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michaelanderson —
The Color of Thunder
Published: 2011-09-20 22:45:20 +0000 UTC; Views: 25707; Favourites: 2003; Downloads: 0
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Description
The dunes of Lencois Maranhenses are like nature's canvas- the golden white sands reflect the full spectrum of sunset colors into the watery atmosphere, intensifying and bathing the scene in dazzling light like nowhere else I've ever seen. There are a few rare places on earth that have just the right atmospheric conditions to create extraordinary light; Patagonia, the high altitude Himalaya, the white granite walls of Yosemite- but this little known corner of the world, empty and quiet, just might have the best atmospheric conditions of them all.Related content
Comments: 135
these places are amazing...I went hiking on the semi grassy mountains facing the Himalayan mountains with several groups back at my highschool..it was a LONG hike but it was so quite up there that your ears rang...
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is it cold out there? makes me wanna run in that water naked
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It's tropical warm and humid- perfect for swimming, even at night. A prolonged drenching rain can make you cold if you lack protection from the elements, but when that occurred, I just jumped into the warm lakes to warm up again!
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ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh yummy!!
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Absolutely stunning! Beautiful picture, Congrats on the DD! 
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First of all, the colors and the overall layout of this picture are just out of this world. Beautiful and unique!.
I'm just wondering about the time of day this was taken. It seems to be a sunset, but the light of the sun seems to be breaking through the clouds much higher than the horizon, yet the horizon looks dark bluish, like it looks on the opposite side of the sky dome of where the sunset occurs. Is the sunset occurring to the left of the shot?
In any case, I'll just continue to lose myself in the picture. It's soooo peaceful!
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This is a great question. The light in these dunes is quite magical and difficult to predict.
The sun was setting behind me toward the right. There were massive black clouds across the horoizon, and the light you see in the upper left is a result of the light streaming through a gap in those clouds. The clouds were so black that they created shadows across the sky on the right side of the image. That's why the sky there appears so dark. The dunes are relatively bright because they are white, reflecting the golden light of the bright part of the sky back at the camera. I also was able to benefit somwhat from ligyht polarization since the sun was not directly behind me. That helped enhance the color and contrast of the scene. I hope that helps answer your question.
It was pure magic to see this in person. I felt like I was in a movie studio- the natural light and colors were so intense. I don't quite understand all of the physics, but I think some of this has to do with the water suspended in the atmosphere, the reflection of light from the white canvas of dunes back into the sky, and the fact that the sun was penetrating through a gap in the clouds which filtered blue light and only let the warm rays of the sun hit the illuminated cloud formation. The areas in shadow absorbed the scattered blue light, and that enhanced the color contrast. That's my amateur physics view of how the scene came together.
-Thanks for all of the thoughtful commentary.
-Mike
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One more technical thing to add: The use of a polarizer helped bring out the color of the lake. If this was shot 180 degrees from the sun (ie: with the sun directly behind me), the lake colors would be blown out by the bright reflection of the clouds. By angling the view obliquely away from 180 degrees, I was able to benefit from the polarizer, which removes bright reflections from water surfaces, allowing the color of the water to shine through. Max benefit of the polarizer occurs 90 degrees from the sun, but in this case, that would have been pointing too far to the right and away from the drama in the sky. So I tried to balance the drama of the clouds with the angle of polarization to get some color in the lake water and then ended up with the best result from both elements of the scene.
-Mike
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Thanks for all this Mike! Getting so much narrative about the shot experience from someone like you about this complex looking shot is really enlightening! (not a pun, but could be! hehe).
The place might be magical and a perfect natural studio, but the know how of taking advantage of it, like you have done on sooooo many of your absolutely magical photos, shows that it's not about luck, which most people who are starting into nature photography think it is. You know, the comment: "you're so lucky you where there exactly for that photo!".
I heard from a friend here in Costa Rica who is a great nature photographer as well, that it's not about luck, it's about experience, hunting out locations, setting up for the best angle to take advantage of a certain time of day, plan ahead, try several times (if necessary) and then wait.
There is a lot of thought, failed attempts, planning and know-how that goes into the "lucky shots", because in the end, it's also up the the Photo Gods as well, to give you that short two minute period of time to get your shot in (much much less if you're photographing animals, which I love to do in macro).
I still have to learn a LOT about landscape photos, a good wide angle lens is top on my list of things to buy when I have the money for my expensive hobby. And I so need to be able to travel more...
Thanks for sharing Mike, this is one of the reasons why DD is so awesome. Interacting with masters in photography like you is a privilege
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Thanks man- you totally get it! I can tell you have the passion and understanding to be a real master- I will be watching for your new work!
Mike
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Cool, and likewise! 
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UNBELIEVEABLE~!!!This image is TRULY spectacular~!The angle of everything is just right.
The ground looks extremely soft and the reflection of the thunder's light gives the sky a great color!
CONGRATZ ON THE DD~!!
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It looks like it can go on forever! Its so amazing! It looks so perfect and so right... well i wouldent like for it to rain and thunder and lightning every day thougth!XD
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omg is this pollution
are you polluting
are you a polluter
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Looks like a sci-fi photograph of an uninhabited planet! AWESOME!!
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w--wow....
This is just....mind-boggling....
I've never seen anything like it <3
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I cant even begin to explain how majestic and amazing this peice is!
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is sooooooooooooo beautiful!!!!!!! ^^
AWESOME!!!!!!!! ^^
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A PARADISIAC SHOT, PARTICULARY IN LIGHT AND COLORS.
GREAT JOB....
@++++
kalou.f
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Thank God your camrea was up to catching all of the colors here!
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I liked this piece when I saw it yesterday and I like just as much today. Congratz on the DD.
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That looks so much like a place in South Africa, i visited often, in the Eastern Cape, the Gamtoos river, sometimes storms also brewed up like that, making spectacular scenery, also sunsets over the dunes.
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