A visit to White Sands National Monument (8 images)

Scott_Quier

C&C welcomed and encouraged. Please!

SWMBO (my DW, Leslie) is taking a class in a small town called Truth and Consequences, NM (Click here for a short history behind the name). Of course, I took the opportunity to put major miles on the rental and made a short trip to the White Sands National Monument.

I made my first visit to White Sands on Wednesday even though the wind was blowing between 20 and 30 mph with gusts to 40mph. Because of the wind, I did not even think about taking the camera out of the bag – can you imagine the amount of sand I would have collected on and in the camera? But, I did take the time to find “the place” from which I would start my shooting. And a good thing to.

On Thursday, I crawl out of bed at 3:30AM, drive 2+ hours to arrive at the monument at 6:00AM, just before the first ranger showed up to open the first gate (yup, there are two locked gates one must pass through to access the sand). So, I go through the first gate and had to wait another hour before the second gate was opened. A good thing the sun didn't peek above the mountains to the east until 7:15AM. So, I get through the gate and race to “the place”. I was the first person in the park, so …. speed limits … What's a speed limit?

BTW - The best time to visit White Sands is the day after a major wind storm. The wind smooths out the sand and the only tracks you see are those made by the nocturnal residents and the artifacts in the sand created by the grasses as they blow back and forth across the sand. So, when you are planning a trip there, make sure to schedule the wind storm for the day before you arrive.

Here's a Google Maps "satellite's view" image of the monument .... just 'cause I thought it was neat.


But, the interesting stuff can only be seen from the ground.

1.


2. Fox tracks (at least, I think they are fox tracks). I love the simplicity of this image. It just seems to strike a chord within me.


3.


4.


5. Some more tracks. I tracked the first set for a while and I know this is not the same animal though the tracks are similar.


6.


7.


8. What you see when you climb on dune just begs for a pano ... so, here's the obligatory pano (click on it for the XL3 size ... The original is some 18MB ... I didn't think anyone would be interested in downloading that beast )

Eclipsed

Wow, looks like a cool place. Some great images you got there!

Sam

Scott,

I see your making good on your landscape imagery.

Please DON"T take my comments personal. What I see is some over exposure and maybe some added contrast that tends to accentuate this.

One thing I just got and am starting to use is a Lee filter setup with graduated neutral density filters. So far this is showing some real promise with the initial capture. You may want to look into this.

Some nice compositions.

OT rant: I really don't like the idea of paying people to stop me from the legitimate use of my (and your) park!

That's one thing I like about Death Valley. Go where you want when you want.

Good luck with your landscape photography. I know we will be seeing some really exceptional images very soon!

Sam

Scott_Quier

Thanks Sam!

Sam wrote:

Scott,

I see your making good on your landscape imagery.

Please DON"T take my comments personal. What I see is some over exposure and maybe some added contrast that tends to accentuate this.

One thing I just got and am starting to use is a Lee filter setup with graduated neutral density filters. So far this is showing some real promise with the initial capture. You may want to look into this.

Some nice compositions.

OT rant: I really don't like the idea of paying people to stop me from the legitimate use of my (and your) park!

That's one thing I like about Death Valley. Go where you want when you want.

Good luck with your landscape photography. I know we will be seeing some really exceptional images very soon!

Sam

Sam,

Let's see ... how can I put this? Hmmmm ... Yeah, you nailed it. That was exactly the wake up call I needed. When I was processing these images, I was remembering just how white the sand was on Wed, at full noon (or later) and not how it really was at 0700 yesterday. So, I was pushing the exposure a bit trying to make the sand white when, in fact, the sand was not white at the time of exposure.

So, because of you, I re-evaluated all the images I posted and decided that you were 100% right. All but the B&W image needed some work. Don't ask me why he B&W image was right, but I stil like it as it appears in the first post.

Here are the "corrected" images. In processing these, I took into account the time of day and the angle of the sun when they were captured. Because they were taken over the span of about 2 hours (from sunrise until about 2 hours after sunrise) the WB of the images will vary somewhat - this is something else I failed to take into account when I was processing them the first time .... I tried to get the WB all the same.

