Live Oak and Rocks, Milky Way Galaxy, Joshua Tree National Park
Milky Way Galaxy, Live Oak and Rocks, Joshua Tree National Park at Night
I have spent many evenings photographing the landscape and night sky at Joshua Tree National Park. The terrain is harsh and there are few trees other than Yucca and Joshua Tree. I did find one attractive live oak nestled up against some tall boulders, and made a point of photographing it when the Milky Way galaxy was high in the sky above it. This four image landscape astrophotography panorama, shot with the Nikon D800 and Nikon 14-24 f/2.8 lens, will print up to 100″ wide and 60″ and would make a great wall mural in your home or office! Cheers and thanks for looking.
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| Live Oak and Milky Way, rocks and stars, Joshua Tree National Park at night. Image ID: 28417 Location: Joshua Tree National Park, California, USA Pano dimensions: 4848 x 7431 |
The Fire Wave at Night, Milky Way and Stars, Valley of Fire State Park
The Milky Way and Stars at Night over the Fire Wave in Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada
The Fire Wave in Valley of Fire: an interesting striped expanse of sandstone, now commonly photographed. I wanted to make some uncommon images of the Fire Wave, so I set up my camera with an intervalometer to photograph it all night long. This image shows the Milky Way rising over the horizon with the Fire Wave in the foreground. Distant lights of Las Vegas and nearby urban communities can be seen but the sky above was surprising clear of light pollution. The Valley of Fire sure is a beautiful place!
Cheers and thanks for looking!
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| Milky Way galaxy rises above the Fire Wave, Valley of Fire State Park. Image ID: 28428 Location: Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada, USA |
Milky Way and Moon at Night, Shooting Star, Comet Panstarrs, Panorama, Joshua Tree National Park
Joshua Tree National Park, Milky Way and Moon, Shooting Star, Comet Panstarrs, Impending Dawn.
This panorama of Joshua Tree National Park was made at astronomical twilight during International Dark Sky Week recently (last week). Some slight blue color from the impending dawn appears behind and to the left of the moon. Comet Panstarrs appears tiny just above the horizon in the left half of the image. The moon is a 20% crescent and still nearly overwhelms the night sky with its brightness. A shooting star appears to the right of the moon. The orange glow on the horizon is light pollution from the distant cities of Joshua Tree (left) and Palm Desert (right). This image will print 30″ x 80″ with no uprezing. If you like this, please check out more Astrophotography Landscape photos, an area of photography I have been working on hard for the last few years. Cheers and thanks for looking!
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| Joshua Tree National Park, Milky Way and Moon, Shooting Star, Comet Panstarrs, Impending Dawn. Image ID: 28408 Location: Joshua Tree National Park, California, USA Pano dimensions: 4205 x 10821 |
Panorama Photo of the Open Ocean
Open Ocean Panoramic Photograph
I’ve spent a lot of time on the open ocean, in small boats, looking for big creatures. Some of the best days of my life have been spent on a glassy ocean surface, traveling one hundred miles or more under blue skies and summer breezes, waiting to see if we would meet something interesting to photograph. These days are not like what most scuba divers experience! Some days bring perfect summer conditions and then just zipping across the ocean is a pleasure, even if we see no animals. Other days — more typical days — involve an incredible amount of waiting, periodic episodes of frustration and, when the weather turns, discomfort. Most of my days on the open ocean resulted in no photos and no encounters. However, once in a while something special happens and a photograph results. A few years ago, we were stopped on the water miles offshore of North County, enjoying the still, hot, southern California weather, watching a swarm of zooplankton hovering mid-column beneath the boat and listening for the blows of great whales, when I realized I should try to photograph the idyllic scene. How to photograph what is essentially an empty expanse, a half-plane extending from the gunwale of the boat to the horizon? I was not sure but a panorama seemed to be the only way to approach it. I made a series of 10 frames and blended them together later on the computer. The blending was tough to accomplish since the water was constantly moving making it difficult to merge the details in a perfectly natural way. The photo below is my best effort. It will print up to 10′ long by 3.5′ high with no uprezzing, and has been used in commercial projects a couple times. I need to get back out on the water and make a few more of these. Cheers, and thanks for looking!
