Great Sand Dunes National Park

Ever have that experience where you have the BEST time somewhere and take tons of pictures that you think are going to be simply mind blowing... then come home, load 'em up on the computer and wonder what happened and why do they feel unsatisfying? I do. Almost every time I go somewhere. It's not that fun if I'm being honest and generally hits about the time that I get my "coming down" feeling which follows every good trip.

So I've given it some deep thought. Was I misremembering the experience, misjudging my skills, or was it something else?  Conclusion... Something else.

My brain is this magical super computer. It takes in smell, sight, audio and a lot of kinesthetic info. It identifies and processes a single image in about 13 milliseconds - that's 30x faster than the blink of an eye. My camera cannot! What I see and remember and feel in the same time period as my camera captures an image, is so much more. As beautiful as any picture can be, it pales in comparison, understandably.

Lessons I've personally learned. 

1. Process the images fairly quickly. Use the feelings and additional info that my brain has captured (which is likely short term!) to tweak images until they resonate.

2. Reviewing images a few days, weeks and months later triggers memories created in the moment of the experience. I start to associate all those memories of the senses with the photo I have saved and they take on new dimensions. (For me... not for anyone else viewing them.)

3. Expect a little feeling of disappointment or deflation post-trip and accept that it's normal (again, just for me). But also remember that it passes and mere days after processing images, when the brain has space to cultivate joy, a sentimental smile and a lot of gratitude, I find the "high" of the trip returns and all of a sudden I can see the images as mind blowing... or at least mind-expanding... or maybe even just satisfying!

I digress. The reason for this post and maybe every post, is to line up some thoughts with some pictures and give myself something to gratefully come back to. And without further ado, here are my favorite pictures from a quick journey down south to Great Sand Dunes National Park. Camping with Teddy and Mark. Dunes so giant, you need to look for the tiny people to put them in perspective! 

We were so fortunate to have, in the space of just 18 hours, a magnificent sunset and cool evening then that breathtaking early morning light - and we hiked during both of them.