Bells and Aspens

Posted on February 4, 2017 by Matt Hunt

Every trip I take, there is really one big shot I’m after, and in my trip to Colorado in September it was a shot of the Maroon Bells at peak fall colors, and hopefully some snow on the mountains. After a brief stop at the Great Sand Dunes National Park, I made my way through Kebler Pass, McClure Pass, Marble & Crystal Mill, and up to Snowmass Village, which is basically right next door to Aspen.

I was spending three nights there, just in case the weather didn’t cooperate, but I ended up with pretty good conditions the very first morning. Not only that, but it had snowed over the weekend, so the mountains were frosted! The only issue was, I got there a little too late! I had to park way back and walk up to Maroon Lake. As I was walking up, the first light was already hitting the top of the peaks. When I got to the lake, holy moly, it was PACKED! Literally hundreds of people, so initially I wasn’t able to get an ideal spot, but I made do.

After the sun got up a bit higher, the crowd started to thin out considerably. I was able to move back to a better position in order to get the shot I truly wanted. I really think the best light here is mid-to-late morning. This was the shot I was really after.

Conditions were nearly identical the second morning, but I had arrived much earlier, so I was able to get the very first light. I actually prefer the shot prior to the sun hitting the peaks, however.

Since I already had the main shot I wanted, I did a little bit of hiking, in search of some moose. I didn’t find any, but did add another shot I was hoping to get looking through the aspen grove.

Also on this second morning I decided to take a quick shot of the crowd! It wasn’t even as crowded on that morning as it had been the previous day, but as you can see, this is a pretty popular spot!

If you don’t get there early, you won’t get a good spot. I’m sure it’s not so bad at any other time of year, but with the bright yellow aspen trees, the fall really is the best time to photograph this incredible place!

Hoodoo Magic

Posted on September 22, 2016 by Matt Hunt

It was still dark outside as I approached Bryce Canyon National Park. I had left Hurricane, UT incredibly early in the morning so that I could get to the park before sunrise. I was carefully watching the clouds, as it appeared the sun was going to be blocked, and indeed it was at sunrise!

Although it was the middle of summer, Bryce is at a higher elevation, above 8,000 feet, and it was a brisk 52° that morning! I had not really packed for cooler weather, although I did have a light jacket with me. In spite of that, I was wearing shorts and flip flops, so it was a bit chilly!

The clouds did block the sun initially, but as I found out later on, I don’t think the sunlight would have hit many of the hoodoos early on. Even after it peaked the clouds, I had to wait several more minutes before it really started to light up the whole amphitheater.

Bryce is a magical place, and seems like another planet! How do these crazy rock formations even happen?! The hoodoos are formed by a couple of environmental factors. One is a process known as frost wedging. This area has over 200 freezing/thawing cycles each year. Snow melts, resulting in water seeping into the cracks, and then re-freezing overnight. As we all know (or should know if we paid attention in science class), water expands when it freezes. This slowly erodes the sedimentary rock, forming holes, and later these individual spires.

Rain also plays a role in the hoodoo formation. Its slightly acidic nature slowly dissolves the limestone. Different mineral deposits in the layers of the rock result in the different colors, appearing as stripes, as well as the shapes, as some layers are formed of harder rock than others. New hoodoos continue to form as old ones crumble to the ground, so it’s likely this area will look like this for many, many years to come.

The above photo (probably my favorite, and hanging on my wall!) was taken from Inspiration Point. This is the area in the park with the most dense concentration of hoodoos, and is probably one of the most photographed. Another popular spot is around one particular hoodoo that has been named Thor’s Hammer. That was my next stop.

The sunlight bouncing off the orange walls was creating this incredible glow in this area! This is a must if you visit Bryce. You have to get out of bed early, because the morning light is the best this place looks all day!

It was here that I blew a golden opportunity that shows you why I’m still single! I had a very attractive young lady approach me and ask me to take her picture. Based on her accent, she was not American, and based on the lack of anyone else with her, she was traveling alone. Of course I’m not a one-night-stand guy, and this likely would not have led to any long-term relationship, but hey you never know. Regardless, I had wished I would have kept her in my presence at least a few minutes longer and struck up a conversation, but instead I just went back to shooting pictures of my own. Idiot.