Oh, and as for the pano - I don't intend to re-work it. Too much trouble for an image I really don't care about.

Anyway, here they are again
1. The first one of the morning. The slope of the sand was mostly away from the rising sun, hence the bluer tone. But, those surfaces facing the sun were quite a bit warmer in color. BTW - I didn't mention that the temperature out there was something really, really close to 32° F - my fingers got quite cold before the air started to warm up.


2. I still like the simplicity of this one. Here the slope of the sand was such that it got a lot more of the light from the rising sun. And now one can better see the animal prints in the sand.


3.


4.


5. Now that I have the exposure more nearly correct, it's possible to see the tracks go around the clump of grass(?) on the right and disappear in the distance as the fox(?) walked over the crest of the sand dune in the distance.


6. This one I'm not too sure about. I tried cropping the mountains out, but it felt too claustraphobic. But, I'm not really happy with the mountains in the shot. Maybe this one is a candidate for the dust bin?


In response to your OT rant ... let me add some facts to the mix. This is the first time I have been physically barred from entering a national park or monument outside of "normal" hours. It would be nice if they only closed the gates as the exception (for when the White Sands Missle Test Range was scheduled to test a weapon) rather than the rule.

pathfinder

The gates are the reason I prefer to shoot White Sands at sunset..... especially after a rainstorm.

Nice work, Scott. That's a pretty fair drive from Tucumcari!

Sam

Scott,

The reprocessed images look much better! Many times a second eye can see things from a fresh non biased viewpoint.

I shot at Eureka Dunes last week, and you have motivated me to go process one of these.

Sam

TreyHoff

Yes the re-processed set is much better. Nice job.

I like the plant in #4. How would it look with a square crop? The plant seems to be the subject matter, but for me there's too much foreground despite the nice ripples.

JC

Super
much better after reprocessing, gorgeous shots.

Funny, #6, the one you aren't so sure about, is one of my favorites in there. The elegant arrangement of the clump of grasses in the front right, and I think the blue-haze mountains make a great backdrop to the light dunes.

cab.in.boston

Scott_Quier wrote:

The best time to visit White Sands is the day after a major wind storm. The wind smooths out the sand and the only tracks you see are those made by the nocturnal residents and the artifacts in the sand created by the grasses as they blow back and forth across the sand. So, when you are planning a trip there, make sure to schedule the wind storm for the day before you arrive.

Fortunately, the windy season in southern NM is about 11.5 months a year, so going the day after a heavy wind isn't usually too difficult.

Beautiful shots of a beautiful place, Scott. I also like the re-processed versions, I was thinking there were a few blown highlights in the first set as well. You're taking me back to my past on this little trip of yours. I spent 6 years in Las Cruces, just over the mountains from WS. I haven't been back in years, and I haven't been since photography has been a bug of mine. I definitely would love to take an extended southwest photo trip, the desert truly can be gorgeous.

Scott_Quier

pathfinder wrote:

The gates are the reason I prefer to shoot WHite Sands at sunset..... especially after a rainstorm.

Nice work, Scott. That's a pretty fair drive from Tucumcari!

Yes, that would be a far drive ... except I'm in Truth or Consequences. From here, it's only a 2 hour drive. From Tucumcari it would be more like 4(ish).

As for sunset, wasn't an option ... for two reasons. First, the wind would start blowing around 10:00 and would stop until well after sundown. Exposing the camera to the sand - not my idea of fun. Second, I had to be back in TorC by 9:00PM to meet other obligations.

Sam wrote:

Scott,

The reprocessed images look much better! Many times a second eye can see things from a fresh non biased viewpoint.

I shot at Eureka Dunes last week, and you have motivated me to go process one of these.

Sam

Yup - and you provided it in a very effective manner. I really appreciate it. As you say, I also like the second set so much better.

Scott_Quier

TreyHoff wrote:

Yes the re-processed set is much better. Nice job.

I like the plant in #4. How would it look with a square crop? The plant seems to be the subject matter, but for me there's too much foreground despite the nice ripples.

Thanks for the vote on the second set. I appreciate it.

