Yucca Sunset Photo

Photographer’s Note

White Sands National Monument, New Mexico

Scene
I had just lost the light on the sand dunes as the sun dropped behind the Organ Mountains. This is a Soaptree Yucca, a form of palm, that has adapted to grow in the shifting sands and dunes. There are various types of Yucca that grow throughout the southwest portion of the United States, but have adapted to different climate and soil regimes.

Background
My wife and I took a week long mid winter trip down to New Mexico to photograph the birds and wildlife at the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. After a few days at the refuge we headed south to Los Cruces and then over to White Sands. My wife had never been here before and I last saw it as a little tyke many years ago. My wife was sure impressed with the dunes of all shapes and forms, but what she really liked was the late afternoon light on the dunes. The light warmed up the white sand and gave these migrating structures some rather nice shape and form.

leo61, gneufeld, parbo, Dyerco, Bruno40, Floydian, Photo65Net, Didi, stego, crckt, cunejo200, scobert, DLM, carper, plimrn, rushfan2112, jammer79, wishlist, pboehringer, feather has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

gneufeld (15167) 2008-01-17 15:50

Hi John,
A very unique perspective but impressive shot. I like the low point of view and those plants set against the sky as a background is striking. Great shot and TFS. Gerald

parbo (10966) 2008-01-17 16:07

Hello John,

Splendid lights on sand part that completes great silhouettes of plant. I like slightly colored band at horizon a lot. Wonderful.

Friendly Regards,

Ertugrul

Flavia (10202) 2008-01-17 16:17

Hi John,

I like thisa lot. Soft colors and simple composition , making for an excellent shot. Exposure is perfect and the vertical frame here works very well. I like the way you included the little branch on the fg, it helps in guiding the eyes to the main subject.

Cheers,

Flavia

Dyerco (9018) 2008-01-17 18:55

Excellent shot John. I have one that I may post soon. It's a great place. very unique. You were able to preserve the light on the FG. Did you use a grad ND filter? I know I did when I was there.
Phil

vincz (19039) 2008-01-18 0:55

Very very nice composition with the vegetation standing in the back and lying on the sand in the front. There is a very special harmony you got in this picture withe combination of dark and soft. I like it a lot.

Bruno40 (6440) 2008-01-18 2:50

John,
very simple composition, yet very beautiful.
Good artistic eye!!
cheers
Jorge

Floydian (30970) 2008-01-18 5:53

Hi John,
Been a while since you posted something, now i know why, hope you had a nice week,
This is a famous place and location where i was 14 years ago but it was the only day where i had and overcast sky. I was hoping for that clear blue sky with all that white sand, pity it didn't work.
Yours is from a complete other time of the day, do yoy have the deep blue sky with bright whites, i would love to see them.
The gradient in the sky here is very nice, gives a nice mood and the two yucca's standing proud on top, i like that.
Regards, Henk

Photo65Net (43084) 2008-01-18 10:58

John,
Great exposure !
I like how you caught light here, result is nice with pleasant soft contrasts and tones.
FG graphics are great too.
Regards,
JB.

gunbud (27763) 2008-01-18 20:19

Hi John,
Very effective desert image with the low light bringing very peaceful details to this somber peaceful image.
Regards, Tom

stego (22350) 2008-01-19 7:26

Hi John,
Apparently a very simple and perhaps even obvious POV, but certainly a very wise, inspired and achieved compo. Very attractive and beautiful. You did an amazing job with the light.
Regards, José.

Didi (35998) 2008-01-20 1:20

Hi John
You wrote sands and it may be also snow :))
Very intersting foreground in the twilights, good lights balance with the sky.
Cheers.

crckt (7072) 2008-01-20 15:32

Hi John,
Simple, yet elegant. I agree with your wife, the soft light on the sand dunes look lovely. Beautiful.
Regards,
Shaeri

cunejo200 (7157) 2008-01-21 4:53

Hello John,
A very attractive composition highlighted by the shape and form of the yucca. The clarity on the f/g is quite evident, as a matter of fact there is good exposure. Greetings! Danilo

scobert (5333) 2008-01-21 14:36

Hello John,
You were very wise to go this amazing national monument while you were in the general vicinity anyway. I realize more and more the value of capitalizing on our opportunties when they present themselves. It is not only the aging thing but practial considerations like rising oil and gas prices also. You did a real nice job with this soft light version. It was still light enough to capture the ripples of the sand but not too dark to catch the beautiful "magic hour" twilight sky. Perfect placement of the three cactii. Excellent work and good technique of working with this lovely by challenging lighting!
Stan

