Justin Strawn

3D Designer, Photographer, Traveler

Kolmanskop, Namibia

A wonderful photographic exercise in bounce lighting and HDR. I was at the gate when it opened just after sunrise, and therefore had the sand un-footprinted as a reward.

I found 12mm and 18mm (full-frame) to be my favorite length. ND filters were helpful in playing with long exposure of some of the windy sand. I would recommend a shutter release for exposure bracketing due to the drastic HDR variation.

It was interesting playing with composition, especially height in this case. I think it was most successful to be at a height that was around human eye-level in relation to the original scene, which was sometimes very close to the “ground”, creating an feeling of swimming through the sand.