Utah Astrophotography
"Simplicity"
I put the word simplicity in quotes not because I really intended to name the shot that, mostly because it was another lesson in a long procession of lessons that I've learned doing this hobby. Usually on my nightscapade trips I end up having "great" ideas pop into my head, after long days of hiking/working/traveling I'll have lightbulb moments spontaneously while out roaming under the stars. Then when I'm behind my computer putting in the grunt work I'll often think to myself "what in the hell was I thinking?" This is the result of one of those spontaneous lightbulb moments.
This is a shot taken up in the Uinta Mountains in Utah, I was originally going to hike to the top of Bald Mountain and get a large pano from the summit, but I arrived at the trailhead late and was unsure of the snow/trail conditions (which was a good call as I learned the next morning on my climb up). Instead I scouted a meadow below the mountain that had some nice high-elevation alpine ponds with incredibly clear water and some interesting boulders scattered about. I framed this picture with the idea that it would just be a simple scene, a calm/clear pond with a lone rock poking out set before a beautiful Milky Way Core. Except I, again, forgot how utterly nightmarish it is to edit tracked shots with trees. Ugh.
12 shots for this one taken with my Nikon D800E and Sigma Art 50mm lens on a Sky Watcher Star Adventurer. Sky shots are 3 minute exposures at ISO 800 and f2.8, foreground shots are 3 minute exposures at ISO 1600 and f1.8.
"Simplicity"
I put the word simplicity in quotes not because I really intended to name the shot that, mostly because it was another lesson in a long procession of lessons that I've learned doing this hobby. Usually on my nightscapade trips I end up having "great" ideas pop into my head, after long days of hiking/working/traveling I'll have lightbulb moments spontaneously while out roaming under the stars. Then when I'm behind my computer putting in the grunt work I'll often think to myself "what in the hell was I thinking?" This is the result of one of those spontaneous lightbulb moments.
This is a shot taken up in the Uinta Mountains in Utah, I was originally going to hike to the top of Bald Mountain and get a large pano from the summit, but I arrived at the trailhead late and was unsure of the snow/trail conditions (which was a good call as I learned the next morning on my climb up). Instead I scouted a meadow below the mountain that had some nice high-elevation alpine ponds with incredibly clear water and some interesting boulders scattered about. I framed this picture with the idea that it would just be a simple scene, a calm/clear pond with a lone rock poking out set before a beautiful Milky Way Core. Except I, again, forgot how utterly nightmarish it is to edit tracked shots with trees. Ugh.
12 shots for this one taken with my Nikon D800E and Sigma Art 50mm lens on a Sky Watcher Star Adventurer. Sky shots are 3 minute exposures at ISO 800 and f2.8, foreground shots are 3 minute exposures at ISO 1600 and f1.8.