Guardian of the Skies [42_20064-166]

Note If you like this at all, you'll like the edited version better - I promise!

 

This desert saguaro cactus - a symbol of the US Southwest - appears to be approximately 300 years old (per the guess of a resident).

 

This is a stack of images - 30 second images at 1000 ISO at f/4 totaling 52 minutes worth of exposures. Focal length is 13mm. There is remarkably little noise in part due to the averaging affect of 104 exposures.

 

Taken with a Canon 40D. Composited using Digital Photo Professional and StarTrails.exe. The process I use is described on my website.

 

Illumination provided by a high intensity LED flashlight, a low intensity red LED headlamp, and brake lights of a car nearby. Attempts at filling with a flash failed due to the extremes in distance between the base which was less than 10 feet from the lens and the top most spire which was perhaps 45 feet away.

 

NOTE: This photo was taken using continuous exposure mode with the camera resting on my backpack - I only brought one tripod.

 

© Copyright 2010, Steven Christenson

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