As the sun got higher, the pictures were not as great, so I decided to grab some lunch. When I got back to the park I decided to drive further in and check out some of the other overlooks.

Man… that drive was awesome. It was beautiful out there, with temps in the mid-70’s and no humidity to speak of! I put the windows down and opened up the sunroof and enjoyed the fresh air as I cruised through the pine forest. It may be a bit odd, but this was one of those moments that truly stuck out to me. The feeling at that time of not a care in the world, no worries about work, or bills, or anything. Just enjoying the present. I need more moments like that in my life!

This is definitely when I’m at my happiest. They do not lie when they tell you that travel changes you. It sure has changed me. There’s no place I’d rather be than any place I’ve never been before!

I did have to battle with some rain showers passing over the park, as you can see a little in the top left corner of the photo above. Out of the frame there’s a big dark cloud there! In fact there was even some tiny pieces of hail falling! I imagine that’s mostly due to the elevation, not the strength of the updraft for this little storm.

One of the stops I had to make was another often photographed feature of the park called Natural Bridge. This is a huge arch, and I didn’t realize that there’s a parking lot and overlook right there at it! I initially thought it would be a bit of a hike based on the park map. I bet this would be a great place to be in the morning as well, with some of the light bouncing off the cliff and back onto the arch.

After that I got some ice cream (I’m on vacation, I do what I want), checked into my room in the nearby town of Panguitch, and came back to the park after dinner. I didn’t know if there would be much of an opportunity for any good photos at sunset since the cliffs face east, and the sun is pretty much completely blocked from this area in the evening.

Of course I had to do my signature selfie first…

I had some indecision on where to set up for the sunset, as I was watching some high clouds rolling in, and thought they just might light up after the sun went down. No such luck, but this shot turned out pretty good!

I stayed at the park after dark, and went back to Thor’s Hammer for some milky way shots! This is the time that is pretty boring, between sunset and the milky way becoming visible. It was about an hour and a half with literally nothing to do. I just stood there by my camera. Ha! I don’t know the stars very well, but I’ve come to recognize a triangle of bright stars that show me where the milky way will be. Of course you have to account for the rotation of the Earth, but it gives me a pretty good idea of how to set up well before it’s dark out.

I decided to try something I’ve never done successfully… take a panorama of the entire milky way. It is quite a challenge, because the Earth’s rotation means those stars are not stagnant, you’re shooting long exposures, and it took 9 vertical shots to complete the entire pano. What helps tremendously is the degree markings on my tripod. I know that if I turn it 15° (or was it 10°?) I’ll have enough overlap between pictures for it to stitch together in Lightroom. And finally, I got it to work!

I actually tried to do longer exposures for the foreground and make a composite, but for some reason it would never line up. Something may have been off with the lens correction, though I tried making the pano before and after applying a lens correction, and it still didn’t line up. Oh well, this shot works. If you’re in a dark room, you can see the details and see Thor’s Hammer in the middle of the photo.

That wasn’t the only milky way shot I had planned, however! The park entrance faces south, so the sign has the milky way behind it! I’m not sure if this is possible at any other National Park. I know this is the only park I’ve seen photos of it done.

That shot proved to be difficult simply because of all of the traffic going by as people exited the park! The headlights were way too bright, and ruined the photo repeatedly. I finally got a shot where the car was still well off in the distance, and it lit up some of the trees nicely along the road. I used two exposures here so that I could use a low ISO on the sign, and not have any noise at all! That was very simple to blend using layers in Photoshop and setting that layer to “lighten”.

Even though Bryce Canyon is a relatively small park, there is still a lot of it that I didn’t have time to explore! I didn’t do any hiking at all, so that is one thing I’d like to do if I ever return. What am I saying… WHEN I return! I’d also like to come back in the winter and get some shots of the hoodoos draped in a bed of fresh snow!

