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
Alpha Pup Photography 