Provenance

[KenElevenShadows]

 

Provenance

~~~~~

I often say that Joshua Tree National Park is my spiritual home for night photography. I thought I'd offer some physical proof. You're looking at the first star trails photo I ever took. This was with the now-modest Nikon D90. I drove to Joshua Tree with an exposure chart, a lounge chair, and some food. I really didn't know what I was doing, but I was determined to see if I could create a star trails image that I had read about in books and blogs. I drove around for a while, looking for a beautiful tree that I could photograph while facing north so I could get star trails just like I had seen in magazines. I had absolutely no clue how to focus in the dark, so I focused on the Joshua Tree during daylight, switched the camera to manual focus, and waited for the sun to melt away.

 

 

When it was sufficiently dark, I started the camera with a $10 wired shutter release I had purchased from Amazon just for this moment. The viewfinder went black. It was on. I set a timer for 35 minutes. Then I leaned back and watched the stars slowly drift across the sky. The sky in the desert is magical. After 35 minutes, I fumbled with the shutter release, and then clicked it off. I had Long Exposure Noise Reduction on. This would process the photo for another 35 minutes and 25 seconds. I carefully put the still-processing camera in the car, gently wedging it so it wouldn't roll around. Then I drove out.

 

 

Stopping to gas up the car in Yucca Valley, I heard the camera click. It was done processing. I quickly grabbed the camera to have a look at the back. I saw these star trails on the LED monitor, and let loose a yell for joy in the car! I loved it. I never realized that a few years later, I would embrace night photography fully, photographing landscapes, abandoned vehicles, having photos appear in LA Times and National Geographic, writing for Photofocus, and publishing books about night photography and history. For now, all I knew was that when I looked at the photo, it filled me with pure joy.

 

 

(Plate 0470) Nikon D90/18-200-mm f/3.5-5.6 lens. 35 minutes 25 seconds f/8 ISO 200. 14 August 2010.

[Notes_Norton]

It's nice when a plan works out.

[KenElevenShadows]

It is, especially when you first begin experimenting with something. It's exciting to see something suddenly appear after putting in so much effort!