Beyond the Walls of Stars

Beyond the Walls of Stars

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I photographed this while teaching a night photography workshop with Tim Little in Joshua Tree National Park. It feels like a privilege to photograph under such dark skies. But it's even more special when you're with a great group of people. This is the curvaceous adobe walls of Ryan Ranch. My night photography friends know how much I love to photograph these walls! To create this night photo, I set the camera on a tripod. I opened the camera shutter for a long time. While the shutter was open, I walked around with a handheld ProtoMachines LED2 light capable of producing different colors, and illuminated the scene with warm white light. During the exposure, all the light I shined on the subject was cumulative. This process is called "light painting". Why? Because one uses the flashlight as a paint brush, "brushing" on light, not paint. Light painting to illuminate subjects is a beautiful, addictive art, as you can walk around the scene, deciding what to bring to light and what to keep in shadow. And it's more fun than AI-generated images. This is a long exposure photo showing the apparent movement of the stars over 51 minutes of time.

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For photos, books, workshops and more: www.kenleephotography.com

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(Plate 2496) Nikon D750/Irix 15mm f/2.4 lens. June 2024.

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