Painting The Sky With The Northern Lights
I was really determined to get some varying compositions during my chance to shoot the Northern Lights. This super-wide capture shows the Aurora Borealis reaching up into the sky from the bottom right and then stretching up across the sky to the top left – something I very much wanted to capture! And as the very last shot for the night, I couldn’t be more pleased now to see that one of my fisheye captures was a success. I was very happy with the dreamy feel of this one overall – with the combination of Northern Lights and starry skies. This 30 second long-exposure image was captured from a peak above Chena Hot Springs near Fairbanks, Alaska.

For the longest time, I considered a trip to Alaska to go see the Northern Lights as a distant dream – something that I wasn’t even taking seriously. But with my having found my calling in Colorado night photography, I grew to realize this dream was serious. So with night sky authority, Dennis Mammana leading a trip up north of Fairbanks to capture the Aurora Borealis, I knew this was a great chance to learn and see what it’s all about. And boy am I glad I did!

During our March 2012 visit, we saw lots of cool sights with no shortage of snow and ice. At the lowest point, we had temperatures of -28F. It turned out to be a great choice to follow those with experience – especially on the first few cloudy nights where the aurora was difficult to see. But with patience and a plan in Chena Hot Springs Resort, we struck green gold (so to speak). Our snowcat ride up on top of a mountain resulted in some incredible views of the aurora – as shown in several of the images shown above and below. With the new snow laying on the trees and the soft moonlight, the scene was utterly amazing. I know I felt my adrenaline pumping that night! And then right before leaving Chena Hot Springs, there was another amazing light show right up until the bus started pulling away – that resulted in a few more final captures.

At the time, I know I was like a kid in a candy store – just loving all the night-time wonders to capture. Something about being up there felt so magical to me that I left with more reasons to return than I went up there with. I can’t say I’m surprised at that, I’m just glad I got the chance to go see some of the wonders for myself. And the fact that the locals in Alaska considered all of the displays I saw to be on the faint side, I just consider that motivation to return. And while I look forward to going again someday, I smile wide knowing that I’ve now seen for myself the spectacular natural wonder known as Alaska’s Northern Lights.

If you like this first image, it’s available for sale as a print in my online store. Please take a look at this print and the rest of my store at Colorado Captures Print Store – Painting The Sky With The Northern Lights.

Nature’s Canvas In The Northern Sky
There was something so incredibly beautiful about the Northern Lights, I was able to almost ignore the effects of the bitter cold. My adrenaline was driving me to stay focused on capturing the moment – swapping batteries again and again just to milk a few last shots. All in the hopes to come away with captures like this! This 15 second long-exposure image was taken under the glowing pink and green Aurora Borealis from a mountain peak near Chena Hot Springs, near Fairbanks, Alaska.

So one of the things I found very interesting about the Northern Lights is how long-exposure images actually show the color better than the human eye can see. On a few occasions, our guide Dennis, would check the sky with a long-exposure capture just to see if there was any color (usually green). This would tell us if there was any aurora activity versus just some thin clouds. In fact, to the untrained eye, the faint aurora looks just like thin clouds.

Snowcat Ride To The Northern Lights
With some interest in a more creative composition with the Northern Lights and enough juice left for a few more shots, I settled in on this view featuring the Snowcats that had taken us up to the top of the mountain. The glow from the instruments inside the cat provided some warm lights that really complimented the cool colors of the Aurora Borealis in the sky above.

This 15 second long exposure image showing a visible curtain of light from the Aurora Borealis was taken from the top of a mountain near Chena Hot Springs near Fairbanks, Alaska.

Aurora Borealis Over The Alaskan Wilderness
The Northern Lights dance above the snow-covered trees and mountains of Alaska’s great wilderness. This 10 second long-exposure was captured during one of the more active sequences seen that night from freezing temperatures high up on a peak near Chena Hot Springs, outside of Fairbanks, Alaska. With the simple composition and lack of man’s presence, this one turned out to be one of my favorites from the whole trip!

Goldpanning Glow From The Northern Lights
After the wonderful night of seeing the Northern Lights from a peak above Chena Hot Springs, I’d hoped to get lucky the next night down lower in the valley. With our group’s bus scheduled to leave by 4 am, it was a smaller window of opportunity to work with. And with our plans for a big drive the next day, I knew I had to get some sleep – somehow. So with heavy eyes (from the night before) and a lack of activity in the skies at about 11:30, I gave up for the night. As it turned out, Murphy’s Law kicked in and the skies came to life shortly thereafter.

