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Road Trip #4: Soulmates
Kory Lidstrom
Registered Users Posts: 251 Major grins
The fourth post in my series from my 32 day road trip through the western US.
"Soulmates" (Larger version and EXIF can be found here.)
This was taken at White Sands National Monument in southern New Mexico. Unlike many other National Parks/Monuments, White Sands is not open 24 hours. This is unfortunate for the landscape photographer, as the morning opening time of 7 AM is much too late to catch the magic hour that happens just before sunrise. Therefore, sunset is really the only way to go. The park closes at 7PM which is just enough time to do sunset justice, but barely. You do NOT want to still be in the park at closing time, as you will be locked in for the night and the rangers will be most unhappy with you.
My assistant/girlfriend and I almost learned this the hard way.
After shooting for several hours, we had wandered quite a ways out into seemingly endless the sea of dunes. By the time we had finished shooting, it was 6:30 and already getting dark. We quickly gathered up our gear, and began briskly walking in the general direction of the road and our car. Luckily, I had made it a point to keep track of our direction on our way in. This proved to be crucial on our walk out, because once daylight fades, the featureless landscape of a dune sea can be very confusing.
As we progressed towards our vehicle, I looked back over my shoulder and saw a beautiful silhouette of a dune against a star-studded sky. Even though we were pressed for time, I knew what I had to do: get the shot! I hastily set up my tripod, had my girl position herself at the very top of the dune, set the self-timer and hustled up into the frame. I shot several frames until I got it what I wanted, which you see here.
Once done, we had to pretty much jog the rest of the way to the car. When we got there, a ranger was waiting for us. He said that we were just in time and if we had been another ten minutes, we would've been locked in for the night. Even if that would've happened, I still think it would've been worth it. Hey, you only live once, right?
"Soulmates" (Larger version and EXIF can be found here.)
This was taken at White Sands National Monument in southern New Mexico. Unlike many other National Parks/Monuments, White Sands is not open 24 hours. This is unfortunate for the landscape photographer, as the morning opening time of 7 AM is much too late to catch the magic hour that happens just before sunrise. Therefore, sunset is really the only way to go. The park closes at 7PM which is just enough time to do sunset justice, but barely. You do NOT want to still be in the park at closing time, as you will be locked in for the night and the rangers will be most unhappy with you.
My assistant/girlfriend and I almost learned this the hard way.
After shooting for several hours, we had wandered quite a ways out into seemingly endless the sea of dunes. By the time we had finished shooting, it was 6:30 and already getting dark. We quickly gathered up our gear, and began briskly walking in the general direction of the road and our car. Luckily, I had made it a point to keep track of our direction on our way in. This proved to be crucial on our walk out, because once daylight fades, the featureless landscape of a dune sea can be very confusing.
As we progressed towards our vehicle, I looked back over my shoulder and saw a beautiful silhouette of a dune against a star-studded sky. Even though we were pressed for time, I knew what I had to do: get the shot! I hastily set up my tripod, had my girl position herself at the very top of the dune, set the self-timer and hustled up into the frame. I shot several frames until I got it what I wanted, which you see here.
Once done, we had to pretty much jog the rest of the way to the car. When we got there, a ranger was waiting for us. He said that we were just in time and if we had been another ten minutes, we would've been locked in for the night. Even if that would've happened, I still think it would've been worth it. Hey, you only live once, right?
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Again, a lovely photo. It was definitely worth the jog back to the car. How far were you from the camera? You must have been pretty close or pretty fast to make it before the selftimer went off.
Ana
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What's the rationale for the keeping the park closed? And more importantly, what's the fine if you get caught inside the park after hours? I can deal with unhappy rangers, but not so much with a light wallet
Having a national park/monument have "hours" just rubs me the wrong way.
Anyway, you did very well given those constraints.
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Hehe, touche.
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