About the choice of crop .... for me, it's the ripples and the expanse of space that creates the message I was going for - that of space and limited resources, etc. Here we see that there are two plants but they aren't close together because (maybe) there isn't enough water, etc to support everything if they are too close together. Hard to explain in words ....

Scott_Quier

kolibri wrote:

much better after reprocessing, gorgeous shots.

Funny, #6, the one you aren't so sure about, is one of my favorites in there. The elegant arrangement of the clump of grasses in the front right, and I think the blue-haze mountains make a great backdrop to the light dunes.

Thank you for the kind words. It was for the back-drop effect that I composed the shot as I did - hoping for the best. I'm still sooooo new to this whole landscape photography thing that really don't know much about what I'm doing. Your opinion really helps. Thanks

cab.in.boston wrote:

Fortunately, the windy season in southern NM is about 11.5 months a year, so going the day after a heavy wind isn't usually too difficult.

Except, at that rate, it's hard to find a day when the wind isn't blowing. Checking with the locals (all of whom I've found to be quite friendly) I found that the wind doesn't really start in until after about 10:00.

cab.in.boston wrote:

Beautiful shots of a beautiful place, Scott. I also like the re-processed versions, I was thinking there were a few blown highlights in the first set as well. You're taking me back to my past on this little trip of yours. I spent 6 years in Las Cruces, just over the mountains from WS. I haven't been back in years, and I haven't been since photography has been a bug of mine. I definitely would love to take an extended southwest photo trip, the desert truly can be gorgeous.

In another life, I spend 5 years in Albuquerque but never made it this far south.

On this trip I met up with Josh Hunt (joshhuntnm) and his son Dawson (don't remember his nickname) who both live in Las Cruces. Nice town!.

cab.in.boston

Scott_Quier wrote:

Except, at that rate, it's hard to find a day when the wind isn't blowing. Checking with the locals (all of whom I've found to be quite friendly) I found that the wind doesn't really start in until after about 10:00.
In another life, I spend 5 years in Albuquerque but never made it this far south.

Yes, the people there are very nice and friendly. I definitely enjoyed my time there. My dad lives in Rio Rancho, although I haven't been back there in about 6-7 years or so, either. I have very fond memories of and miss some things about NM, mostly the food(!), but all in all, I'm not sure I'd be happy living there full time anymore. I didn't mind the heat, but I did get tired of the wind, because in the desert when the wind blows, it tends to sandblast you all the time.

Scott_Quier wrote:

On this trip I met up with Josh Hunt (joshhuntnm) and his son Dawson (don't remember his nickname) who both live in Las Cruces. Nice town!.

As it happens, Dawson recently shot the wedding of my college roommate's brother. He and Josh both do good work. I'm sure you had a great time.

Jeremy Winterberg

I was at the White Sands National Park last year, and it is pretty amazing. I have a BnW 20x30 canvas wrap on my wall from there.

We drove from El Paso, TX to the park, so it was a long drive there and back. I have to admit that sliding down the 60ft dunes was pretty fun!

Great Shots!

AndMan

Wonderful shots Scott, they remind me of my visit there 5 years ago.

joshhuntnm

#4 looks like it ought to be on the cover of a brochure. . . good job, Scott

Scott_Quier

joshhuntnm wrote:

#4 looks like it ought to be on the cover of a brochure. . . good job, Scott

Thanks for looking and commenting. That's some pretty high praise.

angevin1

These re-do's are sweet! And the reason for them is sweeter...WB and it's many variations recon differently all the time: 24/7. it is astounding the difference you made in these!!

redleash

Scott - I like the reprocessed versions better, especially #2. Like you, it's my favorite because of the simplicity. With the tracks showing better in the new version, I think this image is stunning! I wasn't sure about #6, probably because it is so busy compared to #2--but the more I looked, the more I liked it. I would cut a little sky off the top--doing so on my screen made it even more impressive, IMO.

I've never been to White Sands, so I appreciate you sharing these and showing me something new. I look forward to your landscapes in this forum!

Lauren

Scott_Quier

redleash wrote:

Scott - I like the reprocessed versions better, especially #2. Like you, it's my favorite because of the simplicity. With the tracks showing better in the new version, I think this image is stunning! I wasn't sure about #6, probably because it is so busy compared to #2--but the more I looked, the more I liked it. I would cut a little sky off the top--doing so on my screen made it even more impressive, IMO.