As soon as I stepped foot outside at about 3 am, I knew something was up. I could see the green arcs of light reaching across the entire sky – even through the bit of light pollution in the bottom of the valley. I knew this was my last and possibly best chance to catch a few of the comps I’d seen from walking around the area. But no… even with the skies aglow, it was time to leave.

As you’d expect, there was lots of pressure to be on the bus when it was ready… to make sure all my luggage was on board… to help make sure my wife was ready… to make sure the gear I needed on the bus was ready… to check out of the resort/hotel… and to not hold up the group (again). But I still had a few minutes to spare… so rather than sit there waiting on the bus, I grabbed my camera, tripod, & remote and took off running out into the frozen steamy darkness.

I didn’t care that the temperatures were probably at least 25 F below zero… I didn’t care that everywhere around the area was really icy… I didn’t care that the bus was getting ready to take off without me… I figured I had all of about 8 minutes and I wasn’t going to spend it waiting on the bus!! I’m sure some people thought I was crazy… my wife (on the other hand) already knew it.

Before I’d even come to Chena Hot Springs, I had dreams of shooting the Aurora with some water that would give me a glowing reflection. But with the freezing temperatures of winter, I figured that probably wasn’t realistic. But when I arrived, I took quick notice of the fact that the hot springs made for some great exceptions. Some of the bigger pools had too much steam to work well, but I found this stream had some real potential. So I kept it in mind for if the skies really lit up.

And on this frantic morning of running around under the magical lights, I remember getting to this spot first and cheering out loud when I captured this scene and saw it in my lcd screen. I really like the natural feel of the other images, but this one seemed to have a character all on it’s own. With the goldpanning sign and the green glow reflecting off everything from the snow to the running stream, I was happy with this capture as my favorite from whole the trip. I’d actually scored a cool aurora reflection shot!! Woohoo!! That sure beat waiting on the bus!

This 8 second long-exposure was taken in the final minutes of our visit to Chena Hot Springs near Fairbanks, Alaska.

Reflecting On A Dream
As the last good image of the Aurora from our trip to Alaska, it’s now a great chance to look back… to reflect on the dreams I’ve been able to make good on… the wondrous sights I was able to see with my own eyes, capture with my camera, and then share with friends… and the longer list of reasons I’ve given myself to return to Alaska than I went there with.

With skies lit up like I’d imagined in my dreams and the bus starting to pull away, I grabbed my tripod and ran to catch my ride back to Fairbanks. And with that, I’ll rest easy knowing I made the most of my time there and will dream of a day when I can return to the great north to once again, see the wondrous Northern Lights.

Golden Mountain Majesty
After a couple days of winter-like conditions in Silverton, I was itching to get out and see if any aspen color remained. But with all the new snow, I lost a lot of my nerve in exploring the jeep trails. In fact, I had to laugh as I passed a couple of the trailheads I had in mind for exploring as they were covered with what looked like a couple feet of new snow!I was hoping I’d at least be able to score some color and a good reflection at a spot I had in mind right off Red Mountain Pass. Sure enough, I really liked how the vivid orange color contrasted with the new snow. And when the first light crept down the mountain and hit the aspen leaves, the color seemed to come alive like a light switch had been turned on. This single exposure image was taken at Crystal Lake on Red Mountain Pass between Ouray and Silverton, Colorado.

I think of the San Juans as a really special place – especially when the aspen leaves start changing. The terrain there just looks incredible. But this year, when the clouds and snow started to work their magic as well, the scenery reached a level I thought was incredible!

Sure, travel was difficult and at times, I had to bail on some plans. At first it just snowed on the peaks, then the snow line came down to timberline. At this point, we went crossed over Ophir Pass from Telluride to Silverton – and were likely the last ones to do so. Then, it snowed even more and we found ourselves pretty much snowed in for 2 days. After that, I got out and saw the trailheads were covered with 3 foot snow drifts – simply too much for safe travel on any of the jeep trails.

I kept my chin up reminding myself that the aspen leaves had not yet all fallen. I knew there were scenes yet to find that would make it all worthwhile. In the end, I found the prettiest, most memorable fall foliage trip I’ve ever had. There were other parts of the trip that were a whole lot of fun like Imogene Pass and the horses on Last Dollar Road. But the snowy aspen scenes will remain in my memories forever. After all, I’d been looking forward to it for years!

If you like this first image, it’s available for sale as a print in my online store. Please take a look at this print and the rest of my store at Colorado Captures Print Store – Golden Mountain Majesty.

