Wandering in the Low Angle Light of Late November

December 12, 2014 by David Ryan | 10 Comments

Last month while driving from New Mexico to Tennessee, I was blown away by how wonderful everything looked. Even the Great Plains of eastern New Mexico and western Oklahoma looked fantastic. It finally dawned upon me that late fall’s low angle light was responsible for everything looking so great.

When it’s at a low angle, the sun lights up everything from the side and intensifies all the colors. Everything glows when the light is right. And when you add in the contrast of a brilliant glow on one side and a long shadow on the other, it is possible to see even the smallest details and textures. It may be the best time of the year to get out and wander.

You may remember the connection between Halloween and Groundhog Day that was mentioned in the recent blog post, Wandering Through the Bosque in Autumn. The same connection also applies to light. By the beginning of November the sun is low enough on the horizon to light up everything from the side. And sometime in February the details and contrast start to wash away as the sun travels higher on the horizon.

To check on this idea, the dogs and I went out with my friend, Bob Julyan, on the day after Thanksgiving to wander around the badlands the Ojito Wilderness. The Ojito is on public land and is an officially designated wildeness area about an hour northwest of Albuquerque. We thought it would be a perfect place to see how the light would play upon the details of the badlands.

Here is some of what saw in the area of the Hoodoo Trail.

As you can see, we picked a perfect day.

The colors and texture of the rock were amazing.

Here’s a closer look at the bands in the sandstone.

As you can see there are no shortage of colors.

Here's a closer look at the red and the green. They're both a form of mudstone under a sandstone cap.

Here’s a closer look at the red and the green layers. They’re both a form of mudstone beneath a sandstone cap.

And finally we made it to the hoodoos that the trail was named for. There we dozens of them in the area.

We finally made it to the hoodoos that the trail is named for. There are dozens of them in the area. This would be a perfect place to camp out in the summer.

Here’s another look at the hoodoo later in the day. If you look closely you can see a quarter moon off to the right. The hoodoo almost looks like a bird getting ready to eat the moon.

The Ojito is full of amazing landscape. You could easily spend the rest of your life exploring its hidden corners. You can see the Sandia Mountains off in the distance. They are right next to Albuquerque.

The Ojito is full of amazing landscape. You could easily spend the rest of your life exploring its hidden corners. Off in the distance are the Sandia Mountains that are right next to Albuquerque.

But views aren’t the only thing to look for. We found this prehistoric blade made out of chert right at our feet.

The textures of the dead and weathered junipers, too, were wonderful. The low angle light lets you see all the details.

The textures of the dead and weathered juniper limbs, too, were wonderful. The low angle light lets you see all the details.

And here are two pieces of chert laying on the ground. Both pieces were used to make prehistoric tools. The low angle light makes it much easier to spot artifacts like these laying on the ground.

And here’s a tiny ball of juniper sap on the ground. Without the low angle light it would be difficult to spot a detail like this.

No matter where you turn, you’ll find amazing textures.

Not all of the junipers were weathered and dying. This one was full of berries.

After a couple of mile of walking, we reached this view of Cabezon in the distance. cabezon is a large volcanic plug. It too is on public land and open for visitation.

After a couple of miles of walking, we reached this view of Cabezon Peak in the distance. Cabezon is a large volcanic plug. It, too, is on public land and open for visitation.

When we circled back to our car, we found this rock inscription. It says, “Enriqes Garcia – 1911”.

After a great day of walking in low angle light, it was time to head home. And I think you have to agree that my thought about low angle revealing wonderful details is true. And the only thing I can add is to get out and wander while you have this amazing light available to you.

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