photo sharing and upload picture albums photo forums search pictures popular photos photography help login
Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Eighteen: Light and Landscape – combining personal vision with nature’s gifts > Footprints, Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, Utah, 2006
previous | next
18-SEP-2006

Footprints, Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, Utah, 2006

The evening light on this huge sand dune brings out the trail of human footprints along the crest of the dune, as well as the deep shadows that give the dune and its foreground undulations great dimension. The tiny figure walking along the crest tells us just how large this dune is. The image begins with green vegetation in the foreground, then moves to sand in the middle ground, and returns to green trees in the background. These dunes are just outside of Kanab, Utah.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50
1/400s f/8.0 at 88.8mm iso100 full exif

other sizes: small medium large original auto
share
Phil Douglis24-Jan-2007 05:33
Well said, Iris -- I like what you see in this image. Footsteps are always ready for a metaphor. But it's the context here -- the scale of the dune and the presence of the man, that gives them their meaning.
Iris Maybloom (irislm)24-Jan-2007 01:41
Most photographers hate the footprints in the sand. Your image, however, makes artistic use of them. With the figure hiking up the dunes. the footprints become symbolic of those who came before him. Many of us chart our own course; others follow in the footsteps of others!
Phil Douglis19-Nov-2006 01:45
I only hope that I will have the same kind of light when I photograph the huge dunes of the Sahara in Morocco next month, Ai Li. Without the quality of this light, this color, as well as the shadows, texture, and contrast you speak of, goes away. All we would have is an incongruous scale relationship.
AL18-Nov-2006 16:00
It's beautiful. Love the light, the color, the shape, the texture, the contrast, the scale and the human touch. My eyes moved along the trail in the foreground, to that in the middle ground and that beyond your frame to the right.
Phil Douglis08-Nov-2006 19:49
Glad you like this one, Xin. You are right, this image is like a layer-cake. There are the grass ridges in the foreground, followed by a middle ground comprised of the small sand dunes leading to the shadow of the big dune, the huge central dune itself, which is crowned by a ribbon of footprints and the scale incongruity of the tiny figure at its crest. Finally, there is the background -- the surprise of forest rising just behind the dunes. You are right about those human values, too -- how about awe?
Sheena Xin Liu08-Nov-2006 06:58
Superb color and light. The shading of the sand dune makes the picture multi-layered. The presence of the tourist inputs a lot of human value and meanings to the picture. I love this picture a lot, Phil.
Phil Douglis29-Oct-2006 18:50
Thank you, Shirley, for your kind words. You are right -- there is an s-curve here, up there on the crest of the dune, that draws the tiny figure towards its summit.
Shirley Wang29-Oct-2006 13:31
Beautiful contrast in color and nature. Again, the use of S curve works too.
Phil Douglis27-Oct-2006 06:50
Good point about the dunes and the forest, Christine. It is one of those surprises that nature gives us.
Christine P. Newman27-Oct-2006 00:27
You definitely succeeded in showing us the scale of these dunes. What is also striking is the apaprent close proximity of the dunes and forest.
Type your message and click Add Comment
It is best to login or register first but you may post as a guest.
Enter an optional name and contact email address. Name
Name Email
help private comment