Telluride Winter Over Fall
I couldn’t get over the combination of colors in Telluride. And with the new snowy weather, I was in awe! I thought a view with a passing gondola gave the winter and fall elements a neat perspective so I took this image from Mountain Village near Telluride, Colorado.

Colorado Color Palette
On my way out of Telluride, I really wanted to take a route more interesting than the highway around the mountains. I’d planned on taking exciting Imogene Pass, but with the new snow (and it having officially closed), I decided I’d go with something a bit more tame. Ophir Pass still looked a bit challenging as the snow line had dipped below the top of the pass the night before, but I was betting there wouldn’t be too much snow up top.Sure enough, it worked out awesome! Incredible colors lined the valley down to the town of Ophir with snow on top of the peaks as well. Thanks to some great timing, it sure was a gorgeous scene! This single exposure was taken from the west side of Ophir Pass between Telluride and Silverton, Colorado.

If I Could Come Back As A Horse…
On my way down the Last Dollar Road, this horse just about willed me right out of my vehicle and made me take a picture that showed off his back yard. It was like he reached into my head and said, “dude, get me in a post card like this…”. Sure he was a ham, but it was a lot of fun! Besides, who can blame him? If I could be reincarnated, I’d sure love to come back as a horse and have a back yard like this!Beyond that, I had to laugh because this image turned out to be my best of the morning. No dramatic first light, but it had a lot of great components – Wilson Peak under puffy clouds, bright yellow aspen on Wilson Mesa and a proud horse to show it all off. This image was taken from the Last Dollar Road near Telluride, Colorado.

Bridal Veil Pool Of Jade
The bottom of a big waterfall sure can be a pretty scene in my book – even when it flows more gently in autumn. This single exposure was taken from the bottom of 365 foot Bridal Veil Falls near Telluride, Colorado.

Snowy Mountain Gold
To me, there’s nothing quite like seeing the rare combination of new snow and colorful changing aspen leaves. I’ve had that in mind for years, but haven’t really seen too much to get excited about – that is, until this year.While the snow was too much for the drive over Cinnamon Pass, I made the best of it by just driving around the pass and all the nasty weather. This allowed me to explore the east side right after the storm broke up – one incredible sight! Here, the aspen leaves color had just been turned on thanks to Mother Nature’s light switch. This image was taken near from Cinnamon Pass west of Lake City, Colorado.

The Transition To Flight
An American Bald Eagle makes the transition from vertical to flight after launching off a perch along the shore of Salmon filled Lake Couer d’Alene, Idaho.

It was one thing to be able to join friends shooting eagles in Idaho, it was another to be able to join a friend in a little boat to the other side of the lake where lots of eagles hung out. You see, most of the eagles in the area (counted around 250) stayed away from the traffic of cars, people, and pets. So even with the prospect of having to hand-hold a big super telephoto lens in a small boat, the chance to get closer to the American Bald Eagles with photographer friend Mark Schultz proved more than tempting.

Once near the other side, we saw 10 or so flying around. Then we counted 17 of them flying above before they seemed to disappeared a bit. Then again, we saw around 17 or so. Then it was 20 or more and we both had big smiles on our faces as we watched in amazement. And then, it peaked at what we guessed were 30 to 35 bald eagles in flight above us! I know there’s a lot of them in some other areas… but for me, this was an incredible sight to see!!

Unfortunately, we were completely unprepared with lenses for that kind of grand scene above us. But at least I was able to make good on my strategy of catching one leaving the perch. I was hoping the bright light of a rare sunny day would make up for the lack of tripod (or help anyway). So I laid back in the boat so I could brace my elbows on my knees. It didn’t really help for stability so much as to take the weight off my arms holding the big lens in an awkward position. This allowed me to stay in position a bit longer, giving me a chance to catch the eagles launching out of trees. In the end, I got what I thought was my best shots of the trip and I hope you enjoy the series.

By the way, if you like this first image, it’s available for sale as a print in my online store. Please take a look at this print and the rest of my store at Colorado Captures Print Store – The Transition To Flight.

Bald Eagle High Dive
We got to see them showing all the behavior I was hoping for – from the fishing and eating to the soaring and diving. I really enjoyed watching them dive out of the trees – plunging much like a high diver would (well, except for that little transition to horizontal flight). Here, an American Bald Eagle dives off a high perch to go find some Kokanee Salmon from the breakfast buffet also known as Lake Coeur d’Alene, near Post Falls, Idaho. I liked how he seemed to look my way in the middle of the high speed action just as he came into focus.

