Why New Mexico?
We love the crepuscular light in New Mexico. Sunrises and sunsets explode in shades of pink, orange and scarlet. Couple that with flocks of thousands of birds or dazzling white gypsum dunes and you have everything you need for a fantastic photo workshop.
Bosque and White Sands are locations we have been returning to for decades. This year we had two groups join us and both sessions had fantastic light, plentiful birds and endless dunes.
The Bosque Blast Off
Each morning at Bosque, we started by arriving early to set up for sunrise. As darkness turned to dawn, thousands of snow geese would fly in from their nighttime roosting spots. We often heard cacophonous cackling before we we could see them coming.
As the sun rose and illuminated the flocks, we photographed the backlit birds taking off into the golden light from the sun. Capturing sharp birds in flight was a goal for many of the participants on the workshops.
Soft and Silky
We visited both Bosque and Bernardo this year to capture the largest flocks of birds. After spending hours working on photographing sharp birds in flight, we slowed down the shutter speeds and worked on creative images at slower speeds.
The stunning pastels and muted winter foliage created soft silky backgrounds at any shutter speed. The quality of the light and the excellent backgrounds make New Mexico one of our favorite places to photograph Sandhill Cranes in the United States.
White Sands National Park
We turned to landscapes for the second part of this workshop. Our photographers were in awe of how light transforms the landscape at White Sands. The white light reflects the colors of the sky and creates drama at dawn, dusk and civil twilight. We had early entry permits to give us ample time to set up for the light show.
Favorite Location
One of our favorite locations in the park is on a high dune on the Alkali Flats Trail. By hiking into the dunes we get to a vantage point that shows off the layers of pure gypsum dunes. Our group can spread out and focus on the changing colors of the light as the sun sets behind distant mountains.
Texture and Pattern
We photographed ripples in the sand on several occasions. After classroom sessions on landscape composition, forced perspective and focus stacking, our photographers spend the field sessions trying new techniques and looking for the perfect sections of untracked sand.
A big thanks to both groups for joining us in Bosque and White Sands!
A special thank you to Steve Glass for assisting our second group.
Want to join our Bosque and White Sands Photo Workshop in 2027? Space available
www.tombolphotoworkshops.com
Credits:
Tom Bol, Cree Bol, Steve Glass