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| Ocean surface panorama, glassy calm ocean water offshore of California, clouds and sky. Image ID: 26804 Pano dimensions: 6192 x 17935 |
Tides of Time Cover
“Times of Time” was a coffee table-type book, a collaborative product of the Jaeger-LeCoutre Watch Company, the United Nations, the World Heritage Centre and the International Herald Tribune, focusing on ocean issues. My photo of a newborn gray whale calf, photographed 17 years ago offshore of Point Lobos / Big Sur with photographer pals Ken Howard, Skip Stubbs and Kevin McDonnell, was selected for the cover. Note the embryonic folds seen along the whales body, a result of it being curled up in the womb, and a bit of the umbilicus — this calf was very very young, perhaps just hours old. Cheers, and thanks for looking!
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Coronado Aerial Photos
Aerial photographs of Coronado, California, including Coronado Island, the Hotel del Coronado, and the San Diego Coronado Bay Bridge.
These five Coronado Aerial Photographs are just a selection. If you like them, please be sure to see also my full collection of Coronado Aerial Photos and a gallery of San Diego Aerial Photos.
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| Hotel del Coronado, known affectionately as the Hotel Del. It was once the largest hotel in the world, and is one of the few remaining wooden Victorian beach resorts. It sits on the beach on Coronado Island, seen here with downtown San Diego in the distance. It is widely considered to be one of Americas most beautiful and classic hotels. Built in 1888, it was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1977. Image ID: 22287 Location: San Diego, California, USA |
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| San Diego Coronado Bridge, known locally as the Coronado Bridge, links San Diego with Coronado, California. The bridge was completed in 1969 and was a toll bridge until 2002. It is 2.1 miles long and reaches a height of 200 feet above San Diego Bay. Coronado Island is to the left, and downtown San Diego is to the right in this view looking north. Image ID: 22288 Location: San Diego, California, USA |
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| Coronado Shores, a group of 10 condominium buildings south of the Hotel Del, on the water on Coronado Island. Image ID: 22297 Location: San Diego, California, USA |
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| Naval Amphibious Base Coronado, situated on the Silver Strand between San Diego Bay and the Pacific Ocean, is the West Coast focal point for special and expeditionary warfare training and operations. The famous “swastika building” is seen on the southern (left) side of the base. Image ID: 22298 Location: San Diego, California, USA |
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| Sunset over Coronado Island and Point Loma. Image ID: 22335 Location: San Diego, California, USA |
Shooting Star over Delicate Arch at Night, Arches National Park, Utah
Delicate Arch at Night, Milky Way and Shooting Star, Arches National Park, Utah
This is spectacular Delicate Arch, the most iconic and popular of the arches in Arches National Park in Utah. Looking back on 2012 I realize I made a strong series of Landscape Astrophotography photos in 2012 — and this image is one of my favorites. It combines Delicate Arch, the Milky Way galaxy, just a tad of blue in the sky from the sunset earlier, and a shooting star crossing the sky directly above Delicate Arch. That last element was sheer luck of course, but luck favors the prepared and I was certainly prepared on this evening, shooting three cameras aided by special lights and remote triggers for my camera. Cheers and thanks for looking!
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| Milky Way and Shooting Star over Delicate Arch, as stars cover the night sky. Image ID: 27854 Location: Arches National Park, Utah, USA |
Landscape Astrophotography
New: check out my website for Landscape Astrophotography!
What is Landscape Astrophotography? Here is my take on it!
Landscape Astrophotography is the discipline of photographing scenes that include both astronomical elements and terrestrial landscape elements. The motivation for landscape astrophotography is a desire to depict the night sky, including stars, planets, comets, meteors, the Milky Way galaxy, space dust and our Moon among other elements, along with some recognizable piece of planet Earth. This approach differs from the classic “deep space” images that, for instance, NASA produces, since those typically show nothing of the Earth and are thus disconnected from the type of scenes we experience when we view the night sky ourselves. In my landscape astrophotography, I choose to use lenses and compositional choices that produce an image similar to what the viewer would experience with his own eyes. A few details that characterize landscape astrophotography, both mine and the way I believe most photographers practice it today. Landscape astrophotographs:
- are made at night, or at the edge of night (dawn and dusk).
- use exposures “long enough” to record relatively dim objects in the night sky. Almost all landscape astrophotography involves the use of a tripod.
- sometimes employ artificial light on foreground elements in a technique known as “light painting”.
