Now go back and look again remembering that these works are made of SAND.

I posted the winning sculpture by John Gowdy, entitled Young Love Never Grows Old", a few days back.

Amazing! davidcardona · 2010-10-08: 09:04

wonderful art creations here! so cool captures :) ????? · 2010-10-08: 09:09

These are fantastic! But will the first rain wash these away? atszabo · 2010-10-08: 10:00

Great! Creations are amazing! Frikica · 2010-10-08: 10:00

Fantastic sculptures, and great processing! imrepapa · 2010-10-08: 10:38

great set, great sculptures :) rozemarijn · 2010-10-08: 11:10

These are really amazing...thanks MARETKA88 · 2010-10-08: 12:12

Fantastic. Love the last: Going for a ride ????? · 2010-10-08: 12:49

"Going for a ride" looks HUGE ! TheBigHush · 2010-10-08: 14:40

Amazing shot Ray and with details so beautiful and so fragile! josy63 · 2010-10-08: 14:56

Amazing! wildduck · 2010-10-08: 15:14

Wow!!! This is stunning job!! Amazing composition, light, and exposure! ????? · 2010-10-08: 15:20

These have been captivating shots, Ray! I would have loved to see them for myself, so this is the next best thing - your shots have shown us wonderful facets of these creations. I can't comprehend the free-spanning areas. How do you get sand to be cohesive and not fall into the opening??? djnana · 2010-10-08: 18:52

Beautiful shots. What I found particularly interesting was that the edited one (#3) looked as if it could be a table top version, whereas the original (#2) looks bigger and is clearly on the ground. Jarvo · 2010-10-08: 19:25

It is incredible what they can do with sand! great pics. I'm with Djnana-- next best thing to being there. would love to see it! maybe next year. paulamarquis · 2010-10-08: 19:51

These are phenomenal and you did an amazing job capturing them. I was just about to ask where the hell was first place and then I read that I need to go back. Going now. ????? · 2010-10-08: 22:03

These are so fabulous! Your edit in #3 is lovely, but it seems to make the sculpture appear smaller to me. Don't know why and it really doesn't matter. They are still amazing and so well photographed! darfoster · 2010-10-08: 22:15

Wonderful set!!! agandia · 2010-10-08: 23:38

Wow incredible work, and you registered so very well!! ????? · 2010-10-09: 06:34

1# and 5# look so magical!:) onlyricky · 2010-10-09: 07:47

COOL-well done shahraki · 2010-10-09: 08:36

Fantastic .....absolutely beautiful sculptures and well captured cariad · 2010-10-09: 09:05

Nice set. Unbelievable talent. JustGarden · 2010-10-09: 09:10

Oh WOW! I was never able to accomplish this with my shovel and pail. Beautiful set,Ray. photosbydebbie · 2010-10-09: 10:23

Really fantastic works! ????? · 2010-10-10: 01:30

fantastic work! tomie · 2010-10-10: 03:13

oh wow those are fantastic! thanks for sharing Robin77 · 2010-10-10: 15:50

Great details you caught in these. Well done. SunflowerGirl · 2010-10-13: 11:14

ok, loving that last shot, but a word of advice, when using the surface blur option on PS, I wouldn't go any farther than 65 on the threshhold and less than 20 on the radius. I sometimes appy a slight surface blur, then go back and use the blur tool for any spots that might need a little extra blur. When using too much of a surface blur, you get that halo affect around the edges of the object that you want to focus on and it doesnt look so great. Too much blur rarely looks good. Rarely do I ever apply the surface blur or any type of blur right along the edged of any object I want to focus on. The secret is to go back and use the blur tool to blur the edges a little. I know, its time consuming, but the effect is much more aesthetically pleasing. :-) Nice subject though. ????? · 2010-10-13: 23:42