American Bald Eagle In Flight
An American Bald Eagle flies back to a perch to feast on a fresh caught Kokanee Salmon. This image was taken at Lake Coeur d’Alene, near Post Falls, Idaho.

Eagle In Flight At Coeur d’Alene Resort
An American Bald Eagle looks to gorge himself on spawning Kokanee Salmon with Coeur d’Alene Resort and Mount Spokane Ski & Snowboard Park in the background. This image was taken (handheld) from Mark’s boat on the waters of Lake Coeur d’Alene near Post Falls, Idaho.

Bald Eagle Perch At Lake Coeur d’Alene
This American Bald Eagle would have preferred colder, nastier weather, but the light a sunny day sure made for a wonderful opportunity to catch some good light and details on the face and feathers. This eagle tolerated the sound of shutter clicks and car doors long enough to eat a fresh caught Kokanee Salmon for breakfast. This image was captured early one morning from the shores of Lake Coeur d’Alene near Post Falls, Idaho.

Salmon Fishing Success For A Juvenile Bald Eagle
While the Juvenile Bald Eagles may not have the majestic white heads we’re used to seeing in the adults, they sure do have a lot of color. And with all their efforts to keep up with their more mature relatives, there seemed to be lots of action to capture. Together with Mark Schultz in his little boat, we both caught a great shot (hand-held) of this juvie flying by.

Aspen Sunset Over Bear Lake
Aspen leaves and fourteen thousand foot Longs Peak dominate the scene in this commanding view captured above Bear Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado.

Sure, I had a great plan on the location and a lot of patience in waiting close to a year to go… but the weather’s always a big roll of the dice. And with my standards high on peaking aspen leaves, glowing clouds, and calm winds for a cool reflection, the odds were stacked against me. In fact it’s so rare to get everything to line up just right (for me, anyways), that I couldn’t really believe it was happening until I saw it on my camera’s lcd screen. This was easily one of the best views I’d ever seen in Rocky Mountain National Park.

The aspen leaves looked awesome, we still had view of a bit of new snow that remained on the north face of Longs and other peaks, relatively calm winds allowed some color to reflect off of Bear Lake, and best of all, clouds came out of hiding to line up just right for the last light of the day…. Sure, I had to wait close to a year for the leaves to show their color, but it definitely helped that luck was on my side. When the beautiful last light appeared, it was clear that the 7 other photographers that had hiked to this unmarked spot sure seemed to appreciate it as well!!

By the way, if you like this image, it’s available for sale as a print in my online store. Please take a look at this print and the rest of my store at Colorado Captures Print Store – Aspen Sunset Over Bear Lake.

Sunflowers Forever Print – Colorado Captures Online Store
We had a stunning location for sure, but even better, Mother Nature chimed in with calm winds and some really pretty rays of light. Even with the beautiful conditions, I blended two exposures in photoshop to get this final composition. This image was taken near Denver International Airport in Colorado.

Having searched for the beautiful fields of sunflowers before and not being so successful, I was happy to have some friends show me the way. And sure enough, they led me to an area that had some endless fields of sunflowers. It was just as stunning as I’d hoped. And with calm winds, I finally had a chance to shoot the sunflowers when they weren’t dancing around like crazy! And then, the sun ducked behind the clouds to create the best sight of the evening. The sunbeams showed through to create a light that I knew was worth all the effort in the repeated attempts and then some. Thank you Terri & Arina!

By the way, if you like this image, it’s available for sale as a print in my recently expanded online store. Please take a look at it and the rest of my store at Colorado Captures Print Store – Sunflowers Forever.

Shoshoni Peak Sunrise
This image was captured from the summit of Shoshoni Peak in the Indian Peaks Wilderness, Colorado. I used both of my GND filters, but I still couldn’t capture the wide dynamic range of a sunrise. So in the end, I did some gentle HDR processing as well. With our timing, we got a bit lucky with a layer of low clouds over the eastern plains – adding even more to the beauty. And while we couldn’t capture it with wide angle lenses, later on we saw three little hot air balloons floating above the clouds somewhere north of Boulder. Very cool!

I’m sure glad I had friends, Wayne, Craig, and Greg join me on this trip because that ridge between the top of Pawnee Pass and Shoshoni Peak was a challenge on its own. I knew that route had no trail, but much of the way was riddled with big giant boulders. In fact, with 2 peaks to go before Shoshoni and all the boulders in the way, I considered not continuing on to the peak.

