High Plains Drifter


disclaimer:  "The meteorological views/forecast thinking expressed are those solely of the author of this blog
and do not necessarily represent those of official National Weather Service forecast products,
therefore read and enjoy at your own risk and edification!"

January 28, 2006

NM Photo Trip Day 1: White Sands NM

Filed under: Photography — Mike U @ 11:12 am

I left Dodge City shortly before 6pm. I had planned to drive until I got tired somewhere south of Santa Rosa. I only slept for about 3 hours or so in the car. It doesn’t help when it dips down into the mid 20s. My sleeping bag did provide some decent warmth :) Well, I woke up around 430am and continued driving. I decided instead of driving straight to_DSC7411-02.jpg White Sands I would give a shot at interesting sunrise shots overlooking the basin to the east where White Sands is from Sacramento Peak. Well, it was kind of worth the drive. I couldn’t find a good overlook spot. Even the _DSC7377-02.jpgoverlook from the Sun Observatory atop Sacramento Peak wasn’t the best. It was also a rather hazy to the distant San Andres Mountains. So I drove back to Alamogorodo then to White Sands for my day photography. It was actually good I goofed off up near Sacramento Peak instead, because the Monument was closed until 9am local time for White Sands Missile Range testing.

I set off to hike the Alkali Trail around 11am and returned about 230pm after hiking the whole trail. Wow, what a hike! The dunes are nothing short of spectacular, some upwards of 60 feet tall. The hike ends at the Alkali Flat, a desolate baren area where the dunes actually begin and are carried northeast by the prevailing winds. I was pretty bummed initially because there was a lot of high cirrus clouds blocking out the sun quite a bit. Not a half hour into the hike the skies rapidly became mostly sunny as the cirrus thinned… it actuall provided for excellent compositional opportunities with what cirrus clouds were left.

It was well into the mid-upper 60s for the entire hike, and the wind remained less than 10mph for most of the hike, it actually picked up to 15-20mph towards the end, but not enough really to move the sand. I actually hiked about 1.5 miles of the 4.5 mile trip barefooted, LOL. The sand is very fine, almost like powdered sugar, but not quite that extreme. The circular polarizer filter was used the entire time during my shoot on Alkali Trail, and thank god I had it. The p_DSC7533-02.jpgolarizer actually allowed for some interesting effects from the sparkling of the gypsum grains with the sunlight. Since the light being reflected off the sand is polarized, you could get very creative with artistic shots… and I took_DSC7526-02.jpg advantage of this!

After the hike, I drove back to Alamogordo and checked in to drop all my stuff off. I returned to the monument around 445pm. Sunset was 530pm local time, and I scoped out a location to focus on for the “magic hour”. After a couple quarter mile hikes, I finally found a magical spot about one quarter mile west of the road. Using my handheld GPS unit was very beneficial, because it’s easy to get lost out there in the dunes. This allowed me to explore quite a bit without worrying about losing a visual landmark. I photographed sunset and got some of the images I was really looking for. Wow. Simply amazing sunset. Since the drive closed one hour after sunset, I was able to get the 20-30 minutes of post sunset magic I was really wanting to get… therefore it wasn’t really necessary to inquire about getting into the park before opening time the next morning. I found out that you need to give a couple day’s notice anyway, and it’s about $50. So, the following morning I was just going to relax and get caught up on sleep. The images shown in my blog are very quickly processed images. I will do full processing of all my shots and put them on my Gallery when I get back home. Day 2 it’s off to Bosque!

4 Comments »

  1. Inside tip – you can get a backcountry camping permit and sleep the night away on the dunes … that way you’re already inside at sunrise. A good plan is to stay in “midnight shift mode” and go down on a full moon night. Get a backcountry camping permit… but never set up camp. Stay up all night shooting under the full moon, then sunrise!

    Comment by Mike Hardiman — January 28, 2006 @ 3:22 pm

  2. Great pics and descriptions, Mike. This is a cool application of the skills we acquire in chasing. In a strange way the desert looks more alive than the acres of dried-out vegetation here in north Texas. Looking forward to your next several entries. –Amos

    Comment by AmosM — January 28, 2006 @ 3:33 pm

  3. Mike H, thanks a lot for the tip… actually after researching this more, this is exactly what I plan on doing on my next visit. I only planned this photo trip a little bit less than a month in advance…which happened to fall near a new moon. My next visit will be a full moonlight landscape trip, exactly how you describe! Having a GPS handheld unit was extremely beneficial out on the dunes. -Mike

    Comment by Mike U — January 29, 2006 @ 6:17 am

  4. White Sands is truly a magical place, and your pics reflect that. The first time I went there for photography, I didn’t overexpose for the white sand, so my shots all turned out gray. The dunes are great after a rain…the ripples are gone, but the texture is amazing.

    Comment by Jason Branz — January 29, 2006 @ 3:23 pm

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