Khongoryn Els Sunset Photo

Photographer’s Note

Sunset from 1/2 way up the Singing Sand Dunes, of the Gobi Desert, so named for the unearthly noise made by strong winds whipping through the sand. In Mongolian language, it's 'Khongoryn Els'. I gave up trying to get to the top, as the sun had already set, & my heart was thudding. It's 2 days travel to the nearest hospital, & these dunes are amongst the world's tallest at 800 metres.

chinchini, mehmetemin, pablominto, syd1946, Budapestman, snunney, saylan-cb, cunejo200, xavshot, riclopes, Muse, Angshu, MLINES trouve(nt) cette note utile

Critiques | Translate

chinchini (27751) 2007-12-13 1:51

Salut Chris,
Hé hé! Tu te mets aussi aux couchers de soleil ? ;o)) Le décor sauvage présenté est magnifique. Il ne faudrait pas se perdre dans ce désert. Composition simple mais efficace. Joli job !
Bonne journée mon Ami
Pierre

bracasha75 (22303) 2007-12-13 2:00

Hello Chris
Just ...beautiful colors my friend
Excellent presenting
TFS
Cheers,Braca

pablominto (41200) 2007-12-13 2:04

Hello Chris,
A simple composition, but the evening light over the desert is amazing!
A fine diagonal composition; stunning colours and fine texture in the sand...
Greetings,
Pablo -

danyy (69357) 2007-12-13 2:13

Bonjour Chris,
dommage que le ciel soit un petit peu brûlé car au niveau des lumières sur les dunes, c'est parfait. Les couleurs sont magnifiques et incitent au repose des yeux.
Regards.
Daniel.

syd1946 (17953) 2007-12-13 2:14

Hello Chris,
Moody and atmospheric composition!The beautiful light painting so nice the colors...
Very well seen...a pleasure for the eyes!

Have a nice day,
Thomas

Paolo (40753) 2007-12-13 2:16

Hi Chris, beautiful one, colorful and with powerful light, good quality and a great view over the dunes.
thanks, ciao

Budapestman (42694) 2007-12-13 2:25

Hi Chris,
Fascinating and particular atmosphere with amazing colours and lights. The composition is impressive, perspective as well. Gorgeous sunset impression, Very well done! Have a nice day
George

snunney (35376) 2007-12-13 2:36

Hello Chris,
A very nice sunset composition where the golden tones of the dunes merge almost imperceptibly into those of the evening sky. Good point of view over this interesting landscape. Excellent colours and clarity.

jrj (34779) 2007-12-13 3:10

Interesting time of the day converting the sand to this moody setting, could as well have been snow as seen here. Good use of the lines and surves in the terrain Chris.

saylan-cb (12726) 2007-12-13 3:19

Hi Chris
This is a great sunset composition,amazing image and strong colours,excellent work.
TFS/Regards

hamperium (279) 2007-12-13 3:21

looks so desolate
and its looks so quiet
great work!

barrufeto_77 (25923) 2007-12-13 3:28

Hi Chris.

Excellent depth and colours!

Rgs, Oscar

cunejo200 (7235) 2007-12-13 6:30

This deserves a WOW Chris! Impressive desert scene on a sunset. Suave and smooth! Greetings! Danilo

UnTrained (0) 2007-12-13 6:54

Hi Chris,
the long view along the dunes in that sunset is wonderful. I like the grass in the sand and the coloured sky in the background. 800 metres, I did in France the one from Pylat, around 100. Challenging climb.
Lieben Gruss, Ulf

trekks (14334) 2007-12-13 7:57

Very impressive sunset view, the grainy sand color tone goes well with the skylight, you have nicely placed the horizon level and the outline below the bright light is great. TFS

bill

carper (65524) 2007-12-13 10:56

it's a very nice one chris,
the backlight is well handled jhere, you made a fine composition from a good quality, I like it, have a fine day.
gr. jaap

xavshot (63025) 2007-12-13 11:01

Bonsoir Chris
très belles couleurs dans cette photo. On se croirait transporté sur une autre planète. J'aime beaucoup. Beau travail.
Xavier

vincz (19045) 2007-12-13 23:04

Wow... such a beautiful one with great soft rendering and fantastic colours. i love the feeling.