I hope you enjoyed these pictures, and I hope you’re now considering a visit to Bryce Canyon! You definitely won’t regret it!

Canyonlands All-Nighter

Posted on August 12, 2016 by Matt Hunt

There were two places I wanted to photograph in Canyonlands National Park, which was about an hour drive from Moab. One involved the Milky Way, the other involved sunrise, so I just planned to stay out there all night, rather than drive an hour back just take a quick nap, then turn around and go right back to where I came from!

My first stop was at False Kiva. This trail is not marked on any park map, but if you just Google it, you’ll find it. The trailhead is not officially marked by any plaque, or even a parking area, but the trail itself is easy to see. The reason for this is that the park doesn’t want thousands and thousands of visitors to this place. I can’t find a whole lot of information on it, and I believe it’s because there’s a lot they don’t really know about it. I do know that it is an archaeological site, so they are likely still trying to figure out more about it. A kiva is basically a wall of stones in a circle. They could be used to live in, or have spiritual ceremonies. This one is called False Kiva because its origin and exact use are unknown.

I had seen good shots of this location at sunset, as well as at night with the Milky Way, so I wanted to get both. I set out about two hours before sunset. All of the info I had read put this hike at about an hour. That would give me plenty of time. Most of the trail was well-defined, flat, and easy. There was one section of slick rock where it was difficult to determine where to go, but I could see where cairns once stood, and as I went I stacked these rocks back up to make new cairns so that I could find my way back in the dark!

The hard part comes at the end of the hike, where you actually descend below the alcove where False Kiva is, then pass it, then have to climb back up to it. That brought out some sweat! Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that when I was eating dinner prior to leaving Moab, I checked the temperature and it said 109!

When I got to the site, I noticed a metal box sitting behind a big rock. I opened it and found some information on the site, some rules, pens & a notepad that a lot of other hikers & photographers had signed. I went ahead and signed that notepad myself!

Sunset was beautiful from this spot! The last light hit those cliffs and turned them red, and the hazy air allowed the horizon to generate a beautiful orange hue, while further up the sky remained blue. Gorgeous!

Okay, I have a confession to make. I screwed up on the Milky Way shots! First of all, I didn’t realize how far to the left the Milky Way would be as it first became visible, so I had to move my camera from this spot, and I really didn’t like that angle. Also, what I should have done was take a shot of the canyon prior to full darkness so that I could create a two-image composite with a visible canyon, and visible Milky Way in the sky. I did not, and without that, you really can’t discern any part of the canyon. Add to that the fact that most of the sky became obscured with cloud cover after the sun had set.

Being at this place… wow. I was a little bit anxious, to be honest. I was looking forward to getting back to my car! I was a bit worried about finding my way back in the dark, and it just felt odd being out there all by myself. The only sign of any human life out there were the planes flying overhead. It was a little eerie, so when it appeared the clouds were going to be around for a while, I decided I didn’t want to wait any longer, and around 11 pm I decided to hike back.

I made it back to my car without any issues, and from there took the very short drive to the Mesa Arch parking area, where I would try to get some sleep in while waiting for morning. I wasn’t quite sure what time I needed to get up and hike to the arch, as I had heard people start getting set up HOURS before sunrise to get a good spot! I set an alarm for 3 am, but to be honest, I barely slept any.

The sky ended up clearing not too long after I got there. I did get to enjoy quite a few meteors, and a seriously dark night sky, with a bright Milky Way clearly visible. This was pretty amazing! I just love being out in the middle of nowhere looking at the stars on a clear night.

The first car pulled up about 2 hours before sunrise. That was my que, time to get my stuff and hike out to the arch! Those two French guys would beat me there, and in fact I got a little lost on the trail trying to find it! The trail is a loop, and I ended up doing the loop, missing the part where you turn off the loop to go to the arch! Eventually I found it, and was glad to find they weren’t set up where I wanted to be anyway!

