Night Sky Practice

Back in late June, I was talking to a friend about going out to Joshua Tree for some night sky photography. Specifically, going out on a "new moon" night when the Milky Way should be at it's peak visibility. I've not done much night photography, so I decided to go out for some practice shots. It was predicted to be a clear sky with no moon, so conditions should be ideal. So off I headed with my camera, wide angle lens, and tripod in hand. My head was stuffed full of information from YouTube videos on how to photograph the Milky Way. My goal was to get to the area about an hour before sunset. That would give me time for a short hike and to look around for a good spot to set up. I also wanted to practice night navigation. Hiking in the desert at night, without a trail to follow, in total darkness (other than a headlamp) is something I've not done before and I was a little nervous about it.

It turned out to be a pretty sky afternoon, but certainly not the cloudless sky I was hoping for! The clouds reminded me of white steam or vapor. With that in mind, I tried to compose my shots so it looked like the white vapor was flowing out of the top of the Joshua trees. Not sure why some of the Joshua trees in this area are leaning like this. And all in the same direction. Perhaps an area with constant wind?

The drive in on Geology Tour Road. Yikes, that's a lot of clouds. I wonder if I'll be able to see the Milky Way at all tonight??

Also on the drive in... jackrabbits. Everywhere! I've never seen so many jackrabbits. I'm sure the wet winter/spring we had is responsible. Get out of the road, you silly wabbit!!

Rocks...

And more rocks!

As I was hiking around, looking for a good foreground shot to compliment my Milky Way sky (which I was starting to doubt I would actually see), I came across this:

What the heck? Looks like a little alien landed on the rock. But look closely and you can see a solar panel between the rocks. Let's go check out the solar panel.

There was wiring leading from the "alien" to the solar panel, and from the solar panel to this box.

Evidently I stumbled across a GPS monitoring station. Out in the middle of nowhere in a national park. With no trail going to it. Very odd. It looks like it's been here a while. You just never know what you will come across in the desert! I tried checking out www.earthscope.org without any luck.

Just on the other side of the rock with the "alien" I found this little guy:

A baby rattlesnake, about 12" long, looking lethargic with his head in the bushes. He kind of gave me the willies because he didn't rattle and I almost stepped on him. I hate it when they don't rattle.

As the sun set, the sky started to pick up some color. Nothing to do now but wait... the Milky Way wouldn't have good visibility for another couple hours.

Look closely... can you see the stars? It shouldn't be too long now. Besides, it turns out I'm not alone out here. The coyotes are howling like crazy. There must be a whole pack of them and they sound close. And I'm alone... in the dark... in the desert...

My first attempt. I consider it a success because you can at least make out the Milky Way. A 20 second exposure at ISO 6400. I held a light up above the camera to light up the foreground. These kinds of shots take a lot of experimenting, and a number of my photos were pretty bad.

Another attempt... 20 seconds, ISO 5000, with some hand-held light on the foreground. Kind of cool that the Milky Way is horizontal, and thankful that the clouds aren't totally blocking my night view.

I decide to move away from the coyote pack and start navigating back toward the Jeep. It's weird and a little spooky hiking in the open desert by headlamp. You can't use the usual mountains, peaks, or boulders to keep you oriented since you can only see a few feet in front of you.

Feeling extremely thankful to make it back to the road, I decide to take a quick shot of the 4-Wheel Drive sign. The wide angle lens distorts the shot (kind of looks like the sign is falling over) but I like it anyway.

Here's what the drive home on Geology Tour Road looks like. Total blackness except what the headlights illuminate. I was dodging jackrabbits all the way!!

Since this night sky practice session, I've been out three times attempting to photograph the Milky Way. One of the three I've already posted about here: The Car Wash at Night. It was a bust. My camera sensor overheated which resulted in noisy, unusable images. But stay tuned. I still have two more night sky photo outings to share with you!

Linking with Skywatch Friday.

Thanks for stopping by!!