I've never been to White Sands, so I appreciate you sharing these and showing me something new. I look forward to your landscapes in this forum!

Lauren

I think you may be right about the cropping on #6. Just playing with it in the browser it seems to work better for me if I remove about 1/2 the sky from view. Thanks for the suggestion.

As for future contributions to this forum .... that will be driven by available time and resources ($$ ) but I hope to add something on a regular basis. It's just so much fun!

schmoo

These are really gorgeous! I love how blue the sky is even though you got nice sideways light that really brings out textures and shadows. I'm not sure I've seen a lot of photos from this place, but I don't see why not. It's beautiful!

Qarik

like everyone else I think your reprocessed set is much better then the 1st set. That said...the shots are nice enough technically but they just don't grab me in anyway. The composition just isn't there for me. Maybe that is the nature of shooting in a desert but I like to see a foreguound subject somewhere, midground that complements, and some kind of nice backdrop.

I see nice backdrops but very few compelling foreground or midground elements. Also the shadows are killing me. heh

Niepce

I love #4. Absolutely love it.

Scott_Quier

schmoo wrote:

These are really gorgeous! I love how blue the sky is even though you got nice sideways light that really brings out textures and shadows. I'm not sure I've seen a lot of photos from this place, but I don't see why not. It's beautiful!

That means a lot to me. I look at your work and it's, "When I grow up, I want to be just like her".

Scott_Quier

Qarik wrote:

like everyone else I think your reprocessed set is much better then the 1st set. That said...the shots are nice enough technically but they just don't grab me in anyway. The composition just isn't there for me. Maybe that is the nature of shooting in a desert but I like to see a foreguound subject somewhere, midground that complements, and some kind of nice backdrop.

I see nice backdrops but very few compelling foreground or midground elements. Also the shadows are killing me. heh

There's no addressing the fact that these photos don't grab you. That's the nice thing about art (and my attempt at art) - not everything is going to be the ticket for every person. I can appreciate that fact as there is usually at least one post on DGrin every day that doesn't appeal to me but it really works for others. It's all cool.

I really appreciate your other comments - they have forced me to re-evaluate my shots. So, in considering your other comments ...

Shadows - these images are all about the textures found in the clean wind-blown sand. With the sand being all one color, the only way to get a sense of depth/texture is through the differences created by the shadows of the low side-lighting.

As for the foreground, midground, backdrop recipe: taking each photo in turn:

1. • Foreground - The twig on the ground in near center of image and the grass against right edge
   • Midground - "bush" center, in top third of image
   • Distance - "bushes" along sand horizon, left
   
   
2. • Foreground - Tracks lower right and the sand waves
   • Midground - Yeah, not so much, but the tracks to connect to the distant element
   • Distance - The small dune on the dune
   
   
3. • Foreground - That rough stuff in the lower right
   • Midground - Yeah, not so much. However, the rough stuff does continue through the middleground and lead the viewer to ....
   • Distance - the large "bush" along the left edge of the frame
   
   
4. • Foreground - Subtle, but the waves along the lower edge of the frame, especially in the lower left corner, leading the eye to ...
   • Midground - the plant along the right edge of the frame, the shadow of which leads to ....
   • Distance - The pland on the horizon of the sand dune
   
   
5. Have to agree, from a foreground, midground, backdrop recipe, this one might be a bit weak
   • Foreground - The tracks that lead into the distance
   • Midground - Not so much
   • Distance - the rolling dunes - yup, a bit weak there as well.
   
   
6. • Foreground - the plant in the lower right corner, surrounded by the waves of sand
   • Midground - The small dune center left to center
   • Distance - the white sand horizon and the mountains behind.

Again, I do appreciate your comments. They have made me look at these images again to determine what's good about them and what's not. As a direct result, were I building a portfolio, there are a couple (or more) here that would not make the cut. Thanks

Scott_Quier

Niepce wrote:

I love #4. Absolutely love it.

Not much I can say to that except, "Thank you!"