The Guadalupes Done Ansel Style

One of the great things about the Guadalupes is how few people know about them. That means that you can often have areas to yourself.

Now even in a lightly visited park like the Guads there are a few places that are even more off the beaten path than normal and the sand dunes on the western side are a great example of them. They are pretty much unadvertised and you have to know to ask about them. Follow that up with a 45 mile drive and then a 1.5 mile walk and you have an incredibly remote and quiet location.

You will not encounter anyone else here.

On a clear and mild afternoon, I made the trek out to the dunes. As always, I was hoping for clouds and a dramatic sunset, but that was not to be. You work with what you have. Late in the day the full moon rose over the mountains and I thought there was image potential. With the clear sky I decide to go for the Ansel Adams look and made it black and white. It might have looked better with clouds but the clear sky worked with the lonely moon hanging over the mountains and dunes.

That made all the difference too. What was a fairly bland color image took on a much better tone in monochrome.

I liked it enough that I then spent some time photographing the dune details, waves, and ripples, in monochrome also. Here is one example.


Those images ended up becoming my favorite from the afternoon. Thanks Ansel for the inspiration.

When in doubt do what the great ones did.