The Great Chalk Pyramids of Kansas

[KenElevenShadows]

 

The Great Chalk Pyramids of Kansas
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What's the coldest night photography you've ever done? For me, it was this 15-degree Fahrenheit/-9.44 Celsius evening. BRRRRR!! 80 million years ago, Kansas was underwater, part of the Western Interior Seaway, which split North America into two land masses. These enormous chalk formations in Monument Rocks are the remains of carbonate deposits. To create this night photo, I set the camera on a tripod. I opened the camera shutter open for a long time. While the shutter was open, I walked around with a handheld flashlight capable of producing different colors and illuminated the enormous chalk formations with warm white and red 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.
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(Plate 0687) Pentax K-1/28-105mm f/3.5-5.6 lens. October 2023.