Thar Sunset Redux

Had always wanted a rippled desert sand photo in my portfolio, and on a visit to Jaisalmer a few years ago, had had the opportunity. We made to the Sam dunes in the evening and the sky had the elements for a great image, clouds, the setting sun, but what was lacking was a good foreground. Now Sam dunes is full of tourists, especially the beer guzzling and chips wrapper discarding variety, so the dunes were mostly trampled about and had litter thrown all over. Finally had managed to find a corner which was not trampled and had some of the wind patterns, so sought out the most feasible composition, how I wish there was only one bush in the frame (and trying to neatly clone out the bush in the middle will be too complex a task) trying to leave out people from my composition and also keep the camel riders away from the patterns, as they were pestering me to take a ride and I set up my equipment as fast as I could and managed to shoot a couple of frames before some tourists on camels passed through the dune and left all hoof marks. Had to be satisfied with what I got, and strangely over my stay there which also included a trip to the Khuri dunes, did not come across any patch of rippled sand which would merit taking a shot of. Either the sky was bland or there were too many people around, or the light was flat, so till the next time I manage to make a visit to a desert, I have to be happy with this frame, and in fact I am. Well, when I had come back from that trip, I had processed the image, but now I feel I had not done justice to the frame with how I had addressed it then, so decided to give it a go with the knowledge I have gathered in the meantime, and develop on the process I use to give my images "my look".

At Sam Dunes, Thar Desert, Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, India.

Done