Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve
The Obligatory "Entrance Sign" Shot
Image Credit: IG- @BParra0923
Evening view of the Dunes in mid May.
Some of my best outings are ones that were thrown together last minute. This one was no different as a couple of us PhotogHeads got the itch and decided to head out directly after work. The drive would be close to 3.5 hours and we hoped to make it in time for an evening sunset. It was going to be close! Image Credit: IG- @BParra0923
Behind The Scenes
Evening View
The Sand Dunes standing tall with the Sangre de Cristo's in the background.
We ended up making it to the Dunes well before sundown. On our approach into the park, we pulled over to get an overall shot of the Dunes. (Two images seen above.) With a few minutes to spare before sundown, we packed up our gear and headed into the park in the hopes of catching the sunset reflecting off of Medano Creek with the dunes in full contrast in the background.
Where the Medano Creek should be...
We parked in the large lot next to the creek and quickly unloaded and headed to the bank of the creek....., only to find there was no creek!
I had been to the area once before and was really talking up the sunset opportunity that the creek was going to provide. Not only that, but we passed up an opportunity to take an alternate sunset shot in a pretty decent location in favor of the creek that I poke so highly of. Now, there was no time to head back to the other location as the sun was moments from beginning to set. I hoped this was not a bad omen of things to come.
Sand Dune Sunset
The evening winds were quite fierce as the sun sank behind the dunes. The sand managed to get everywhere and into everything..., and the trip had barely begun. We were hoping to get a decent sunrise in the morning which was going to involve hiking into the dunes via headlamp. We surely hoped the winds would calm down before then. Image Credit: IG- @BParra0923
Behind The Scenes
Sand Dune Sunset
Blue Hour just before sunrise
The morning alarms, set for 0330, came early. We expected to have to hike 1.5 - 2 hours to get into the position we desired for sunrise. The hike in was long, but the exhaustion from the hike soon was all but forgotten as the sun began to slowly light up the sky.
The morning sun kisses the dunes
One of the things that amazed me the most when I first began landscape photography was the speed at which the sun rose and set. If you go to the dunes to take sunrise or sunset images, be in position early.
Behind The Scenes
Morning Sun Kiss
MisDirection
One word: Overwhelming. Pick a dune and let your imagination flow. The curves. The elevation gains. The contrasts. The backgrounds. Just be careful where you step as you may not want to lay tracks into a future composition.
Behind The Scenes
MisDirection
Behind the scenes if MisDirection. Image Credit: IG- @BParra0923
Another World
Hard to believe that this is Colorado. It's almost as if I stepped off this Earth and onto Mars.
Behind The Scenes
Another World
Against The Grain
Walk up this dune and you will see another dune. Walk up that one and, again, another dune. Look left: dunes. Look right: dunes.
Neat Project: Set-up your camera and tripod to take an image along one of the spines. Wait a couple minutes and take the same image again. When you get home, overlay the two images and be prepared to be amazed at how much the edge of the dune actually moved in those short few minutes!
Always Look Back
Don't forget to look back. In a lot of places I go, often times your nose is on the trail and you are pushing to get to a certain location for that night's camp. This can often lead you to "forget" to look back at where you've been. Often times, the view of where you've already been looks nothing like it did while you were there. The image above is a good example of this. It looked so different from another perspective.
If Peaks Could Talk
I am looking forward to my next visit to the dunes. Tho, I imagine next time, I will be at a much higher elevation and looking out over the entire dune-field. I can't wait!