Slowly but surely other photographers started trickling in. We didn’t like what we saw in the sky… clouds! There was a very brief period where the sun had a clear part to shine through, and the shutters went off like machine guns!

There was still plenty of room for me to take the camera off the tripod and get some different angles, so I took advantage of that. The best use of the D500’s 10 frame per second speed for me is handheld HDR bracketing! I can fire off three consecutive images with very minimal movement of the camera, allowing them to easily line up in Lightroom later. I did a lot of that on this trip.

After just a few minutes, the sun was gone behind the clouds. I wondered if that would be it, but I wasn’t even thinking about leaving just yet! I was taking a close look at the clouds, and figured there would be a chance of the sun poking back out once it got higher in the sky. I wasn’t sure how much orange glow would be on the bottom of the arch at that point, but I sat and waited. Others did not, including those two French guys who were there first. They gave up, packed up and left! BIG mistake, because the clouds cleared 10 minutes later, and this happened:

YES! This is what I came here for! That orange glow on the bottom of Mesa Arch is just incredible, and you know what? I’m glad we had those clouds, because it adds some interest to the rest of the sky in the photos! I left Mesa Arch feeling great… really tired… but great, knowing that I had gotten the shots I came here for!

Before going back to Moab, I stopped by Dead Horse Point State Park. It was right off the road that went to Canyonlands anyway, and I figured morning would be a good time to be there. To be honest, I’d rather have been there earlier, but that wouldn’t have been worth missing the magic at Mesa Arch!

There’s actually a poster of this place hanging on the wall in our office right behind me where I stand at my computer. However, it’s just a view of the canyon, so I didn’t know about all these Juniper trees along the ledge! I was happy to see that, as I’m always looking for some foreground interest to add to these vast landscape photos. It definitely makes for a more interesting photo!

I couldn’t leave without doing my signature selfie, though!

I was SO tired at that point, but it was all worth it! I got back to Moab, and after eating some breakfast, hopped into bed!

Zion The Beautiful

Posted on July 19, 2016 by Matt Hunt

I woke up well before sunrise in my tent in Page, AZ. Since I was up so early, I thought I’d give it a shot to get some Milky Way photos prior to making the 2-hour drive to Zion National Park. I returned to the Horseshoe Bend area, and just set up quickly in front of some bushes. Since dawn was soon upon me, the sky ended up having a beautiful blue tone to it. It was a decent shot, but unfortunately I didn’t take the time to get the foreground bushes in complete focus. Oh well.

After just a few shots, the sky was getting too bright, so it was time to head on up to Zion! This entire drive is beautiful, and I made a few stops along the way to take pictures on the side of the road. I arrived at Zion a little after 8am, and got my bag together in preparation to make the Angels Landing hike!

During the warmer months (I was there in April), public vehicles are not allowed to drive through the canyon, so you must park at the Visitors Center and ride the shuttle. They come by often, so there’s not a lot of waiting around. I got on the shuttle and was on my way.

It was actually a pretty chilly morning, but as I started my hike, I quickly began shedding layers. Even with the fairly gradual slope at the beginning, I had a big bag with my camera, a couple lenses, tripod, water bottles, and some snacks on my back, so it wasn’t long until I was in a t-shirt and shorts.

The hike is pretty strenuous, especially when you reach Walter’s Wiggles, a series of 20 switchbacks with a steep incline. When you get to the last 1/2 mile or so, it goes from a hike, to basically a climb. There are several ledges in this section that do not have a ton of room, and are situated on the edge of a 1,200 ft drop to the canyon floor below! In fact, six people have fallen to their deaths on this hike since 2004, according to the sign at the base of the trail. There are chains bolted to the rock in these locations for hikers to hold onto, just in case. Don’t let this scare you away from this hike, however, as there is still plenty of room to get by without being too close to the edge. You should not be completing this hike in running shoes, though. Get some real hiking shoes/boots. You’ll be thankful for the extra traction. On the way back down, the girl in front of me was slipping and sliding all over the place, while I never had an issue.

