Shadows – Alpha Pup Photography

Our annual late-summer trip to Great Sand Dunes National Park came and went entirely too fast yet again this year. The funny thing about this trip was that we didn’t spend as much time in the park as we normally do since we chose to do some exploring in the San Luis Valley area. (More on those adventures to come in future posts.) The time we did spend hiking in the sand field turned into a little bit of photographic treasure hunting for me.

I always say that I can find something new to take pictures of at Dunes every time we go. It’s one of the reasons I love it so much down there. This year’s yield of pictures wasn’t as plentiful as years past, but I did come across some fun stuff.

The first find was an awesomely sharp sand ridge that created lines and shadows in the morning sun that I couldn’t look away from. I took quite a few shots of this one ridge, playing with angles and framing. In the end, I kept two of the shots since I couldn’t decide which I liked more – the horizontal or vertical version. Both had their merits, and I can foresee printing one of these for display in some way in our house down the road.

The next find was a piece of weathered wood laying atop a different ridge of sand. It caught my eye from a distance because it reminded me of conch shells I’d find on the beach growing up on the east coast. I knew it couldn’t be a shell, though I had to check it out. I was happy that I did as it gave me a chance to fiddle with different depths of focus to try and get the shot just right.

The last find of the hike is what you’d expect if you’ve been visiting Alpha Pup Photography for any length of time – a prairie sunflower. The bloom was still in full swing during our trip, so there was ample opportunity to find just the right shot. This one ended up being my favorite…

It was a good morning on the Dunes with some typical sites and some not-so-typical finds. Certainly a great way to start our trip before venturing further out into the Valley in the days to come…

– JC

One of my favorite things to do at Great Sand Dunes National Park is watching for shapes and shadows in the sands. What makes it really fun for me is that you can play this game all day long, no matter where the sun is in the sky, and looking at things up close or from afar. It’s a photographer’s treat in terms of what nature offers up each minute.

In the past, I’ve typically focused on medium- to long-range shots of the dunes in the early morning or late afternoon hours when the shadows get really dramatic. The lighting at any given moment may highlight a contour in front of you or drop a dark haze down a hill showcasing the different shades of sand, similar to these shots I captured years ago during earlier trips to the Park.

Diamonds – Great Sand Dunes National Park – Colorado

Cascading Sands

This trip though, I kept my focus tight on things right in front of me on a smaller scale – and wow, did I ever find some good stuff!

I think I had the most luck during our morning hikes on our trip. That might have been because of the thunderstorms that had come through before and during our stay, making the sand just moist enough that it would clump and ripple in interesting ways as the wind tore across the surface and I’d catch the sands while they were fresh and not yet disturbed by hikers. Even more fun for me was, when I got home, really bringing out the most in the shapes and textures by converting my shots to black & white to make them more stunning than they were in the Technicolor of real life.

I think what I liked most about this shot above on the left was how it plays tricks on your mind in terms of perspective. (I’m putting aside the game of “Am I seeing a face in there?” for the shot on the right at the moment because you can play that all day at Dunes.) Even now looking at the shot on the left, I know this ridge wasn’t that big at all – no more than a few feet long and 6 inches high – but I can take a step back and reinterpret it almost as a vast overhead shot of a much larger dunefield. To quote Dana Carvey doing his Johnny Carson impression, “Weird, wild stuff!”

Later on during this hike, the shapes and shadows went from strong and craggy to soft and serene.

Sand Pool Path

These little piles of sand reminded me of flat, black riverbed stones rubbed smooth and round over time (only to wind up in a hot stone massage at a spa?). Something very Zen struck me during this shot, and still does looking at it months later.

I always tell people that Dunes is a photographer’s treat simply because there’s always something to get creative with. For me, it’s usually the shadows and shapes, and the park never disappoints!

– JC

Tag: Shadows

Treasure Hunting

Shapes & Shadows