Walk Without Rhythm

And you won't attract a worm

I got up at 0-Dark-30, Tuesday morning, to head down to the Great Sand Dunes National Monument, in San Luis Valley, to meet

Mark White

and

Rachel Jeffrey

; to shoot the dunes at sunrise.

It was Mark’s Idea to meet. He was going to be in the area, and wanted to know if we could get together. I said sure, then I found out that he was going to go shoot the dunes, so I said that I wold meet him there, because I have wanted to shoot the dunes for many years.

And then, Rachel, decided that She was going to invite herself along…

Which ended up being a great thing! It was nice to finally meet her, and her husband, Adam, who is so fit, that he can leap the tallest dune in a single bound. I, on the other hand… cannot.

For those of you not familiar with the Great Sand Dunes, they are abutting the western side of the Sangre De Cristo Mountains, in San Luis Valley. The valley, and the mountains, create a unique situation, where the winds tend to swirl in a circle. Over the course of thousands of years, the swirling winds have collected sand from the rest of the valley and deposited it in this one spot. Because the winds swirl in a circular pattern, only at this spot, the sand comes in, but never leaves. Thus we have Great Sand Dunes.

When I say “Great”, I mean they are also VERY tall.

This shot was taken (almost) at the base of the dunes, closest to the parking lot. That peak you see is approximately 500 feet above me. I shot the first picture, just to the left of the summit, in that little saddle. I was shooting north, towards the Sawatch mountains (you can see them in the distance).

It takes the sun at least 30 minutes, after sunrise, to clear the Sangre’s. It’s a remarkable sight to see the tops of the mountains lighting up, before any direct light reaches down to the dunes. I didn’t get any good shots of this occurring , because I am old, and out of shape, so I was still slip-sliding my way up the dune. I am certain that Rachel did, so she’ll probably have those pictures in her regularly scheduled Saturday post.

I am happy with this shot. I like both this color version, as well as the monochrome, which will follow. As the sun peaks into the valley, the low angle, allows for the texture to be exposed. Here, you can see those little ripples on the face of the dune; I like those ripples.

I was surprised at how many people were also on the dunes. Including Rachel, Adam, Mark, and myself, there were about a dozen other shooters on the dunes. Some of them were shooting from higher dunes, and it looked like one person had camped overnight.

With this being my first photo-safari to the dunes, I realize that there are several things that I should do the next time I go, to make things more enjoyable, and to set myself up for a wider array of opportunities.

First, I need to exercise more! I was sitting right around 8,000 feet above sea level when I took the shot above; climbing 500 feet of dune to get here was not the easiest thing that I have ever done.

Second, I think that I will look into getting a permit to camp on the dunes, and see if I can stay two nights. By staying on-site for an extended period, I will be able to reconnoiter good places to shoot, I can get in a couple of early morning shoots, a couple of late afternoon shoots, and, I won’t have to schlep my gear up the side of a dune while the light is slipping away from me!

Third, I think that I would head farther into the dunes, away from the parking lot.

It might have been due to it being mid-week, but it seemed as though the other shooters only climbed to the top of the first ridges of dunes, closest to the parking lot, because they had other places to be. It would take significantly more time to get farther out into the dune field, so there was a cluster of photographers. I would like to get away from everyone! I would hope that there would be some strong overnight winds, I could wake up to a clean slate, unmarked by any evidence of man.

Here’s my favourite shot from the dunes.

I mean, look at that!

I have ideas for next year.

Now, for my favourite shot of the day.

This is Hwy 142, looking east, midway between Manassa and San Luis, Colorado.

After we got off the sand, Rachel, Adam, Mark, and I, went for breakfast, where we talked shit about all the rest of you Substacker’s.

After breakfast, Rachel and Adam headed home, while Mark and I explored some other photographic opportunities in the San Luis Valley. I am not sure about what Mark is going to post, but all of the shots I took during this secondary safari, with the exception of this one, were shot on film, so there will be a bit of a delay for those pictures.

I don’t consider myself much of a landscape shooter (not for lack of trying), but sometimes the Gods of Landscape Photography favor you, and a good composition slaps you in the face. Who I am to blaspheme the Gods?

This is how much I like this shot…

I like it better than my B&W version.

There, I said it! Who won the pool?

This is the kind of picture that makes you feel bad for those folks who don’t live in Colorado.

Happy trails to you
Until we meet again
Happy trails to you
Keep smiling until then
Who cares about the clouds when we're together?
Just sing a song, and bring the sunny weather
Happy trails to you
'Til we meet again