Saturday, February 12, 2011

Night Skies in the Desert

We're back out in 29 Palms this weekend.  Last week, I bought a tripod, and anxious to try taking some night pictures.  Never done this with a digital camera, so not sure what to expect.

Usually, the skies out here are beautifully lit up by stars.  So I quickly unpacked the tripod after we got out here last night around 10:30 PM, and attached my Cannon Rebel T1i.  I put the setting on "manual", zoomed the lens to as wide as it would go, and started fiddling around with the exposure. 

Click... Oops, first picture didn't work because I had the auto-focus on, and the camera couldn't figure out what to focus on (too dark).  OK, change to manual focus and try again.  Click (long click... most of these exposures were in the neighborhood of 25 seconds!).  Viola!  Night sky!

North View:  Highway 62 and Copper Mountain

South View:  Joshua Tree National Park

West:  Moon View!

Good Morning!  Just before sunrise looking NorthEast

















Forgot to mention, my sister-in-law from Kona joined us this weekend.  She's here in CA visiting.  Below are a couple photos she took... first is a 'wild' chicken (which has actually become pretty tame) she has named "Henrietta", and her chicks!

Proud Mama!

Next is the totally awesome view from her deck!
Wow!!! View from my sister-in-laws deck in Kona

3 comments:

  1. Oh, wow! I love your night photos! I have a tripod and hubby and I are anxious to begin to take time exposures. He has a Canon...I have a Nikon. Guess it's time to give it a try! Thanks for sharing. What a beautiful view of the sky up there in Joshua Tree. I can see Orion in your photo!

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  2. When I wish upon a star...so many to choose from!! Great, great, great pictures, well done.
    We're off to Havasu next weekend so I'll have to give it a try minus the tripod. Know what I'll be asking for on Mothers' Day.

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