Irish Canyon, as with many canyons, is difficult to photography at sunset since the canyon goes into shadow well before the best sunset light.
Irish Canyon Sunset Light. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/11, 1/5s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
The image above illustrates this problem. There is good sunset light on the top of the east canyon wall, but the rest of the canyon is already in shadow. If not for editing software, it would be very difficult to get much detail in the shadow, even with a graduated neutral density filter. Of course, one could make a composite of multiple exposures either by stacking the images or creating an HDR. Stacking can be tedious and HDR methods have another set of problems, so I prefer to avoid both of these methods, whenever possible.
Irish Canyon. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 24mm, f/11, 1/6s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
Near sunset the canyon features went completely into shadows very quickly, not allowing much time to get the golden sunset light on much of the canyon.
Irish Canyon Sunset Rays. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 24mm, f/11, 1/13s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
One can see in the above image that the sun is still well above the horizon, but the canyon is already in deep shadow.
Irish Canyon. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 24mm, f/11, 1/13s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
I worked my way along the roadway through the canyon, using the road as a leading line and capturing whatever features I could in the sky and the canyon walls.
Irish Canyon. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/11, 1/8s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.Irish Canyon. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 24mm, f/11, 1/5s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
Eventually, I got back to the old dead tree that I had found earlier in the afternoon, hoping that I could get a good, late day composition.
Irish Canyon Sunset Light. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 22mm, f/11, 1/5s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
The clouds were moving overhead fairly quickly, changing as the sun went lower into the sky behind the west canyon wall.
Irish Canyon Sunset Light. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 22mm, f/11, 1/3s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
I moved around a little, slightly changing my composition of the tree, canyon walls and clouds, making a number of images to capture the changing clouds and light.
Irish Canyon Sunset Light. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 22mm, f/11, 1/3s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
Eventually, the interesting light was essentially gone and I stopped shooting for the day.
Irish Canyon Sunset Light. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 22mm, f/11, 0.4s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
I believe I was right about this dead tree making a good foreground for sunset images.
My son set his camera up to shoot throughout the night at a big boulder to capture the moon’s transit and the varying light as the moon moved across the night sky. I elected not to try shooting night shots. I’m still reluctant to leave my camera unattended at night (although, I do sometimes), even in the wilds, and here we were not far from a road that was good enough that semi-truck rigs came through. There can also be animals, like deer, roaming around at night that could stumble over the camera.
Reminder: Click on the photos to view them on Flickr, where they will look much better.
As I was leaving the north Bisti parking area, taking the short route just over and along the north fence line, and passing a young couple with two very young kids, the young man approached me, saying that I looked like I might know the area and asking if they could follow me. Of course, I agreed, being happy to help anyone in that situation. I had to walk much slower than I normally would, since the kids could not keep up, otherwise. The young man soon put the smaller, pre-school child in a carrier on his back. That young man was not very big, yet he must have been strong and in good physical shape, to carry even a small child like that. As we walked along, I learned that the young man and his wife were from South Korea, he was working on an MBA at Illinois University and they would return to South Korea, when he finished his degree.
I was heading out much earlier than required, had plenty of time to get to my destination, the “Conversing Hoodoos”, well before sunset, so I guided them on a longer route than necessary, taking them past other interesting features on the way. The young man stopped to take snapshots along the way and I encouraged him to take as much time as he needed, since I had no need to hurry.
Conversing Hoodoos and background at sunset. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 24mm, 1/15s, f/16, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
We arrived at the conversing hoodoos with plenty of time to spare prior to sunset. The young couple insisted on taking a family photo with me and thanked me profusely for guiding them into Bisti. After explaining and pointing out the more direct and easy route back to the parking area, I left them alone, wandering down a canyon to get a few shots before it was time to get back to my primary subjects.
Near sunset light on hoodoos along a Bisti canyon wall. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 21mm, 1/50s, f/16, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.
I find that late day light, within an hour of sunset, is a good time to get shots that look good, when converted to monochrome. The late day light creates shadows and depth within the landscape image. While such photos can also look good in the original color version, I think the monochrome is more appealing.
A bit later from a distance, I saw the young man high up on a hill among some of the large hoodoos, shouting and waving. He seemed to be having a good time. He had told me they were going to the south area the following day and asked, if I would be there, as he was thinking that I could guide them around there, as well. Even though, I would have enjoyed that, I had no plans to go to the south area on this trip. They did have some information about the south area and I told them that that area was usually busy on weekends and that they could probably find others to at least point them in the right direction to see the things that they were interested in.
Near sunset light illuminates rock forms on a Bisti canyon wall. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 16mm, 1/25s, f/16, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.Near sunset light illuminates a Bisti canyon wall. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 24mm, 1/50s, f/16, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.
