Yes. Both of them, actually. I have the book Dune, featuring dune images by both of them. Only one image in that book is of similarly small scale - most are larger views and either more graphic (especially in Brett's case) or lyrical (both Brett and Edward). After seeing their work, and some wonderful dune images of Huntington Witherill's (his book Orchestrating Icons is one of my favorites), I'm not sure I'll be attempting to photograph dunes again!
I had hoped to do some larger views when that image was taken, but (minor) disaster struck. I was on my way home from my parents' house in Wyoming, driving west across central Oregon. I had always wanted to visit some dunes near a small unincorporated town called Christmas Valley. Driving west I could see the dunes off to the north a number of miles. Getting there involved leaving the highway and driving north about 8 miles, then backtracking eastward for another 10 miles or so, all in treeless high desert. After leaving the highway I passed a number of classic rural compounds consisting of trailers and RV's in various states of decay. The thought of approaching one for help in the case of an emergency was frightful.
I got to where the dunes were and started driving in on a dirt two-track road. I was in our Prius, with the back end full of junk I had brought from my parents' house. As I neared the dunes I rounded a corner and the Prius quit making forward progress. I was stuck, with both front wheels buried Prius deep - a few inches! I got out and made the posted image not far from the car. I wanted to do more, but was not able to focus on seeing, knowing that I was stranded. At that moment, true panic began setting in. It was about 9 AM and getting hotter by the minute. I changed into some cool clothes and stood in the shade of a large bush, drinking water and assessing the situation. I emptied the rear of the car to get access to the jack. It was a scissor jack, never used, well greased up from the factory. The moment I set it on the ground it was completely gummed up with sand. Scratch the jack plan.
I've been stuck in snow many times, and sometimes jamming sticks under the tires provided enough traction to move, so I thought I'd try that. There were a number of long, straight juniper roots that had been exposed in places by 4-wheelers driving over them. I was able to break off five or six foot lengths and shove them behind the front tires to back up. I figured I'd back until I was off the sticks, then replace them and do it over and over again. I got in and gently gave it a bit of gas, and was moving! I noticed that if I cut left I would get the car pointed down a slight incline, which seemed like a good thing. I did it, and found myself slightly downhill, as planned. I threw caution to the wind and started steadily and carefully driving forward, remembering a friend's mantra when rock climbing - "momentum is your only friend!" I drove to where the road became firmer and stopped, then walked back to retrieve a few things I'd left behind.
By then the sun was too high for any more photography. I started leaving, thinking about how fortunate I had been to get out of a seemingly serious predicament. At the edge of the dune area I stopped in the shade of a sign that listed courtesy protocols for those enjoying the area in off highway vehicles. I then realized that it was a Friday, and by evening the place would probably be crawling with camp trailers and large pickup trucks. It then struck me that probably the greatest danger I faced was having to wait around all day to be jokingly ridiculed about my Prius when someone generously pulled it out with their big truck!
"... probably the greatest danger I faced was having to wait around all day to be jokingly ridiculed about my Prius..."
I agree, really close call there. I hope you learned your lesson that day--life isn't always so forgiving the second time.
I'd like to point out one interesting thing about the portrait posted earlier: the use of front fall. The lens is at the subject's eye level but his head is at the top of the image, not the center.
This adjustment was quick and instinctual under the ground glass of a view camera but to get this effect otherwise, we would have to shoot with a wide angle lens and then crop heavily. I doubt I would have ever considered that.
... So I'm keeping that old camera for a while !
I didn't set out to do so when I captured this, but here's my accidental homage to Todd Hido
Hasselblad 500C/M, Distagon 50mm, Fuji NPL 160 (expired 1998)
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