But then, two things happened. The cold started to chill me to the bone. And with enough time to go for it, I saw Wayne making his way to the peak. Figuring I had to move to stay warm anyway, I pulled energy out of somewhere and made my way to Shoshoni Peak as fast as I possibly could. Close to the peak, I pretty much ran past a Ptarmigan (the first I’d ever seen up close). He was posing in front of the sunrise glow and squalking really loud. It seemed he knew I couldn’t stop and take his picture. I raced on up to the peak just before sunrise. And with that, I got the prize for beating mother nature’s first light to the peak. Good thing I wasn’t racing Wayne!!

In the end, we climbed around 2,400 vertical feet over 10.5 miles.

Apache Moon
One nice thing about hiking to an incredible spot at just the right time is that sometimes I get a great view behind me too!

Apache Peak and Isabelle Glacier appear together with a full moon and pink glowing clouds in this amazingly colorful scene taken just before sunrise. I really liked how the lighting changed so quickly with each passing moment. These images were taken with GND filters from the summit of Shoshoni Peak (elevation 12,967 feet) after a night-time hike in the Indian Peaks Wilderness, Colorado.

Blind Date With Dorothy
This image was taken from a downstream extension of Lake Dorothy (elevation 12,100 feet). Using GND filters, I was able to capture first light on Mount Neva in the Indian Peaks Wilderness west of Nederland, Colorado.

Ready for a new place to hike, I decided to give an unexplored part of the Indian Peaks Wilderness a try. Arapaho Pass has long been a temptation of mine as it crosses over the Continental Divide via a hiking trail. I’ve crossed lots of high-mountain passes in a vehicle, but I couldn’t think of any I’d crossed on foot – until now. Besides, Lake Dorothy (the highest named lake in the Indian Peaks) sits perched right next to the divide at 12,100 feet – making it even more tempting.

So early Saturday morning (2:30 am), I started hiking from the Fourth Of July trailhead past the Fourth Of July Mine and on up the gulch under the cover of darkness. At about 11,000 feet, I passed timberline where the flowers seemed to get smaller and a breeze prompted me to whip out a jacket. Near the top of Arapaho Pass, I turned west onto Caribou Pass toward Lake Dorothy as the stars began to fade and sunrise grew closer.

In a way, the experience reminded me of a blind date in that I wasn’t able to see Dorothy for myself before having fully committed. Heck, I hiked in the dark so I could get my first look at her beauty under the first light with my own eyes. Now, if that’s not commitment… Looking back, I’m sure glad I went for it, ’cause Dorothy put on her best dress for the occasion!

Helene’s Mirror
I hiked back up to Lake Helene for sunrise found a really pretty scene with lots more snow than I saw last September. One factor that worked in my favor was the breeze that welcomed me to Lake Helene all but disappeared at sunrise giving me a reflection that mirrored the snowy mountainous scene above. I really liked how the shadows from the tree tops seemed to reach up the snowy wall on the other side of the lake right up into the warm alpenglow.

Like others had reported, there was still lots of snow (and a high lake level) which made navigation and good foregrounds a challenge. Of course, the big elk had an easy time walking around in the shallow water along the shoreline. I didn’t bring my telephoto lens for the hike up so I can only show him as a little elk speck on the other side. Oh well, it was an incredibly peaceful little trek with calm winds and just me, Helene, and a big elk to enjoy it!

This image was taken with GND filters at sunrise from Lake Helene after a dark (3 mile) hike up from the Bear Lake trailhead in Rocky Mountain National Park, near Estes Park, Colorado.

Alpine Reflection
I couldn’t resist capturing this view north before leaving Lake Helene – what with the gorgeous glassy reflection and mountainous backcountry terrain. Little Matterhorn appears even better than I’d hoped, so I’m really glad I caught it before heading out.

This image was taken with GND filters just after sunrise from Lake Helene – after a hike up from the Bear Lake trailhead in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado. On the post-processing side, I used Silver Efex Pro to help bring out all the b/w tones. Sure, the original had plenty of color… but this approach caught my eye like nobody’s business!

Crested Butte In Bloom

As this area was one of the reasons for my return to the Butte, it sure was great to see everything come together. Cloudless western skies with a few clouds floating over Mount Crested Butte was just perfect. It sure made up for the dud of a sunset the night before anyway… And with Lupines looking gorgeous (and relatively light winds), the scene was incredible!