I was using my wide angle 14-24mm lens during this outing and I was not really pleased with most of my compositions with that lens at the Conversing Hoodoos. I decided that I needed to return on another day of my visit with my 24-70mm lens so that I could more easily get the compositions that I wanted.
Conversing Hoodoos at Sunset. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 24mm, 1/20s, f/16, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.A jack rabbit shaped hoodoo in Bisti. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 24mm, 1/40s, f/16, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
The “Jack Rabbit” (my name) hoodoo on top of this hillside, is difficult to photograph with a wide angle lens, since it is not easily accessible and shooting from below just does not get one close enough and one needs to get a close up view to see the “Jack Rabbit” shape. This feature is seen in a canyon near the “Conversing Hoodoos”.
Bisti Conversing Hoodoos at sunset. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 24mm, 1/20s, f/16, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.Bisti Conversing Hoodoos at sunset. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 24mm, 1/25s, f/16, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.Bisti Conversing Hoodoos at sunset. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 24mm, 1/25s, f/16, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.Bisti canyon wall features in near sunset light. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 24mm, 1/60s, f/16, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
The features in the image above are along a canyon wall near the “Conversing Hoodoos”. The little hoodoo in the middle looks like a bird in a nest, stretching its head out to survey the area.
The sky was mostly very clear with only a few distant clouds, which were not visible in most of my compositions. I am hoping that there will be a more interesting sky the next time I shoot here.
We returned to the canyons nearest the parking area at the southern access to the Bisti Wilderness for sunset photos, after having spent the morning there and coming to the conclusion that the light might be better in the canyons late in the day.
One of several canyons in Bisti Wilderness that are nearest the south parking area. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 14mm, f/11, 1/50s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
Climbing up onto the rocks near the origin of one canyon, I got this view into the canyon. There is good light on the east wall of the canyon at sunset, contrasting with the shadows on the west wall and the dark bottom of the canyon.
Another problem with shooting in this area is the human infrastructure that is difficult to exclude. It is visible on the horizon in at least the first two shots here.
A photographer walking down a canyon in Bisti Wilderness, New Mexico. Nikon D850, Nikon 14,24mm at 24mm, f/11, 1/40s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
From another vantage point, I got the shot above as my son was walking towards me in the canyon, after he shot in another branch of the canyons. He is in the shadows near the upper center and one may have to look closely or zoom in to clearly make him out.
This is one of a number of canyons not far from the Bisti South Parking Area. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 18mm, f/11, 1/40s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
Backing up and turning to the east, I got this shot of the canyon at sunset.
There are human infrastructure elements visible on the horizon from here, which we tried to avoid putting in our images; but there might still be some visible, if one zooms in on the horizon.
An entrance into a Bisti Canyon with a distinctive marker. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 18mm, f/11, 1/30s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
The photo above is not really good, in my opinion, but it serves a purpose. My son and I like to name areas where we photograph based upon some distinctive feature or pertinent descriptive term. Such named features make it easy for us to find those areas again and to know where our photos were taken. For the canyon above, we noted the nipple like feature on top of a hill and decided this should be called “Nipple Canyon”. (Discerning viewers might note that the link embedded in this photo leads to a slightly different version that I accidentally posted on Flickr, intending to post this one).
{Readers might note that this post is out of chronological order. Apparently, I overlooked the draft of this post as I was publishing my blogs}.
My oldest son arrived in Bisti during the afternoon of my second day there. We decided to go to the place that I had scouted the previous afternoon for sunset photography.
It was another very cloudy day near sunset as we arrived at our destination and began preliminary shooting and picking our spots for sunset shots.
Muted colors previous to sunset in Bisti Wilderness. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 70mm, f/11, 1/40s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
Adobe Lightroom now has a new Texture adjustment that I discovered while editing this photo. I probably pushed it too much in this photo, but I wanted to experiment with this new toy.
The tall feature in the upper right is a good navigation item here. It can be seen from far away and from various directions.
A photographer getting a sunset shot in Bisti Wilderness. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 24mm, f/11, 0.4mm, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
My oldest son is standing on the slope that I scouted the previous afternoon. Some late day light is apparent at the fringes of the rocks; but the cloud cover is making it brief and muted.
Cloudy, muted sunset light on Bisti Hoodoos and Bluffs. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 32mm, f/11, 1/3s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
My shot from the slope, where my son was standing in the previous photo. Note the cloudy sky. There is golden hour light, but it is not as brilliant as one would like to see.
With such intermittant light it is always difficult to know what to do or where to be for the best photographic opportunity. One can be patient and stick to one place or move around, looking for other compositions. It is probably best to pick one composition and wait patiently. Sometimes I have patience, sometimes I don’t.
