All Images And Text On This Site Are Copyright 1999-2000
by
Thomas D. Hill Jr.
997209 Sunset at White Sands NM
Last November, I went to the White Sands National Monument with camera in hand for the first time. I had lived in the area years before but not until this recent visit had I attempted to photograph this wonderful area. From the monument's middle, dunes seem to stretch forever. I topped one in search of the scenery or maybe even a sunset but I hadn't really expected to see anyone else. On another dune almost a mile away, a family was playing in the sand. It looked like they were on a family sled trip similar to what we'd see here in Alberta in the middle of winter. Instead of snow, they were shooting up and down the sand-same color, different medium.
Further along the dunes I spied more folks walking on the crests. With backpacks and walking sticks in hand, one couple appeared to be on a small expedition to gain a great vantage point for the coming sunset. I followed their trek across several dunes before capturing their image. I used my 300mm lens and added a stop to compensate for the white sand and to brighten the image slightly. What amazes me most about the image is the sharpness of the subjects despite the considerable distance. Everything appears sharp even though they are almost a mile away. A tribute to superb Nikon optics and excellent atmospheric conditions.
It's not very often that I get a chance to use my 300mm lens to capture a scenic. More often than not, I would've used one of my wide-angle lenses when composing a scenic. I guess the narrow field of view of a long telephoto doesn't lend itself for wide area requirements that senics usually have. However, there are some purposes which telephotos are ideally suited. It's outstanding at compressing an image's perspective. At a distance, objects begin to look the same distance regardless of their actual range away from the photographer. Whether one mile or five, they all look the same.
The hikers in this image were about a mile away. The mountains in the background were over 15 miles away. As you can see, the intuitive details that may distinguish some things as closer than others are lots when using a long telephoto lens. This image is no exception. Using the telephoto in this manner makes an interesting tool for the photographer.
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