- sometimes will combine, or “stack”, multiple images to produce a final image. Naturally, in this case the resulting image is not what one would have been able to see in person, but the image can serve to illustrate the passage of time (e.g., star trails) or a relatively infrequent phenomenon (e.g., meteor shower).
- often use relatively high ISO settings. This is made possible by the recent technological improvements in the sensitivity and noise characteristics of digital camera sensor.
- often will use lenses “wide open”, or at or near their maximum aperture, in order to capture as much light as possible.
- use focus that is typically near or at infinity so depth of field is not an issue.
- benefit from maximum corner sharpness and minimal coma distortion, at or near “wide open” aperture — two highly desirable lens characteristics for landscape astrophotography.
- require considerable post-processing techniques in software such as Photoshop, Lightroom and Starstax to adjust white balance, contrast, exposure and especially noise.
- often will push a digital camera to the edge of what it is capable of recording. This means that as the technological capabilities of our cameras continue to improve, new possibilities in landscape astrophotography continue to emerge.
Below are few of my favorite landscape astrophotographs, made during the last two years with both Canon and Nikon equipment, all in California, Nevada and Utah. If you like these, please see my gallery of landscape astrophotography for others. All of my astrophotography landscape images are available as prints for display in your home or office, up to 30″ x 45″ in size, and have been some of my best sellers recently. Cheers, and thanks for looking!
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| Yosemite Falls and star trails, at night, viewed from Cook’s Meadow, illuminated by the light of the full moon. Image ID: 27733 Location: Yosemite Falls, Yosemite National Park, California, USA |
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| Panorama of the Milky Way over Mesa Arch. Image ID: 27824 Location: Mesa Arch, Canyonlands National Park, Utah, USA Pano dimensions: 4790 x 7815 |
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| Milky Way arches over Delicate Arch, as stars cover the night sky. Image ID: 27850 Location: Arches National Park, Utah, USA |
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| The moon sets over the Fire Wave, a beautiful sandstone formation exhibiting dramatic striations, striped layers in the geologic historical record. Image ID: 26511 Location: Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada, USA |
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| The Milky Way galaxy above Arch Rock, Joshua Tree National Park, night star field exposure. Image ID: 26862 Location: Joshua Tree National Park, California, USA |
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| Star Trails over the San Diego Downtown City Skyline. In this 60 minute exposure, stars create trails through the night sky over downtown San Diego. Image ID: 28383 Location: San Diego, California, USA |
Night Star Trails over the Downtown San Diego City Skyline
San Diego City Skyline Night Photograph with Star Trails
I met friend and photographer Garry McCarthy at 0-dark-30 yesterday morning, with the goal of photographing the downtown San Diego city skyline with star trails circling above. Exceptionally clear skies are required for this sort of photograph since any moisture or dust in the air serves to capture the ugly glow of the city lights below and obscure the stars. We had nearly ideal conditions for our attempt. I used three cameras with lenses of differing focal lengths to make several compositions. These trails are created with a long exposure (e.g., 60 minutes) as the Earth turns. The star that appears to be a dot is Polaris, the North Star; it lies almost exactly on the axis of Earth’s rotation so has very little apparent movement in these images. Note that in the bottom image, shot with a very wide lens, a meteor appears as a streak above and to the left of Polaris. If you like this, check out my other Night Photographs and Astrophotography Landscapes. Thanks for looking!
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| Star Trails over the San Diego Downtown City Skyline. In this 60 minute exposure, stars create trails through the night sky over downtown San Diego. Image ID: 28383 Location: San Diego, California, USA |
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| Star Trails over the San Diego Downtown City Skyline. In this 60 minute exposure, stars create trails through the night sky over downtown San Diego. Image ID: 28385 Location: San Diego, California, USA |
Best Photos of 2012 - My Photography Year in Review
Best Photos of 2012 - My Photography Year in Review
It is time to post my annual “Favorite Photos of the Year”, as I have since 2007. This year I added fewer than 1000 new images to my stock photography collection, but included in that paltry number are some real gems with which I am quite happy and proud. I managed to get out on the ocean a few times and see a few whales with one of my oldest photographer pals, made a fantastic flight over southern San Diego County with a pilot friend, learned more about landscape astrophotography through trial and error with a night photography buddy, got back in the surf with a new rig after a two year hiatus and tried to keep up the young guys, managed to sneak in one fantastic trip to Paris and London with Tracy, not to mention the 50+ volleyball matches I photographed this year (my daughters are a wrecking crew on the court). So without further ado, here are my Favorite Photographs of 2012. Note: if you like these feel free to check out previous years’ favorites as well: 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007. Thanks for looking, and cheers!