Sunset highlights on Bisti Wilderness features. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 24mm, f/11, 1/3s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
Even with brief and muted light, I like the image above with the contrasting highlights and dark shadows. I’ve used the alignment of the rocks and hoodoos as a leading line into the photo. This line also intersects with the line formed by the big hill in the upper center of the photo, which then leads the eyes to the sunset sky.
A cloudy, sunset silhouette in Bisti Wilderness. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 36mm, f/11, 1/50s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
A cloudy sky can make for dramatic sunset silhouettes.
A sunset silhouette taken from atop a hill in Bisti Wilderness. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 70mm, f/11, 0.4s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
Another sunset silhouette with colorful, striated clouds. This image is cropped from a much larger image, most of which was just dark shadow in the foreground. Details in the shadows could have been brought out via editing, but there was really not anything there to add interest.
Here are a few more early morning and late day photos from this park.
Animal tracks and corrugated shadows in sand dune. This is an Adobe Photoshop focus stack of three images, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DXO Nik software. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 50mm, f/11, 1/40s, ISO 64.
In this early morning scene, I like the curved shadow cast by this twig and the way the sand ripples give it a corrugated look. The animal tracks passing by also adds some interest.
Muted footprints, sand ripples and sunset shadows. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 24mm, f/11, 1/125s, ISO 100. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DXO Nik software.
Late days in the park were always cloudy, during my visit, which muted the sunset light, but at least added some interest to the sky. In the above photo one can see the evidence of human activity in footprints in the dunes. Those on the left side were softened by the wind, while those in the distance are more recent. I rather liked this wide open view with the late day shadows encroaching from the left. There are also a number of people and some human infrastructure in this photo, but these are only visible, when the image is enlarged.
A small bush cast long shadows at sunset in Monahans Sandhills SP, Texas. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 24mm, f/11, 1/100s, ISO 100. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DXO Nik software.
While being a bit subtle, this little distorted bush and its long shadow caught my eye as I wondered around the sandhills just before sunset.
Sunset light on sand dunes in Monahans Sandhills SP, Texas. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 14mm, f/11, 1/160s, ISO 100. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DXO Nik software.
The light on this dune went from none to fairly good as I composed this image. I was able to exclude most of the human disturbance within the nearby sand, but one can still see the muted footprints in the right side portion of this image. I like the soft, swirly look in the blue sky above the dunes here.
Late day shadows in Monahans Sandhills SP, Texas. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 24mm, f/11, 1/125s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DXO Nik software.
A trio of almost buried desert plants with their long, late day shadows, below the softly, windblown clouds in the blue sky makes this one of my favorite images here.
A small tree casting long shadows at sunset in Monahans Sandhills SP, Texas. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 24mm, 1/125s, f/11, ISO 200. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DXO Nik software.
Another small, subtle bush casting a long shadow in the late day sunlight.
Sunset light illuminating the sandhills. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 24mm, f/11, 1/125s, ISO 200. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DXO Nik software.
The remnants of a windblown bush, highlighted by late day sunlight, and the disturbance it caused in the sand ripples caught my eye here.
A cropped portion of a previous photo. The tumble weed creates interesting perturbations in the windblown sand ripples.
Thinking that the most interesting portion of the previous photo is that little broken bush, with the sand ripple perturbations it caused and the highlights on those and the bush, I cropped out this portion of that image. The larger image offers context to the photo, but I think the cropped portion is more interesting and offers a bit of mystery. What do you think?
Park visitors walking the crest of a dune, below wispy clouds. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 22mm, f/11, 1/125s, ISO100. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DXO Nik software
The sky here is the most interesting portion of this photo, but the three people along the sand dune ridge add a bit of scale to the image.
Sunset light illuminates the sandhills. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 24mm, f/11, 1/125s, ISO 320. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DXO Nik software.
I spotted this fallen tree with the last rays of the day highlighting it and I knew I had to capture it. I made this shot, fearing that I was going to lose the light at any time, then I moved in closer, hoping to get another composition before the light went away.
Sunset light illuminating a fallen tree and the sand dunes. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 24mm, f/11, 1/125s, ISO 800. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DXO Nik software.
The clouds made the light intermittent, but I managed to get this shot before it was entirely gone from the fallen tree.
Sunset at the end of day 2 in the sandhills. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 24mm, f/11, 1.0s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DXO Nik software.
This is my final sunset shot before calling it a day in the dunes. I had planned to come back out the next morning for one final shoot, prior to heading to my next destination, but the extensive human disturbance of the sand over the weekend, made me think that I had captured all the best for this trip, so I decided to sleep in the next morning and get an earlier start on the road.
I have a few abstract images from the dunes that I will share in the final post for this park before continuing to my next destination.
