Milky Way

Bonsai Milk

Bonsai MilkMilky Way over Bonsai Rock Lake Tahoe, Nevada One of the challenges in photography is to find something that nobody else has taken a photo of. Around the Bay Area there are so many amazing photographers that it's very difficult to find a scene that they haven't already photographed! One of my favorite places in Lake Tahoe is the iconic Bonsai Rock. I first saw this place a couple years ago when David Shields uploaded a couple shots from here and I knew I had to go to the place One photo that Willie and I had never seen was a photo of the milky way over Bonsai Rock. We did some research and decided that we would head to Tahoe on August 16th. Unfortunately for us, a couple other photographers must have read our minds because almost less than week before we were scheduled to head to Tahoe a couple photographers took the exact shot we were going to take! After a long day at work in which we were both exhausted, we left the Bay Area and I drove up to Tahoe and over to Bonsai Rock. We arrived early, hoping to light-paint the rock before the milky-way was in position. Quickly we realized that light-painting gave a fake looking view of Bonsai Rock and the tree on top. After photographing the Milky Way sitting on-top of Bonsai Rock we proceeded to take several minute long exposures taking advantage of the natural light to show Bonsai Rock in our photos. Luckily there was enough light pollution to provide a nice orange glow in the background and also light up the rock. This is a 3-shot blend: an 8-minute exposure to show Bonsai Rock, a 15 second exposure of the Milky Way above Bonsai Rock, and a 6 minute exposure for the foreground rocks framing the bottom left of the photo. Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 24mm f/1.4G ED: Milky Way: 24mm, f/1.6, 15 sec, ISO 3200 Bonsai Rock: 24mm, f/2, 8 minutes, ISO 640 Foreground Rocks: 24mm, f/2, 6 minutes, ISO 400

Sky Rider

Milky Way over Half Dome, from Olmsted Point Yosemite National Park, California For the last 8 years I’ve gathered my friends in Yosemite National Park to celebrate my birthday (or, as of late, more of a “belated birthday” celebration). A few of us drove up early Friday morning and I watched an absolutely AMAZING sunset in Tuolumne Meadow: the sky to the east was filled with amazing lenticular clouds that glowed orange in the sunset. Afterwards, I hopped back in the car and drove to Olmsted Point. I knew that the moon wouldn’t rise until 2am and I had plenty of time to try to capture the Milky Way above Olmsted Point. I had recently downloaded the app “Sky Guide” and it told me the Milky Way would rise near Olmsted Point sometime around midnight. Most of my friends, including my photo friends, hadn’t arrived yet and I was all alone at Olmsted Point. It’s amazing how much creepier Yosemite can feel when it’s just you, crickets, and random eyes watching over you. Luckily the stars and the light pollution were so bright that I could see most of Olmsted Point without having to use a flashlight! In early June the Milky Way is more horizontal in the sky and I loved the way it almost paralleled the mountains as it crept towards Half Dome, almost as if it was flying through the sky on its way to take a break on The Dome! In September 2014 the "Meadow Fire" broke out on the back side of Half Dome and up the ridge to Clouds Rest, on the opposite side of the entire left ridge shown here. Hikers on Half Dome had to be rescued by helicopter and the fire caused many popular hiking trails to close. The fire, which burned over 5,000 acres, was naturally caused by lightning and extreme dry conditions due to our severe drought. Nikon D800 w/Rokinon 24mm f/1.4: Foreground: 24mm, f/2.0, 30 sec, ISO 500 Sky: 24mm, f/1.8, 13 seconds, ISO 1600