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| Panorama of the Milky Way over Mesa Arch. Photographed with Canon 5D Mark III and Nikon 14-24 lens, alone on a warm still evening in Utah. Image ID: 27824 Location: Mesa Arch, Canyonlands National Park, Utah, USA Pano dimensions: 4790 x 7815 |
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| Downtown Los Angeles at night, street lights, buildings light up the night. Photographed with Canon 5D Mark II from Griffith Park while waiting for my kids to get out of a concert at the Palladium. Image ID: 27725 Location: Los Angeles, California, USA |
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| Stars and the Milky Way rise above ancient bristlecone pine trees, in the White Mountains at an elevation of 10,000′ above sea level. Shooting beside Garry McCarthy, I used a Canon 5D Mark II, under a spectacular cloudless sky with countless stars. Image ID: 27772 Species: Bristlecone Pine, Pinus longaeva Location: Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest, White Mountains, Inyo National Forest, California, USA |
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| Oceanside Pier at sunset, clouds and palm trees with a brilliant sky at dusk. Not bad for the depths of winter! Southern California is the best. Image ID: 27610 Location: Oceanside Pier, California, USA |
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| Rainbow and clearing storm clouds, sunrise light on Manly Beacon. Garry and I got lucky with great light in Death Valley on this day. Canon 5D Mark II. Image ID: 27660 Location: Zabriskie Point, Death Valley National Park, California, USA |
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| Delicate Arch and Milky Way, lit by quarter moon, hiker’s flashlight and the fading blue sky. This image received over 8 million views this year, never had that happen with an image before. I was alone all night at Delicate Arch, awesome. Image ID: 27855 Location: Arches National Park, Utah, USA |
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| Half Dome and nighttime stars, viewed from Glacier Point. Nikon D800 and 14-24, a potent nighttime photography combo. Alone at Glacier Point. Image ID: 27952 Location: Glacier Point, Yosemite National Park, California, USA |
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| Clouds and mountains, San Diego mountains near Rancho Guejito and Black Mountain, sunrise. Photographed with a pilot friend, I used a Nikon D800 and 14-24, poking the gear out the open cargo door — nothing is more fun than flying in a small plane over beautiful countryside. Image ID: 27913 Location: San Diego, California, USA |
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| Breaking wave, Moonllght Beach, Encinitas, morning, barrel shaped surf, California. First day out with my new surf rig, first set of the day and BAM! I get this nice image, what could be better. Image ID: 27975 Location: California, USA |
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| Sunrise breaking wave, dawn surf. The Wedge, Canon 5DIII and 16-35mm lens. One takes quite a bit of punishment for this sort of image but in the end it is worth it. I think. Image ID: 27979 Location: The Wedge, Newport Beach, California, USA |
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| Blue whale, 80-feet long. Photographed with photography partner and friend Mike Johnson. With the whale only 15′ away, I had to resort to a full-frame fisheye lens to capture the entire leviathan in a single image. I’ve probably seen a few hundred blue whales, many of them underwater, and I still get chills when it happens. Image ID: 27967 Species: Blue whale, Balaenoptera musculus |
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| Humpback whale breaching, pectoral fin and rostrom visible. Mike and I put in an order for a left-to-right breach in front of this fishing boat, and the whale cooperated nicely. Image ID: 27955 Species: Humpback whale, Megaptera novaeangliae Location: San Diego, California, USA |
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| San Diego city skyline, dusk, clearing storm clouds. America’s finest city. Image ID: 28005 Location: San Diego, California, USA |
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| False Kiva at Sunset, Canyonlands National Park, Utah. Solitude and sunset in a magical place. Canon 5D Mark III and Nikon 14-24 lens. Image ID: 28017 Location: False Kiva, Canyonlands National Park, Utah, USA |
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| Full moon rising over San Diego city skyline, sunset, storm clouds, viewed from Coronado Island. Garry and I had planned this one for a while and it worked out brilliantly with the storm clouds parting just in time to give a peek at the moon. Image ID: 28022 Location: San Diego, California, USA |
