An Inside Look At Getting That Perfect Instagram Capture

What one goes through for the perfect insta pic

When I went to White Sands National Monument in New Mexico on my recent four-week road trip I was inspired to take a skiing/snow picture in the white sand dunes. I arrived in Alamogordo and hurriedly filled my gas tank and raced off to WSNM cause I was afraid they’d be closing soon and I wouldn’t be able to get in. I needed to be in Durango the next day so I didn’t think I’d have time in the morning for pictures before heading north. Although, after weighing my options I figured I could arrive in Durango later in the evening so I could still go to PistachioLand, home of the world’s largest pistachio nut statue, as soon as they opened the next day. Then if I waited for them to open I could sneak back to White Sands and grab a few pictures because they open their gates early. Deal. However, I still raced out to White Sands early that evening.

I got there in time, left the gate, and drove out into the wide expanse landscape on a single lane road. Looking quickly to my right and left and inwardly thinking these dunes aren’t that spectacular and they’re small. They’re nothing better than Great Sand Dunes National Park. Maybe this was a waste. A waste of $10. Man I’m trying not to spend money on this trip that’s why I’m sleeping in my car and house-sitting but here I am spending $40 or so on three different national parks over the past three days. And this one isn’t that great. So after thinking all that I drove over some sand patches and the dunes started getting bigger. Soon thereafter I left the pavement then onto compact sand. I reached a wide-open expanse with a parking area full of other cars and families scattered all over the dunes. I quickly turned around after deciding I couldn’t get a solitary photo there and went back to a deserted spot I had just seen. After pulling over to the side of the road I slide my hiking pants off and put on some breathable shorts since it was nice out. I kept my sweater on, grabbed my cross-country skis and boots, and quickly ran up into the dunes before any other car drove by. I didn’t want other tourists to see me cause I knew what I was doing was ridiculous and just for a picture. An instagramable capture that would be, like so on point with my brand - said with a head tilt and valley girl voice. I didn’t want anyone to see how ridiculous I looked.

I put on my boots, without any socks on, and clipped into the skis after the 12th try. I tried to ski down the sand dune while my gopro was filming on the hill in front of me. I didn’t move an inch. Shit. I should have used my regular skis that are wider. That’s literally what I thought was my problem, or that I didn’t have my poles. Surely, I thought, I’d be able to ski down this sand if only my skis were wider and I had my poles. So I shuffled down the sand and cursed that I didn’t have my poles.

Sara Leibold

The pictures didn’t turn out well and I was disappointed and frustrated that I wasted valuable daylight messing around for a stupid picture rather than go off and explore the dunes. So after the failed shot I went back to the car, discreetly, and drove back down to the parking lot. I went off exploring barefoot and relished in the cool temperature of the sand between my toes. After wearing sweaty hiking boots all day the coolness of each grain of sand filled in between my toes felt spa-like. I played around doing yoga poses and watching the sun start to go down. My photography vision wasn’t coming to fruition and I couldn’t get a great shot because I didn’t have anyone else to get a better angle than from the ground.

Sara Leibold

I rushed out of the park just as I had entered because I was on a race against the sun. I needed to find a campsite before dark. There was a marked site nearby that I had found on the free campsites website I use, but you just never can tell if it will work out until you get there. Cause if it wasn’t then I’d have to hunt for a spot in the dark and end up on some bad back roads. Luckily, the site proved golden located right by a lake and I arrived just in time to witness a spectacular sunset over the water. My neighbor campers came out of their RVs to watch nature’s painting. I enjoyed watching the hundreds of ducks on the lake dive down into the melted pink cotton candy sky reflected in the water.

Sara Leibold

The next morning I wanted to get back to White Sands before the crowds to have the place to myself so I left the free sites first-thing and headed to the park. I quickly cleaned up in the park’s antique bathroom with failing pipes - it said so in a notice on the stall door, thank you for your patience while we renovate our bathroom pipes that are original to the structure built in the 1930s or something similar. I got back into my messy bedroom/living room/kitchen/car and headed out to the white dunes. I passed the parking area I visited the afternoon before and continued into uncharted territory, till the road looped back around. I found an isolated spot and climbed up the dunes, this time with my snowshoes and a bikini.

I got this picture on the second try. I tried to get some video but it just didn’t look how I imagined. How’d I imagine it you ask? That’s a good question.

Sara Leibold

I changed into my bikini, but slightly into the pulling down of my pants I heard voices in the distance. Before I could locate the occupiers of the voices I did what anyone else would in that situation, I fell to the ground and hid, looking all around wide-eyed as if expecting swarms of people to close in on me any second. My fears were irrational as I realized that no one saw me and the voices were wafting in my direction from many dunes ahead. I changed unseen. I got some pictures in the bikini but they were not so flattering as the camera was shooting up from the ground and giving me an “objects-in-mirror-are-larger-than-they-appear” look.

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Sara Leibold / Via whereintheworldissara.com

@PistachioLand