your lenses with all the sand blowing about as you are photographing?
Thanks very much Tony. Unfortunately the best shots were with the camera and me facing straight into the wind, so while I set everything up I’d leave the lens cap on and reduce the amount of time the lens was being blasted by the sand. It’s not ideal but it was worth it for the images. Once I was home, I gave everything a good clean.
A great location, Andrew. Hope your kit didn't get too sand blasted.
Are you going to get up to Cervantes and The Pinnacles at any stage?
Thanks so much Chris, still cleaning the gear…so much sand! Cervantes and The Pinnacles are definitely on the list for future videos.
Ahh ... that blowing sand, I could feel it in my eyes! Nice video, and the last shot you took became interesting! Btw do you often use focus points, or just when you focus stack images? Take care/ B
Thanks Bill! Haha, days later and I still feel some grains in my eyes. Yes, I often use focus point but generally check the focus by zooming in. Cheers! 👍
Excellent place Andrew. Reminds me of White Sands in New Mexico here in the states. Very similar landscape and conditions. Did the blowing sand create any concern for the gear? From my days living the desert, sand got into everything. Thanks for the tips - cheers!
Thanks very much Miguel, I wasn’t concerned about the gear as such, however I did follow up the trip with a good clean of all the cameras, lens and filters. Your right the fine sand found it’s way into everything, but non different to having salt spray blown at the gear! :)
Beautiful shots, great spot by the looks of it, Excellent video. It was on my list of places to go shooting... and has now moved a few spots up the list :) Is it only accessible by 4WD?
Hi Richard, thanks mate! I was glad the audio was reasonably clear given the conditions. I was planning to get up there last year but never got around to it. So I grabbed the opportunity last week as my schedule cleared. I’d highly recommend it, the dunes are impressive. I’d also like to check out some of the other dunes areas further up the coast. The Lancelin dunes are very easy to access at the back of the town, no 4WD needed, only issue with that is it does get busy!
What happened with the Fujisystem?
That last image by the way, FANTASTIC!
I still have the X-T2 and still use it but it had been a while since I’d created a video with the D800. Thanks, I was pretty happy with how the final shot ended up!
Andrew Marr fair enough!
Challenging conditions! I actually prefer going a bit further north to the Dunes at Cervantes. They look the same but there is probably less people around (no 4WD access to the Dunes) and if you end up with clear skies you can go to the nearby Pinnacles Desert for some night-time photography.
Cheers Morden, yeah, Cervantes is definitely in the list. One of the biggest challenges here was the amount of people I had to dodge and avoid. I also plan to do the Pinnacles for a future video.
I've shot at the cervantes dunes several times and there is never anyone around at all. You just have to walk through the scrub from the highway to get to the dunes but they are quite close in a couple of places. I'll watch for the Cervantes and pinnacles video in the future!
Sounds good, so are you talking about the dunes that are on the right hand side of the Hwy as you travel north, near Grey or the ones on the left closer to Cervantes?
Yep the ones on the right hand side about 15 minutes or so before you get to Cervantes close to Grey. The dunes are only about 200m from the road.
Cool, I’ve been past them but had the family with and didn’t have an opportunity to stop and explore but noted it as one to come back to. Were the dunes a decent size?
these are just excellent, love all of them especially the last one.
Thanks for that Tim, I was pretty happy with the last shot!
I liked that final image a lot. Did you have any trouble getting the sand all cleaned out? I often wonder about that. I rarely do anything in blowing sand. It seems to me that it would find its way into any little cracks and crevices in your gear. Maybe its not as bad as it looks?
Cheers Philip, I was also happy with how the last image finished up. Haha, I had to give everything a pretty thorough clean. I try to look after all of my gear pretty carefully (I’ve had the D800 for 6 years), however my philosophy is in situations like this when the conditions may not be ideal, I should still take the opportunity to grab a few images as the gear is there to be used. As I said, I followup with giving everything a good clean to ensure there’s no long term damage.
Hi Andrew, I thought you now have a D810? Or do you have and use both? I just recently moved from a d610 to d800e - liking it a lot! Matches my d700 better too.
What program do You use to do focus stacking?