This shot was taken in Nubra Valley in Ladakh in the Indian Himalaya. It's high, dry and cold, and the sand dunes and camels remind you more of the Sahara, Arabian or Thar deserts than the mountains of northern India. Camels pad along over the sand with snow-capped peaks behind them. The wind whips the sand and dust up around their feet and over the dunes creating halos and whirling eddies that are difficult to capture on camera but enormously rewarding when one gets it right. These double-humped Bactrian camels are descendants of those that plied the old Silk Road centuries ago, carrying silk from China to the Mediterranean.
Comments welcome. Thank you.
I think by most normal criteria, this would be considered a poor photo. But I happen to love it. The shadows and silhouetted figures make it seem just so surreal. Well done!
The question is what are those normal criteria? Who sets them? Photography is sort of like painting. Some will like it others will hate it.
I don't care what any photography "expert" says, this is a fantastic shot. Whether intentional or not the odd shadows make it mysterious, scary and generally make you wonder. Great, great work.
Thank you, Przemek. There was a lot of contrast between the sunlit areas up the mountainsides and the shadows below. I had also exposed for the light, so the shadows were generally darker. The sand in Nubra is whitish to pale grey, so it contrasts well with the surroundings.