mehmetemin (7217) 2007-12-14 1:36

Hi Chris
excellent sunset
Amazing view and colours!
It is perfect...!
Greetings
Mehmet Emin

riclopes (33119) 2007-12-14 2:14

This one is an exciting one, Chris. I wouldn't rest before I managed to reach the top ;-) Beautiful sunset from a fascinating inospit place. I can almost hear the music of the strong wind...
Cheers,
ricardo

Muse (31049) 2007-12-14 2:50

Hello Chris,
Un trè sjoli coucher de soleil sur le sable.
Des couleurs douces et un très bon pov.
Amicalement,
Excellent week end,
Denise

batalay (21140) 2007-12-14 6:53

Hello Chris,

Again an extraordinary scene from Central Asia, and your engaging note puts it into perpspective, and helps to give it scale. There are some very large sand dunes in North Carolina on the Eastern Banks region, very close to the site of the Wright Brothers carrying out their historic flight in 1903. I They are nowhere as high as 800 meters (more like 200 meters), and I can empathize with the climb. Plodding uphill in sand is not easy. It appears as if there are some trees in the distance, or are they bushes?

Warm regards and have a good weekend,

Bulent

mrcrow (3989) 2007-12-16 7:26

hi chris
these dunes dont seem that large till i read your informative note
another way out of civilisation shot of an interesting country..
i take it you stayed in tents and travelled by jeep etc..
i have seen a mongolian trek programme on tv and it showed a lot of use of the motorcycle.
cheers
geof

femkevdh (2633) 2007-12-16 23:21

wow... must do something to you when you're in these surroundings. Can image it's hard work, but this view is wel worth it!
Beautiful warm colors and good use of light.

ciao, femke

Silvio1953 (42617) 2007-12-17 1:07

Hi Chris, fascinating sunset with wonderful colors, splendid composition, very well done, ciao Silvio

brandstaetter (14354) 2007-12-17 9:14

Hi chris,
compliments for this photo but also for your afford to get there ! A wonderful scene with phantastic colours.
Cheers Christian

Graal (58616) 2007-12-18 4:16

Bonjour Chris,
beautiful landscape and sunset. Great colours of sky. I like the composition also. Well done.
Gr., Aleksander

Matthew-Watt (4467) 2007-12-18 17:47

Hello Chris,

I found out today that you have written the second largest amount of critiques and have uploaded the third largest amount of images on this site. What a great achievement, well done!

This image demonstrates the vastness and emptiness of some parts of the world, a stark contrast to crowded city life of many people. In my urban planing course, I have learnt that for the first time in history, more than 1/2 of the world's 6.5 billion people are now living in urban areas, which I thinks makes the nomads who inhabit regions like this particularly valued people.

The curves of the sand hills, alternating patches of shadow and light and that surreal rose/orange sky and magnificent depth combine here to make a stunning scene. You are very fortunate to have seen so many remote and wild destinations.

Matt

Angshu (34027) 2007-12-19 1:26

Namaste Chris
Fascinating & fantastic picture. Love the colour tones created by sunset on the sky & the dunes. We do not see the effect of the strong winds here, but we can imagine what it would be like. Very good note to accompany.
Regards
Angshu

mikeo (12117) 2007-12-19 14:17

Hi Chris,

Very good shot...
Simple but so beautiful composition...
Good POV...
Very nice colours...

I like it a lot!
Greetings
Aga

MLINES (10936) 2007-12-19 14:46

Hi Chris, Your recent journey is fit for Jules Verne - any coincidence? Beautiful nature with fine colours and a good note. The only way we will see this place is through your lens. TFS. Murray.