Anyway, the climbing part isn’t that strenuous, because you’ll be taking frequent breaks to wait on others to come down, or on others in front you to get up. Once you reach the top, you’re treated to the most incredible viewpoint ever!

I spent a great deal of time just sitting at the top of Angels Landing, taking in the view. I was grateful in that moment, just to be there. Life doesn’t always give you what you want. I always wanted to be married with kids by age 34. However, if that were the case, I probably wouldn’t have been there, in that moment. So there are advantages to any situation. I still hope to have a wife and kids someday, but in the meantime, I’ll continue to cherish the opportunity to go on adventures like this!

Going down was much easier than coming up! That’s an understatement! Once I got back down to the valley, I looked back up at where I had been. I had to take a picture of that! It was crazy to see just how far I had climbed!

At that point, I was starving, so it was time for my first real meal of the day! In hindsight, I should have stopped for a big breakfast prior to that hike, but it’s whatever! I went into Springdale, and with the help of Yelp, found a place called Whiptail Grill. I chowed down on some chips & salsa and carne asada tacos, and washed that down with a Corona! It was perfect! I can highly recommend this place, and in fact I plan on going back when I’m in Zion again next week!

After getting my campsite set up, organizing my car a bit, and taking a shower, it was just about time for sunset. While on the shuttle bus, the driver mentioned that the Watchman at sunset, photographed from one of the bridges, was a popular spot for photographers. Alright, I’m game.

There I got to talking with a nice photographer from California. We shared some of our favorite images with each other. He had an amazing photo from a lake out in California! It was fun chatting while I let my camera snap away on interval shooting.

I wasn’t done yet. After sunset I went up to the Canyon Overlook, as I knew the moon would be out, and thought it may light up the canyon. Yes, it was a little eerie hiking out there in the dark! I hadn’t actually been there yet, so I was completing that short 0.5 mile hike for the first time! I was also the only one up there, which I found a little hard to believe! Why were all the other photographers going to bed? They were missing some great shots!

Nope, I STILL wasn’t done! I stopped on the side of the road (the one you see there where the light trails are) and continued to shoot in the dark. After a few minutes, a truck pulled up and the guy asked if I was getting any good shots. I told him I was getting some great shots! He asked if I’d mind if he tried, too. Of course not! Well he only had an iPhone, so he wasn’t able to do what I could with my Nikon, but nonetheless, here was another cool person I chatted with. His name was Cody, he was originally from North Carolina. He had spent the winter working at a ski resort near Salt Lake City, I believe he said. He had just arrived at the park, and didn’t even have any reservations! He did have a camper that he had built on the back of his truck, so he really just needed a place to park, but still. I love that, though. I love that sense of adventure, and spontaneity! We talked for quite some time, and he even tried to convince me to go on a night hike with him. I passed in lieu of sleep, and then he said something that has stuck with me, “you won’t be telling your grand kids stories about sleeping.” Touche, Cody.

I still went back to get a little bit of sleep, but it wasn’t long before I was up again.

I knew that the moon would set well before sunrise, making the Milky Way visible. Once again, I was up before any signs of daylight, packed up my campsite, and went out to shoot some more!

I went to the parking lot of the museum to get a shot of the Milky Way above the Watchman. Unfortunately, there were a few thin clouds in the sky, but I just kept shooting and shooting hoping they would clear enough for a good shot. It was cool, and WINDY that morning! Once again, pretty eerie being out there by myself. I had a headlamp around my head, and my flashlight in my pocket. I kept my head on a swivel, looking around for other vehicles, or anything else out of the ordinary. Then I heard a rustle in the bushes. I quickly turned my headlamp on and looked that way, but didn’t see anything. There are mountain lions in this park, you know. So then I got my flashlight out of my pocket and shined it in the direction of the noise. Ah, there was something heading this way! I couldn’t tell what it was at first, then it got closer and became clearer. A raccoon! They can be mean, and have rabies! The hairs were standing up on my neck, and I was preparing to do my best Pat McAfee impression and unleash the boomstick on this dude! Luckily, he thought better of it, and turned around and ran the other way. Whew!

