Shooting Into the Sun: Tutorial from White Sands

Sunset with star burst effect and foreground detail

Seeing sunset at White Sands National Park is a highlight of my year.  All the elements combined to give me a dream as the daylight disappeared.  As most people do, I walked out on the Alkali Flat trail.  This is no secret and I found it to be the most crowded and busy trail out on the dunes.  The only way I got away from tourist footprints was to just hike a mile beyond the trail markers.  The further I went, the more pristine the dunes became and it's tempting to just keep going . . . .  In my case the sunset happened and I found myself 2.5 miles away from the car.  

I set up my tripod for the sunset shot at an angled dune that was catching light down its' diagonal slope.  I got shots without the sun but found my shot that included the sun was best.  This has lots of interesting pieces with the sun bursting its' rays being the top attraction.  The next eye-catching feature is the diagonal slope that creates a light beam cutting across the frame.  Smaller ripples in the dunes and highlights in the clouds finish the landscape art.  

This photo is a combination of several exposures then blended into an HDR image in Adobe Lightroom.  I had to clean up a few sun spots created as light goes through the glass.  This is a common effect when shooting into the sun and can be desirable at times.  

Lastly, if you do wander the dunes, do not rely on satellite GPS to get you back to the trailhead.  As a missile range and military base, White Sands will not pick up satellites.  Those are jammed by the government.  You will get good cell phone service here (I had T-Mobile).