After backpacking out of the Olympic Mountains, we made our way south to our final stop in the Pacific Northwest, Mount Saint Helens. My favorite shot of the trip almost got us stranded in the middle of nowhere.
Continue reading Summer 2019 Road Trip to the Pacific Northwest, Part IV
After a long journey from Albuquerque to Olympic National Park, I backpacked some of my camera gear miles into the mountains. What happened next was incredible.
Continue reading Summer 2019 Road Trip to the Pacific Northwest, Part III
I’ve described at length many of the techniques I use to shoot nightscapes. In this tutorial series, I’d like to keep things much shorter and pick apart some of my photos with minimal step-by-step instructions. The shot we’ll be going over this time was taken at 11,000 feet in Carson National Forest.
Continue reading Anatomy of a Nightscape, Episode IV: Tracked Sky, Stacked Foreground
Bad weather has kept me from taking any nighttime photographs since the Perseid meteor shower in August, but I was able to get out with the scope this past weekend for a father/son camp out hosted by my church. Here are some highlights from the trip.
The Perseid meteor shower is the most active shower of the year. This year’s Perseids came on a new moon, meaning the skies would be dark and clear if the weather held out. A couple of friends and I were able to get out of town for an evening to watch the fireworks. Here’s what we saw.
I’ve described at length many of the techniques I use to shoot nightscapes. In this tutorial series, I’d like to keep things much shorter and pick apart some of my photos with minimal step-by-step instructions. The shot we’ll be going over this time was taken near Cabezon Peak in the New Mexico desert.
Continue reading Anatomy of a Nightscape, Episode II: Smartphone Scene Lighting
In previous posts, I’ve described at length many of the techniques I use to shoot nightscapes. In this tutorial series, I’d like to keep things much shorter and pick apart some of my photos with minimal step-by-step instructions. The shot we’ll be going over this time was taken on the Santa Barbara River in New Mexico.
Continue reading Anatomy of a Nightscape, Episode I: In the River at Midnight
One of the more challenging aspects of nightscape photography is getting the foreground to appear as striking as the background stars in the image. While it’s possible to shoot both in the same exposure, I’ve found it easier to shoot them with separate exposures and merge them in post. In this article, I share my process for exposure compositing.
Capturing our place among the stars in a photograph can be one of the most rewarding experiences for any astrophotographer. It can also be one of the most frustrating if you don’t put some thought into it ahead of time. Here are a few things you can do to minimize frustration and get the most out of your imaging sessions. Continue reading How To Plan An Imaging Session
… It was 6:15AM, and still dark enough to go back to bed. At this point, I realized I wasn’t cold even after standing in the dark for almost 2 hours. My dashboard thermometer showed 57 degrees, and only the slightest breeze was blowing. I’ve had some great nights out, but this one was exceptional …