So yeah, here was the shot I got out of all that!

After that I got in my car to warm up and avoid anymore wildlife run-ins while waiting for the sun to come up. Another popular shot here is first light hitting the Patriarch’s, which were right behind me, so no need to go anywhere!

This time there were a couple other photographers out, completely unaware of the Milky Way shot they had just missed!

The sun was blocked by many clouds that morning, and there was just a narrow window of opportunity with at least some visible light on top of the cliffs, but nonetheless, I made it work out okay!

After that I went back to the Canyon Overlook for a daytime shot.

Then I traveled back through the eastern part of the park, which is also beautiful, on my way out to Monument Valley!

Zion just might be my favorite place I’ve ever been! I know this is a place I can come back to and spend a week, and never run out of trails to hike, or pictures to take. If you’ve never been, I would definitely recommend putting it on your list! I’ll be back next week to hike the Narrows, and probably Observation Point!

The Grand Canyon

Posted on June 7, 2016 by Matt Hunt

Tuesday April 12, 2016. This was a significant day. Not just because I had three stops (Grand Canyon, Antelope Canyon, Horseshoe Bend), but because on this day 23 years prior my father passed away from cancer. It’s hard to believe it has been that long.

I got an early start out of Flagstaff, because I wanted to be at the Grand Canyon by sunrise. I didn’t have much time, since I needed to be in Page for my Antelope Canyon tour by 11 am. More on that later…

It was freezing that morning. Literally freezing. The temperature was 32 degrees when I woke up in Flagstaff. That scent of the Ponderosa Pine was in the air as I loaded my bags back into my car and hit the road. It was an easy drive through mostly flat grasslands, and more Ponderosa Pine forests, which became more prominent as I approached the park.

While cruising along, I saw something unexpected. There was a bull elk, grazing right along the side of the road! I had to stop and take pictures, of course! I quickly put my telephoto lens on and went to work.

Gosh, what a beautiful animal. There were actually two of them, but this one was closer to the road. The other one was further back into the woods, and I couldn’t get a clear shot. I snapped a lot of pictures, and also spent some time just admiring this majestic creature. I only wish they had their full antlers!

As they both ventured further into the woods, I decided to move along, but I didn’t get very far before spotting another elk on the other side of the road! I pulled over and snapped some more photos!

By this time the sun was already rising, so I continued into the park. I didn’t have to pay, because I had my America The Beautiful Pass! If you’re planning on visiting 3 or more National Parks in a year, this pass will pay for itself. I was doing just that on this trip alone, and planning two more trips this year that will take me through another half a dozen or so parks, so this pass is more than worth it to me!

So I got into the park and headed out to the overlook, where I was greeted by the first light hitting the cliffs on the west end of the canyon.

Oh. My. Gosh. I was absolutely floored by the sight of this place! Of course I had seen plenty of pictures, but seeing it in person was something else. I immediately realized that no picture could ever do this place justice. It is simply stunning. It is massive. It makes you feel small, as well as grateful to live on such a beautiful planet!

I spent some time walking along the trail on the canyon rim, just looking for good spots to stop and take photos. I was looking for any kind of foreground interest to add to all of that wide open space on the horizon.

While I wasn’t doing anything as risky as I saw others doing, I did get out on some ledges. You feel more alive when you are closer to death! There are no railings along this trail, and one wrong step would be the end of your story with such a steep, and long drop to the canyon floor below.

That picture describes my feeling perfectly. How can you not love it? How can you not look out over this massive canyon and feel like the world is yours? The world is yours… to explore! Why would you ever want to just stay in the same place forever with all of this beauty out there?

After the above picture I decided it was time to move along to another lookout point. When I got to my car I punched in the address in Page that I was heading to (where I needed to be by 11 am, remember?), and it said my arrival time would be… 11:02 am! Oh no! I had to go!

