Exploring the wealth of photography in White Sands National Park
The best place to make photographs in New Mexico is unquestionably White Sands National Park. It is the Grand Canyon of New Mexico in that you could go to the park every day for a month, and still makes hours of photos without running out of subject matter. The topography of the park actually changes day to day with the wind! This is at least my fifth visit to the park. I brought just one lens, the Sony 24mm f/1.4 GM. I focused on finding angles. I wanted to include the flora of the park in each shot too. This was also the real world debut of using my new mirrorless camera. The results of the photo above are unlike any photo I made at White Sands before. That is the amazing thing about the park, visit after visit, there is no end to the photos one can make.
White Sands National Park outside of Alamogordo, New Mexico is easily the most photographed natural wonder for me in the state. I have had the opportunity to visit this amazing place three times in the past seven months alone. Each time I go the views and the sands are different. This time I did not have the chance to wonder very far to some little trod on area, but I made the best of this near parking lot location by looking even more for the dance between shadow and light and the sunset. As it has been since I got it last year, the Sony 12-24mm f/2.8 G Master lens is an absolute rock star at White Sands. Which of these views is your favorite this time?
Infinite Sand for Infinite Photographs at White Sands
There are some natural wonders that a photographer could live at and basically photograph for the rest of their life. Places like the Grand Canyon are obvious. For New Mexico, there may not be an immediate obvious choice, but to me. the obvious choice is White Sands. I have been there three times and each visit I found something the same, but different to photograph. Then there is the unique, open world construct of White Sands. There are no set paths you have to walk on, no established iconic photo of White Sands, which frees a photographer to wander and find their own iconic view of this expanse of white sand desert, distant mountains, and endless sky.
In December I had two opportunities to visit White Sands National Monument, and they could not have been more different. The first was on a weekday late morning, and the desert was empty, the sand was pure free of footprints, and there was not a cloud in the sky. On the second visit it was near sunset time, the sands were covered in footprints as it was very crowded there (well for White Sands at least), and clouds added to the landscape story. Clouds and low sunset light shadows definitely add drama to photos of White Sands. However, there is nothing more mesmerizing to me than the footprint-free ridges of the sand dunes at White Sands for producing landscape photos. What set of photos do you prefer: these black and white footprints, or the stark white and blue footprint free dunes photos?
After two years I had the opportunity to return, briefly, to White Sands National Monument. It was not at an ideal time of day for photography, but I had a new powerful tool with me this time, the incredible Sony 12-24mm f/2.8 G Master lens. For this photo series I really wanted to focus on the minimalism of White Sands when photographed up close. The patterns in the sand dunes fascinate me. They are mesmerizing. Then there is the stark contrast between the white sand and almost electric blue, cloudless sky above.
Perhaps the most popular place in all of New Mexico for photographers, there would be no argument from me that this is the most spectacular scene in the state, and for me personally, what of the most amazing places I have been in the world. It is a world of 50% blue and 50% white. Those are the only colors needed.
