El Paso / White Sands Landscape Suggestions?

[kawazu]

I've got the opportunity to travel out to White Sands for work and was wondering if anyone had suggestions on what gear would be good to bring along? I'll be flying out there and working during most days, so minimalist packing is essential.

I don't mind renting or expanding gear as this is my first trip out to the desert and possibly my only chance to go out to White Sands and El Paso... I'm really hoping to get some suggestions on "need-to-have" equipment such as GND filters, preferred lenses, etc. All ideas and comments are welcome!

Thanks!

[ravncat]

White Sands is an interesting location to shoot in, and the conditions there change vastly with time of day.

During the late morning to mid afternoon hours - if the sky is clear (it probably will be) You`ll be looking at very bright ground. The white sand, like snow, but with harsh sun and steep contrast tends to mean watching your exposure. It`s a giant carpet of white.

If you`re there more towards the edge of day - somewhere about an hour and a half or so prior to sunset you get nice angled light - before the sky changes color due to sunset and you get brilliant orange/red/yellows (depending on the atmospheric conditions for the day) you`ll get alot more texture in the sand. So I recommend that period of time just before golden hour through twilight.

In general, there are few choices for backgrounds - the mountains in the distance give a few options - mostly you`ll be working with dune / sky or dune / dune. It pays to venture out of the easy to get to areas - just be sure to have water and a good sense of direction. I`ve done some long hikes, and on a windy day, you can`t follow your footprints back.

So - I recommend a wide angle lens for the dunes - to get their shapes, and watch the light for textures. There are a lot of possibilities, and if you walk far enough, telephoto can give you good compression of the dunes and the few mountains available - especially when they start to silhouette...

There`s not much life out there - mostly shrubs that flower - though this time of year is maybe a bit early for that. oh, and some really small fast moving spiders - so not too much need for macro, though im sure you could get some nice macro work done, there`s always sand.

Daytime is a bit different when clouds are about - and the type of sky really affects the feeling of white sands, as the ground is such a good reflector. (You`ll find it`s blue-ish when you have a blue sky, and orange at sunset...) On a strong overcast cloudy day everything ends up about the same level of brightness. An ND is useable but often tough to use - as the ground is just so dang bright during the day (without clouds) (During the day, you might find yourself using the ND filter upside down - to darken the ground...) - at sunset it might be more usable.

A polarizing filter can be more useful for darkening the sky even further - it`s a very stark landscape that is good for black and white. If you only go with one lens - I would say to go with something in the wide range.

Here`s links to some images from one of my projects that I took out at white sands, I`ve a billion more shots - I used to live in Las Cruces.. a 45 minute drive away, so I went often. I didn`t really do photography in El-Paso though.

http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs38/f/20...f3a52e3348.jpg
http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs39/f/20...217408386e.jpg

[kawazu]

This is possibly one of the most helpful and amazing replies, ever. Thanks so much ravncat!

[ravncat]

No problem - I'm sure i've forgotton stuff though -

I did remember one thing i just thought to add, on some nights in the year - a couple per month , usually at or about the full moon - the park is open late, till 11 or midnight - and with a tripod you can get some pretty cool shots , star trails or what have you... it gets dark - but with full moon, not quite dark enough... (I actually got pulled over by a ranger for driving without my lights on. - it was bright enough with the full moon i didn;t realize it, he was kind enough to let me go)

Oh - and if you have a monopod, you can probably get away with wedging it into the sand - I should put up more shots , but they're not on the net - worth checking out at night if you get the chance