If you know anything about time zones, you know that Arizona has its own time zone. They do not participate in daylight savings time. Utah is on a different time than Arizona, even though it’s in the same latitude. Page is just south of the state line, very close to Utah. So when I got to the Antelope Canyon tour place, the lady said she’d go ahead and check me in, but it was only 10 am. Oh no! I could have spent another hour at the Grand Canyon!

That was my biggest regret that morning. So if you’re going to be in this area, and you’re going to be doing things that require punctuality, make sure you know before you go about the time zones, and don’t rely on your phone or GPS to give you an accurate time!

I guess that just means I’ll have to go back to the Grand Canyon again! Really, I would recommend you spend far more than an hour there when you go. I would at least dedicate a whole day, so that you can see the sunrise and the sunset.

White Sands New Mexico

Posted on April 19, 2016 by Matt Hunt

When I crossed the state line from Texas into New Mexico, that marked the 30th state in the USA that I have visited. Only 20 left to go, and I’d add two more in the coming days! My destination in “The Land of Enchantment” was the White Sands National Monument. It’s a beautiful place if simplicity is your thing. Bright white sand dunes, with the backdrop of the San Andres Mountains to the west, and the Lincoln National Forest to the east. The monument sits just to the west of Holloman Air Force Base, and south of a missile testing range, which results in closures of the park.

I lucked out, because the previous three nights the park was closed to back country camping. I had planned on camping in the dunes, as that is the only way to shoot the sunrise in the park. The gates did not open until 8:00 am, and sunrise was about 30 minutes prior to that.

I hit a snag when I arrived and the back country camping permits were sold out! They only have 10 campsites available, so if you plan on camping in the park, my best advice is to get there early! It is first come, first serve. They do not take reservations.

Be sure to bring your sunscreen, as the sun is bright and in abundance out here! The high that day was only in the low 70’s, but it sure did feel much warmer than that. I suggest not walking very far barefoot. While the sand is pretty soft in some spots, these dunes don’t get a ton of foot traffic, and as a result the sand has settled pretty well, and is relatively hard-packed. Walking a good distance barefoot is a good way to pick up a few blisters!

Even without a lot of subjects, with some creativity, the picture opportunities are endless. I knew I wanted to get a few shots of myself with nothing but the sand and the sky. My main subject for the evening, however, was the Yucca plant. There are quite a few of them out here.

There are actually 40-50 different species of Yucca, so don’t ask me exactly which one these are! I noticed that most of them grow in the valleys of the dunes, making it difficult for me to find the shot I really wanted with a Yucca in the foreground, and the San Andres Mountains in the background.

I spent at least a couple hours trying to find the perfect subject, parking in several spots and walking a great distance. Since I did not have my back country camping permit, I needed to be out of the park by 8:00 pm, so I didn’t want to be too far away from my car. I finally did find my subject with a couple hours to spare until sunset.

If taking photos is not your thing, or you have kids that you want to keep entertained while here, a popular activity is sledding on the sand dunes! They sell sleds at the visitor’s center. That, to me, sounds much better than sledding in the cold, wet snow!

As the last bit of sunlight gently kissed the white sand, turning it orange and pink, I was finally able to capture my shot!

This shot had everything I wanted: a Yucca in the foreground, the ripples in the sand illuminated by the last bit of sunlight, and the mountains in the background. Perfect!

After the sun goes down is one of my favorite times, as the sky gets a band of pink/orange to the east. At this point I was literally running from one Yucca plant to the next and snapping photos, as I was running out of time before I needed to get out of there!

It was unfortunate that I missed getting a sunrise shot in the park the next morning, as the sunrise was truly brilliant! I had spent the night in Las Cruces, almost an hour to the west, and as I was leaving, I noticed the high clouds in the sky. I had to stop and get a shot of the sunrise over the town, with the backdrop of those same San Andres Mountains, this time off to the east.

The sky definitely cooperated with me on this morning! It was a wonderful start to the day, and while I was wishing I would have been in the dunes for this moment, having those mountains as my foreground was not a bad consolation.

I hope you enjoy these photos! I’m thinking that at least one of them will be printed and hanging on a wall somewhere in the near future!