"The Climb"

This is why I keep my Canon 20D around.  When you are trying to take a picture at a place aptly named "Sand Mountain," and the winds are howling, you do not want to use your 1D Mark III. 

I took this picture on the annual Jessie Beck Elementary School field trip to Sand Mountain.  You can see the sand blowing at the top of the mountain.  Those are 4th graders (with a few adult chaperones mixed in) heading into the heart of an amazing (amazing in a bad way) wind storm.  To be honest, it was miserable hike... but I really like this photograph.  It does what any good photograph does... it tells a story.  This story is about peoples ability to overcome obstacles.  The group moving towards the hill convey a sense of scale.  Without them the picture would lose all meaning and interest in my opinion. 

Camera specs: Canon 20D with a 17-85mm lens at 41mm; 1/640 @ f/8.0; ISO 200.  The sky was gray and boring so I used the Graduated Filter in Lightroom to give it a little color.

Keep shooting!

Ryan