GA Photography Workshops

The visible evidence of wind is everywhere: ripples, textures and the lines, forms and patterns of sand dunes. Late evening and early morning light make the dunes magical. It’s a place for simple, graphic compositions.

White Sands National Monument is on the northern edge of the Chihuahuan Desert in southern New Mexico. It covers 275 square miles, one of the largest dune fields in the United States, and is serviced by one eight mile scenic drive. The east end of the monument, near the visitor’s center, is alive with plant life, primarily the soaptree yucca. The west end of the monument, in the heart of the dunes, is almost devoid of plant life. Animal life is evidenced by tracks in the sand: birds, lizards, beetles. White Sands National Monument comprises the world’s largest gypsum sand dunes. It is the gypsum, rather than the usual quartz, which causes the brilliant whiteness. The dunes are always changing because of the wind: growing, cresting, slumping and advancing. The sand’s fineness is both a blessing and a curse for photographers. The fineness allows the wind to do its magic, but the sand gets into everything, including cameras and lenses.

Photography should be done in the early morning and the late evening. Capturing patterns and textures and the graphic lines which define the dunes requires light on the horizon. Overhead light flattens and dulls the dunes. The monument opens at 7:00 am and remains open until dark during the winter, and until10:00 pm during the summer (must enter the monument before 9:00 pm ). The late winter sunrise makes it easier to catch the early morning light. Driving 15 miles south to the monument from an overnight stay in Alamogordo, New Mexico, works well for entering the monument when it opens. One way to guarantee that you are there for early morning light is to camp overnight in the dunes. The primitive camping area requires a one to two mile hike from the road. It has no facilities and everything carried in must be carried out. Ten campsites are positioned among the dunes such that each is out of sight from the road and other campsites. Therefore, solitude is possible in this magical place. The number of overnight campers is limited and the campsites are assigned on a first-come first-serve basis; reservations cannot be made in advance. Spring and fall are ideal times for a photographic visit, but winds can be more of a problem in the springtime.

Because of the brightness of the sand, exposures are tricky. Underexposed, gray colored sand results from images made with the exposures predicted by the “correct” exposure from the light meter. Proper exposures require more light than the exposure reading on the light meter. The trick is knowing how much to overexpose. Medium tone objects are rare in this white desert. Frequently I take a spot meter reading off the blue sky, that part of the sky I consider medium tone. After I take my reading, I make sure that the white sand, the lightest part of the composition, is not over 1 and 2/3 stops brighter than my compensated exposure. If the lightest part of the composition is greater than 1 and 2/3 stops, I decrease the exposure. It’s better to have underexposed parts of the image with some loss of detail in underexposed areas than hot, white, washed out areas. Sometimes I take a spot meter reading off the sand and overexpose 1 to 1 and 2/3 stops. Overexposing two full stops frequently washes out detail in the sand. Less over compensation is required as the sun nears the horizon and bathes the sand with sweet light because the sand is less brilliant. The secret to proper exposure is to overexpose 1 to 1 and 2/3 stops and bracket. Frequently, it’s hard to pick the winner from the bracketed images.

Lenses from 24 mm to 300 mm are useful. Broad landscapes with yucca in the foreground make a classic composition requiring wide angle lenses. Telephoto lenses are useful in isolating lines, forms and shadows of distant dunes, foreshortening perspective, and producing dramatic images from patterns. Photographing animal tracks in the sand is usually done with lenses of medium focal length, but sometimes telephoto and macro lenses are useful. Macro lenses should be carried to photograph desert verbena and claret cup cactus in the springtime.

Polarizing filters can make dramatic skies, especially if there are white clouds in the composition. A properly exposed, well composed, image of white sand, white clouds and blue sky is hard to beat. However, it is very easy to over polarize, especially in the fall and winter; skies become dark navy blue or black. White sand frequently turns up blue in transparencies. This is difficult to overcome since the blue sky is reflecting off the white sand. Sometimes the blueness in the sand is accentuated by using a polarizing filter. In these situations, an 81A warming filter helps.

I experience two frustrations when photographing in White Sands National Monument: blowing dust and human footprints. If the wind is blowing, I cover my camera and lens with a large zip lock bag or garbage bag. My camera bag, lying in the sand, is always zipped closed, I’ve opened my camera back to change film while photographing in the dunes, but never when fine sand is blowing. I walk back to the car to change film! I’ve never mastered the art of opening a camera and changing film in a closed protecting bag.

People love to walk in the dunes, especially with bare feet. Fine sand oozing through toes when walking is therapeutic. Kids can’t resist running up and down dunes and sand surfing off the edge of untouched dunes. Sometimes a single set of foot prints adds to the composition of the photograph, but hundreds of randomly placed prints do not. In part, this problem can be alleviated by hiking the Alkali Flat Trail which is at the end of the eight mile drive. It is marked with poles (do not accidentally get these poles in your photograph) among the dunes, and completes a loop trail of about three miles. Fewer visitors hike this loop trail. Long telephoto lenses with their narrow angle of view also help eliminate evidence of human activity from images of these pristine dunes. Fortunately, the wind always does its magic; footprints are eventually eliminated.

Photographers must realize that the White Sands Missile Range completely surrounds the monument. Sometimes, on average of twice a week, the monument and US 70 between the monument and Las Cruces, New Mexico are closed while missiles are being tested. The closures last from one to two hours. For closure information call the monument, 505-479-6124, the day you leave to photograph. .

White Sands National Monument is located on US highway 70, 54 miles northeast of Las Cruces and 15 miles southwest of Alamogordo, New Mexico. It is open daily except for Christmas Day. The visitor’s center includes a museum, information desk, bookstore, gift shop, and restrooms. Numerous parking areas along the eight mile drive allow photographers to stop and explore the dunes on foot. No water is available along the drive.