DLM (6447) 2008-01-22 13:31

Hi John,
Lovely image with good composition and nice soft light ,interesting notes too.
TFS
Dave.

carper (64546) 2008-01-23 7:31

a very nice John.
a well composed shot, very nice photo, good quality and a beauty for the eyes, good photojob, have a nice day.
gr. jaap

plimrn (19600) 2008-01-23 10:21

I like the triad of yuccas against the pale sky and the ripples in the sand. I think I might have cropped to keep the sand ripples only in the FG, the partial yucca and the stick seem to ddetract from their smooth elegant curves.
HLJ, Pat

rgarrigus (0) 2008-01-23 11:50

Hi John,

You know I love living in the UK but your images really have me looking forward to getting back home. These are my favorite soft morning colors and the ripples of sand are great. I also enjoy the bird tracks in the foreground. I wish there might have been a way to crop the partial bush on the left but this looks like you didn't have much wiggle room either way.

Cheers!

Bob G.

rushfan2112 (2965) 2008-01-23 14:13

Love the soft, silky textures of the sand against the prickly spikes of the Yucca. Excellent colours of the fading light. I'd like to see a fraction more light and contrast in the foreground - but that's a minor preference. Wonderful work, as usual. Regards, Paul.

jammer79 (2666) 2008-01-23 15:03

VEry nice composition and light going on, John.
Maybe little bit ovesharpened though. ;-)
Cheers,R.

wishlist (4133) 2008-01-25 15:27

Hi John,
nice one here, very well composed and presented. Compo works so well with the branch and the sand pattern leading the eye towards the Yucca plants. I really like how you managed the beautiful light delivering a stunning result with excellent quality throughout.
Thanks for sharing
Regards

Igor

pboehringer (770) 2008-01-26 7:44

John,
this is a place that made into my little notebook of places that I want to visit and photograph before I kick the bucket. Wonderful moment with superb light conditions. The snad formation gives even the false impression of fill in flash. Couldn't you have avoided the inclusion of the yucca in the foreground by placing yourself a little bit more to the right?
Peter

baba_flies (7951) 2008-01-27 2:04

Hello John! Thank you so much for your kind note and reminding me that many Americans like to share their knowledge and would have loved to give us an inside look what a Rodeo is all about. I hope there will be a next time, and that I can post some memories (I mean I will never be as good as Stan but at least I can try).

It actually does always fascinate me how many volunteers work in museums or sport events, and how happy it makes them to explain things to other people. Swiss rather stand back and do not want to disturb. How wrong, how wrong !!!! And it also fascinates me how many old people actually do volunteer work but also are not afraid to do sports no matter how old they are. Some years ago, in Vermont, there were some ladies in their eighties paddling along in their canoes and when they were finished we wanted to help them bringing in their canoes but the "leader" lady told us that this was not necessary, they were sill strong enough. Fantastic.

Now to New Mexico and your excellent evening shot. I love your light, going from light blues on the upper part, and mixing with orange-pink further down. I find your look-up version very well chosen and the Yuccas certainly give the Southern touch to the whole scene. Amazing the white sand, something you would never expect. Very nice indeed. Have a wonderful Sunday, Barbara.

leo61 (43219) 2008-01-28 21:42

Hi John!
You managed the light well here and I like the composition with the nice lines in the sand as foreground for the view at these plants against the soft sky.Great POV.
Regards,Leo

John_F_Kennedy (31197) 2008-02-06 4:41

This is a very nice silhouette and you've capture this mood very well on.
Best wishes,
Achim

jmcl (13721) 2008-02-07 12:34

Hi John,

I love the composition of this .. I think this would be a great kind of thing for HDR .. I wish the sand was not quite so dark .. maybe a bit more saturation .. but obviously that is about preference, goals, meaning. Wonderful moment - I love the textures .. very nice.

take care & hope you and yours are well,

John

bazal (7898) 2008-02-07 23:27

Hi John.
Very simple but nice choice of composition which allows focussing on the soft colors and textures of the scene. I like the choice of POV which lets a large room to the sand in the lowest part of the pîcture.
Thanks for sharing!

feather (49858) 2008-02-25 8:53

This is a wonderful shot John. I love the low POV so the yuccas are placed right against the sky. The subtle sky colours are beautiful and the detail in the foreground is exemplary thanks to the f16. Beautiful shot
Kath

smarcell (14265) 2009-05-27 0:14

Your composition are all veryy accurate. I like the atmosphere, here.I can feel the cooler temperature at sunset in the desert.
This is were the Trinity Test was made, am I right ?
Regards Stefano