Shadow Sighting at White Sands Monument

Shhh....A Shadow Sighting Occurred at White Sands Monument (New Mexico)

Well, there may have been MORE than one sighting...

(to get a larger view of the image, click on it)

What happens when two avid photographers go on a road trip to spend a weekend in the southern part of New Mexico for the sheer purpose of spending the entire weekend photographing the White Sands Monument?

First of all the entire trip is planned around being at the dunes at sunset and sunrise. They check the weather reports. They make notes on when the sun sets and rises each day. They plan to be there at each of those events to maximize their time. Freshly charged camera batteries? Check. Extra memory flash cards? Check. Tripods? Check. Several camera lenses? Check. Food for the road so they don't have to stop to eat? Check. Maps? Check. Water? Check. A way to download images in the evening when they get back? Check.

We both had to resist stopping too much on the way down for picture taking so that we could get there for the sunset. It was glorious! I'll post those later. These are from the next day (last Sunday) when we arrived there as soon as the park opened. In fact. we were the first ones there and waited for the park ranger to clock in and open the gates! The park is huge; white sand dunes as far as the eye could see. Easy to loose yourself there and forget where you are. In fact, Linda and I split off as soon as we got there and didn't' reconvene until two and a half hours later (kind of a dicey thing to do since there is no cell service in that area). No harm done, we emerged unscathed. The reason is, that this park is so amazing and unlike anything else you've ever seen. The raw beauty will captivate you and lure you in. The sunrise was beautiful and the light kept changing. Much like a game of pursuit. I was enthralled with the area that I wandered into. Not a soul in sight (heck, we were the only ones there for quite some time before others came into the park).

Linda says she's only been there four times. What a slacker! I've lived in New Mexico for fourteen and a half years and this was my FIRST trip there.

I'll be posting more on this trip, so be sure to stop back. It is Linda's goal to trek out once a month (a goal for herself; I was just tagging along) photographing the beauty of the new Mexico landscapes. If I'm lucky enough, I'll be able to join up on some of these trips. All will be posted under the label: "New Mexico Treasures" in case you want to check back.

But, hey, I really did sidetrack this time! The whole point of this post was for Shadows in participation of Shadow Shot Sunday (click on it to see other participants entries).