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| Royal Chapel of Versailles. Perhaps the most famous chateau in the world, we enjoyed a fun morning wandering the apartments and grounds of the Sun King’s abode. Nikon D800 and 14-24. Image ID: 28068 Location: Chateau de Versailles, Paris, France |
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| Sacre-Coeur Basilica, Paris. In spite of the crowds we were still quite moved by the history and humanity that this famous church has seen over the centuries. Nikon D800 and 14-24. Image ID: 28118 Location: Basilique du Sacre-Coeur, Paris, France |
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| River Seine, Full Moon and Eiffel Tower at night, Paris. Tracy and I stopped to get a few self-portraits of the two of us in front of Paris’ most famous landmark, and I’m glad I remembered to shoot a stock image of the scene as well. Canon 5D Mark III sitting on a wall. Image ID: 28203 Location: Tour Eiffel, Paris, France |
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| Arc de Triomphe. What to do when presented with a scene that has been photographed millions of time before? Point the camera straight up, cross fingers and rattle off a Hail Mary machine gun burst. I thought this one came out well. Nikon D800 and 14-24. Image ID: 28080 Location: Arc de Triomphe, Paris, France Pano dimensions: 7793 x 10813 |
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| Brown pelican in flight, pink predawn sky. I love photographing these birds, especially in December with brisk mornings, clear skies at dawn and no crowds. Canon 5D Mark III and 300mm lens. Image ID: 28346 Location: La Jolla, California, USA |
See also:
Best Photos of 2011
Best Photos of 2010
Best Photos of 2009
Best Photos of 2008
Best Photos of 2007
False Kiva at Sunset, Canyonlands National Park, Utah
False Kiva Photo, Sunset Canyonlands National Park, Utah
One afternoon in Canyonlands National Park I came up with an ambitious plan: to hike to False Kiva on the edge of the Island in the Sky mesa, photograph the dusk and early evening there, hike out and then shoot Mesa Arch immediately thereafter. I had not originally planned to see False Kiva but decided to give it a try, and treated it as a speedy hike workout. Although I had not been to False Kiva before, the hike turned out to be much easier than I thought it would be and a short while after leaving my car I was relaxing, alone, in the cool shade of the alcove with a spectacular view of the dramatic river-carved Canyonlands expanse far below. You know that hollow sound, almost the echo of an echo, that you hear when on the edge of precipice? That is the sound one hears while at False Kiva. Occasionally a raptor would keen or a bird would glide by and I could hear the rush of the air over its wings. Otherwise, there was no sound but what I made. It was quite moving being there, doing nothing but watching the light change, listening and thinking. The sunset itself was unremarkable, but as dusk passed and evening came on I was able to match the light of my flashlight with that of the dimming sky and painted the ring of rocks for which False Kiva is famous to produce this image. The scene has a great deal of red and magenta in it, the actual hue of the fading dusk. In truth I reduced the saturation a little since it seemed so strong to my eye, but that happens sometimes when shooting in the deepest, most richly colored twilight about 45 minutes after sunset. I was working in what seemed to be pitch dark when I shot this, and the great sensitivity of my camera allowed me to pull out color and detail. Thanks for looking, and cheers!
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Delicate Arch and Milky Way Stars at Night, Arches National Park, Utah
Delicate Arch at Night, Milky Way and Stars Overhead. Arches National Park, Utah.
I spent a wonderful evening photographing Delicate Arch in Arches National Park. It was warm and dry, with a clear star-filled sky overhead and just a speck of breeze. I photographed Delicate Arch and the moon at sunset, then kicked back and ate my dinner while I waited for Milky Way to rise in the sky. Eventually the Earth rotated enough for the Milky Way to be centered through Delicate Arch, and I made this photograph, one of my personal favorites of 2012. Thanks for looking, and cheers!
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| Milky Way arches over Delicate Arch, as stars cover the night sky. Image ID: 27850 Location: Arches National Park, Utah, USA |
Delicate Arch is found at the end of an easy 1.5 mile trail. 65-feet (20m) tall, this beautiful freestanding arch was once a “fin” of Entrada sandstone. Erosion and weathering eventually groomed the fin into its current arch shape, a natural visual frame for the La Sal mountains that lie to the southeast.