This image was taken with the last light of the day hitting Mount Crested Butte from Washington Gulch near the town of Crested Butte, Colorado.

Having been to Crested Butte for a wildflower festival before, I learned that the flowers look their best for a relatively short period of time. In general though, they peak in the lower valleys first and then work their way up to the alpine tundra above timberline – making the season feel a little longer. So in early July, I headed back to see if the lower valleys were really filled with wildflowers… besides, Crested Butte is the wildflower capital, isn’t it?

In some areas, it was still clearly early. But in others, I could tell my timing was perfect. Columbine and Lupine looked perfectly healthy with more of them than I’d ever seen. And with knowledge of a few key locations and some patience, I scored some great conditions in Washington Gulch. The combination of purple Lupines and warm alpenglow on Mount Crested Butte with glowing clouds above felt like ideal components for a painting, a picture, or even a mental image. Either way, it was sure a wonderful scene!

And to make it even better, I was on a quest to make the most of my gradient neutral density filters. And let me tell you, they rocked!! I never would have been able to get results like this (with flowers in the foreground that sharp) with HDR processing. And to me, the color looks really natural straight-out-of-the-camera. So far, I’m really liking this filtered approach. I hope you like the results as well.

Wildflower Watercolor
I picked up a cool post-processing tool called Topaz Simplify a while back. I hadn’t used it yet because I was waiting for just the right image to come along. Well, with the incredible conditions and wonderful colors that came out of a recent sunset in Crested Butte, I thought this might be a good chance to give it a whirl…

Sure enough, I was very impressed!

By the way, no HDR here. I was able to balance out the exposure by using both of my gradient neutral density filters. This image was taken with the last light of the day hitting Mount Crested Butte from Washington Gulch near the town of Crested Butte, Colorado.

Electric Purple Crayons

I’d been looking for my chance to capture some really cool lightning and this night of storm chasing on the eastern plains finally paid off. I didn’t just find lightning, I found crazy lightning! And I was really impressed with how much purple came straight out of the camera. This big cell was moving east into Nebraska (away from me) as I got this 30 second long exposure from a little farm near Holyoke, Colorado.

Knowing I had some interest in storm chasing, I joined my buddies at ChaserCon a while ago which is a convention of trained storm chasers – some seen on the Discovery Channel. I got some weather spotter training that really opened my eyes to the activity we often see in the summer months on the Eastern Plains of Colorado. And I’m sure glad I spent the time getting trained because it really helps to know how to do it safely.

Shortly after the training, I lined up my smartphone with some good weather applications that really helped to identify where the storms were most intense and to give a clue as to what they might do next. Of course, the predicting part is the real challenge. Even still, applications that show radar and lightning strikes in real-time (or close to it) were very helpful.

I also picked up something called a lightning trigger that uses a light sensor to detect a flash of light. It then tells the camera to fire a shot. I thought it would be helpful, but in this case, there was such an incredible quantity of lightning flashes coming from this giant cell, it really wasn’t needed.

In the end, I found an approach to shooting the lightning where I stayed away from the leading edge of a storm and all the intense parts like the hail and extreme wind. Instead, I found myself following a cell. As a result, life was much more peaceful. Instead of ending my photo session with nearby lightning strikes, wind, and hail, I just drove up behind it until it looked good and then shot this image while it slowly move farther away. I was thrilled to be able to get such a cool shot of all the lightning, but I really liked that I wasn’t setting myself up to get lit up too!

Mountain Cabin With A View

Stars rotate around the north star in this long-exposure taken from high up on a trail in the Rocky Mountains. The thin sliver of a moon provided just the right amount of light to illuminate the snow-capped peaks without drowning out the stars. And with a little light painting, the cabin appears to provide an old-west style foreground.

With sunset at 8, I got to the trailhead and started snowshoeing up at about 9 under a thin moon (19% full) in the western skies. And with 2 miles to go and only a couple hours of moonlight to work with, I knew I didn’t have much time to waste. I figured I’d only get one shot at a star trail stacking effort because when the moon went down, my show was over. So after shoeing up to the cabin remains, I decided on a composition and started my timer with 15 – 3 minute exposures.

When the 15 exposures were done, I’d lost my moonlight on the cabin and would soon lose it on the peaks. So I shot a couple more times just to try light painting the cabin with a flashlight. This was my first effort light painting that I actually liked and I think it’s subtle use really helped to balance out the exposure overall.

In the end, I was pretty happy with my having captured good light on the foreground, peaks, and stars!