Last November my friend, Alan, and I made another attempt to photograph a full moon setting over White Sands National Park. Our previous attempt, in April 2022, was a bust -- see my blog post about it here -- and we got skunked on this one too. But there are always good pictures to be had at White Sands, and we were able to capture some on this trip, as you can see from the image above (and those below).
When we arrived in mid-afternoon, the sun was already getting low in the late November sky, casting long, deep shadows in the dunes . . .
. . . and revealing the delicate ripples in the sand:
There weren't many tourists this time of day (and this time of year), but two young Asian women were enjoying the views . . .
Clouds began to roll in, creating an early "blue hour" . . .
Through the clouds, we got a few crepuscular rays -- see image at the top of this blog. Then it was time to head back to Alamogordo, eat dinner, and hit the hay for a very early wake-up call in the morning.
The park normally opens at 7:00am, but for a fee (to cover the ranger's overtime) a ranger will open the gate to early entry permit holders. We got in a little before 6:00; sunrise was at 6:43am, moonset at 7:10am. 28 degrees, and thankfully no wind. But it didn't look good. Here's what the sky looked like toward the sun in the southeast at 6:21am . . . not great:
And here's what the sky looked like at 6:27am in the northwest where the moon was supposed to be setting . . . no chance!
The best we could hope for was some sunrise color in the southeast and a few seconds of direct sunlight through a gap in the clouds. So we waited . . .
In the meantime, we got some nice "blue hour" images . . .
And in the northwest, the moon was still obscured, but the clouds were getting interesting.
Finally, we began to see a little color in the southeast along with a few crepuscular rays:
Get ready! Here it comes!
A three-minute burst of direct sunlight on the dunes . . .
. . . and then it was gone:
Time to pack up and go home.
If you would like to see these images in a larger format, please visit my photography website, Todos Juntos Photography, by clicking here.
Enjoy!
Lance, very artistic images, which is a challenge due to the lack of much other than the white sands and sky. You got some great sky's that really contrast with the landscape. I like the blue hue in many of the shots - and it helps one get the feel of being there as the day ends. You and Alan and your tripos work well in the images.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing / Barry