Pillar of Stone, Milky Way, Stars and Clouds, Arches National Park, Utah
This sandstone pillar in Arches National Park, which probably has an official name, looks to me like an enormous totem pole. I photographed it at night with a short enough exposure to freeze the stars but long enough that the quick moving clouds blurred across the sky. Lighting was tough on this one since the pillar was quite a distance away and very tall (hundreds of feet I estimate). The glow at lower left was produced by the nearby citizens of Moab, all tucked in bed while visions of mountain bikes danced in their heads. If you like this, please see more of my night astrophotography landscape photos. Cheers!
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| Stone columns rising in the night sky, milky way and stars and clouds filling the night sky overhead. Image ID: 27848 Location: Arches National Park, Utah, USA |
Balanced Rock and Milky Way at Night, Arches National Park, Utah
Balanced Rock at Night, Arches National Park
Balanced Rock rises 128′ (39m) above the surrounding land, just off the main road in Arches National Park. It is an outstanding example of erosion and sandstone layering. The precariously perched capstone rock is made of harder sandstone than the layers beneath. As the softer sandstone eroded, a neck formed in the column. Eventually the capstone will topple off and sightly Balanced Rock will be no more. Until that time, I will wander about it at night, pondering the heavens above, whistling strange tunes and conjuring the odd saying that only the lonely midnight desert wanderer is prone to utter.
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| Balanced Rock and Milky Way stars at night. Image ID: 27835 Location: Balanced Rock, Arches National Park, Utah, USA |
Photo of Delicate Arch and Milky Way, Hiker, Light Painting
Photo of Delicate Arch At Night and The Milky Way Galaxy, Arches National Park, Utah
I recently made a short trip to Arches National Park to do some photography. One of the photos I made is a self-portrait, showing me light painting Delicate Arch at dusk with the Milky Way galaxy rising in the sky. I took this photo of Delicate Arch almost as an afterthought, but I am sure glad I did since I suspect it may end up being the most popular image I made on the trip! Since I posted it in June it has had over 16 million views. (16 million! That is more than any other photo of mine, I am certain.) Over the years I have often put myself in my photos, primarily because I want a souvenir for my personal scrapbook rather than because I intend to market the image for publication. However, two self portraits I have made, both of which curiously involve natural stone arches, have been well received so I think I should do more of them in the future: “Mesa Arch Sunrise“, which won the landscape category of the National Wildlife Federation’s photography competition a few years ago, and “Heavenly Arch” which appeared as the photo of the day last year on Earthshots.org.
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| Delicate Arch and Milky Way, lit by quarter moon, hiker’s flashlight and the fading blue sky one hour after sunset. Arches National Park, Utah. Image ID: 27855 Location: Arches National Park, Utah, USA |
At least four light sources are mixed in this image: fading dusk (sometimes called blue hour), quarter moon at camera right, starlight and milky way glow, and my uber-mondo handheld light. Everyone else had left at this point. After I made this image I sat down and ate my dinner in the quiet while waiting for the moon to set so that I could expose for the milky way properly. It was pleasant some hours later hiking back to the car in the dark with only the noise of my boots, bird chirps and darting rabbits to hear — no voices. I used the super-clean Canon 5D Mark III and the very sharp Nikon 14-24 to make this image, along with a few other tricky pieces of night photography equipment. Cheers and thanks for looking!
Here is another image, which is the one I set out to make, photographed a short while later:
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| Milky Way arches over Delicate Arch, as stars cover the night sky. Image ID: 27850 Location: Arches National Park, Utah, USA |
Milky Way Over Mesa Arch, Panorama, Canyonlands National Park
Panoramic Photo of the Milky Way Arcing Over Mesa Arch, Canyonlands National Park, Utah
Earlier this year I spent an evening photographing Mesa Arch, the famous and oft-pictured natural stone arch at the precipice of Canyonlands National Park. I photographed Mesa Arch at sunrise twice previously — quite fortunately alone both times — but that was years ago before the explosion of photography interest on the internet. Based on the many reports I have read during the intervening years of elbow-to-elbow photographers and workshops going postal at sunrise when the sun lights the underside of the arch, I had essentially given up on ever photographing Mesa Arch again. This year I decided to try for an image I have wanted to make there for some time and which might allow me to enjoy the arch in solitude again — the Milky Way arcing over Mesa Arch. Photographer buddy Garry McCarthy and I have executed versions of this idea with other arches. It is surprisingly tough to do well, since lighting must be consistent across the many frames that are blended to make the final image. The result must be flawless with no blending artifacts if one wishes to print the image for display. Using hard-earned uber-secret lighting and processing techniques from past night photography efforts, combined with several different compositions and attempts at lighting the arch in various ways, I ultimately decided upon this highly detailed 50″ x 80″ panoramic photo of Mesa Arch as the final result of my efforts.
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| Panorama of the Milky Way over Mesa Arch. Image ID: 27824 Location: Mesa Arch, Canyonlands National Park, Utah, USA |
Stars Over Half Dome and Glacier Point, Yosemite National Park
Stars Over Half Dome and Glacier Point, Yosemite National Park
If you want to be alone at Glacier Point, the popular overlook in Yosemite National Park, there are two ways to have the place to yourself: visit in the depths of winter, or visit in the wee hours of the night. Earlier this year I chose the latter, and enjoyed a warm, still evening alone on Glacier Point making a night panorama of Yosemite Valley and Half Dome underneath a spread of stars and a brilliant moon.
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| Half Dome and nighttime stars, viewed from Glacier Point. Image ID: 27951 Location: Glacier Point, Yosemite National Park, California, USA Pano dimensions: 4761 x 10519 |
Be sure to see more nightscapes, star trails and milky way photos.
Sunset at Dead Horse Point Overlook, Utah
Dead Horse Point Overlook, a stunning promontory on the edge of the mesa that is Utah’s Dead Horse Point State Park, offers a jaw-dropping view down 2000′ to the Colorado River. Canyonlands National Park is visible in the distance. The entire scene is a jumble of convoluted bends in the Colorado River with canyons, walls of sandstone, endless sky and few people. I made this panorama from a series of 7 images about a half hour after sunset. Cheers and thanks for looking!
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| Sunset at Dead Horse Point Overlook, with the Colorado River flowing 2,000 feet below. 300 million years of erosion has carved the expansive canyons, cliffs and walls below and surrounding Deadhorse Point. Image ID: 27823 Location: Dead Horse Point State Park, Utah, USA Pano dimensions: 5303 x 17695 |
Milky Way Rising Over Joshua Trees
Joshua Tree National Park is the closest National Park to my home, so I visit it several times each year. It is a desert park, arid and sometimes quite hot, and given its proximity to Los Angeles it can be crowded on weekends which makes exploring Joshua Tree National Park at night an appealing option. Summer and fall evenings are usually quiet, still and warm, making night photography in shorts and sandals a piece of cake. I have taken thousands of photographs (many of them quite bad) of the bizarre and charming Joshua Tree (Yucca brevifolia) forests that span the park. This image is one of my favorites, showing the trees reaching toward the Milky Way galaxy far above. Thanks for looking, and cheers!
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| The Milky Way Galaxy shines in the night sky with a Joshua Tree silhouetted in the foreground. Image ID: 27805 Location: Joshua Tree National Park, California, USA |
Tower of Babel and Starry Night, Arches National Park, Utah
Stars over the Tower of Babel, Arches National Park, Utah
The Tower of Babel is one of the most imposing and distinctive sandstone structures in Arches National Park. An enormous narrow freestanding wall or “fin” of Entrada sandstone, the Tower of Babel may, over the course of eons, erode into a arch. It is very near the main road through Arches National Park so few photographers who visit the park do not at least take a snapshot of this icon. I allocated a few hours one night trying to figure out how to photograph it against a sea of stars. It is such a tall and long expanse of sandstone that I was not even sure I wanted to try it, assuming there is no way I could effectively light paint the beast in the 30 seconds of exposure I was using. It took me some time but, after trying a number of different lighting angles and even resorting to mixing my own car’s headlights and those of another passing vehicle in some experimental images, I managed to produce this one image. Thanks for looking!
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| Stars over the Tower of Babel, starry night, Arches National Park, Utah. Image ID: 27847 Location: Arches National Park, Utah, USA |
See more dramatic and different photos of nighttime landscapes or of Arches National Park.
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Updated: May 22, 2013