Milky Von Anna

Ben, Anna, and the Milky Way Through Mobius Arch Alabama Hills Recreation Park, Lone Pine, California Superstar photographer Ben Von Wong joined SmugMug on our epic company retreat this year in Park City Utah and I enjoyed getting to know him and his girlfriend Anna over the 7 day trip. When they asked me to cancel my flight home and spend 4 days driving to San Francisco with them and Nick, I knew I couldn’t refuse! I shouldn’t have been surprised to learn that Ben, whose photographs always include people, didn’t have the patience to wait for Nick and I to do our landscape photographer thing. As long as the hike or the scene would be epic we might capture his interest long enough not to make us pack up and head somewhere else. We hiked The Narrows. We walked the Vegas strip. We explored eroded landscapes and salt flats in Death Valley. And on the last night we showed him the Milky Way for the first time with his naked eye. Ben and Anna have been creating a “selfie-series” of photographs, taking fun and unique portraits of themselves in unique places. Mobius Arch was going to be another stop in this series. We made our way to the Alabama Hills in Lone Pine, California and arrived at Mobius Arch just after sunset. We made a quick stop to use the “Sky Guide” app to figure out when the Milky Way would align properly and went off to grab a pizza dinner. When we got back to the arch, Ben knew immediately where he’d be setting his camera down for his epic Milky Way selfie! I on the other hand, struggled for almost an hour to find a composition that I liked (for an epic landscape). That’s when I decided “you know what, let’s get in on this portrait photo!” I found a different spot to place my camera and while Ben composed his as a landscape photo, I placed my camera as portrait orientation. To capture this photo Ben and I would set my camera on a 10-second timer. At the 8 second mark, Ben would use an app on his Android phone to trigger a 2-second timer on his camera. Meanwhile, I would grab my flashlight, right to the right of them and prepare to light-paint them. I fired a quick flash of the light on Ben to provide the light on his legs, arm, and face. Meanwhile, Nick, hiding behind the arch, lit Anna’s face and then painted the underside of the arch. Once we had a light-painted version we were happy with, Ben and Anna moved out of the scene, and I took a second photograph with a longer exposure and no lights to get a photo without strange shadows on the rocks. Lastly, we refocused on the stars, and took a 3rd photo to capture the Milky Way in all its sharpness and glory. Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8: 15mm, f/2.8, 15 sec, ISO 2000

Speared Milk

Milky Way over Ancient Bristlecone Pine Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest, California The Ancient Bristlecones are some of the oldest living organisms on the earth and they almost look dead. They just have gnarled, twisted, barely leafed branches all over. I’ve always wanted to visit their forest in the Eastern Sierras and in July I finally got to see them with my own eyes! After driving all day, Willie and I arrived at the Patriarch Grove knowing from experience that most likely sunset was going to go from really hopeful to a total dud. Sure enough, it did, the clouds fizzled and we switched into Milky Way mode. The tree we had initially found wasn’t facing the right direction for the Milky Way and Willie went off to explore. That’s when he had the idea that the Milky Way might fit perfectly between its branches. I pulled up the “Sky Guide” app on my iPhone and sure enough, at 1am, the Milky Way lined up, almost as if the branches were spearing the Milky Way. I also loved how a little bit of clouds stuck around to catch the glow from the city of Bishop, hiding in the background. This photo is dedicated to Jeff Swanson, a fellow photographer and overall great guy, who sold me the lens I use for my milky way photos (including this one) but lost his battle with cancer. I'll always think of you when I'm out with my camera playing under the stars. Nikon D800 w/Bower 24mm f/1.4 ED UMC: 24mm f/2.2, 20 sec, ISO 1600

McMilky Falls

McMilky FallsMcWay Falls Big Sur, California It's been a while since I've had a photo to post … although it seems like I've been up late editing photos every day for weeks. Between getting sick, dabbling in people photography and trying to get through hundreds of fiery Hawaiian volcano photos I haven't got much sleep lately. This particular night especially... Years ago I remember seeing John Harrison's photo of McWay Falls in Big Sur, CA and knew I had to visit. Last year Rick Whitacre shot the Milky Way here and once again I knew I had to go back. Thwarted by fog and busy schedules I never had my chance, that is until this awful heat wave we've been having here in west coast. The high temperatures kept the fog from creeping in and with the summer time position of the Milky Way I knew I had my chance! Turns out Rick was on his way down that night but I wasn't going down until the following day. Yan decided to join me for a bit of fun. Yan and I arrived at sunset and setup our compositions and focus while we still had some light out. Then we waited. And waited. And waited. At 10pm another photographer, Joel, from Canada arrive and he came with some mighty powerful LED lights. We waited some more. It wasn't until after 1pm that the Milky Way finally moved its way far enough into the frame for my liking. Joel setup the LED lights far to our right to avoid the backscatter of the lights reflecting off the moisture in the air and also gave it a natural look -- all in one shot Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8 ED-IF AF-S: 20mm, f/2.8, 20 seconds, ISO 3200

Glacier Milk

Glacier MilkMilky Way over Mt. Reynolds Logan Pass, Glacier National Park, Montana When Willie, Alan, and I set out to spend a week in Glacier National Park we prepared for all kinds of weather. I purchased new rain gear, rented a 24mm f/1.4 lens in the event of clear skies or auroras, and kept my hopes up that the partially cloudy skies in the forecast would lead to beautiful sunrises and sunsets. While doing research for the trip it quickly became evident that most of our time would be spent in Logan Pass. On this particular evening our hopes at an epic sunset faded quickly and not a cloud could be seen in the skies. We gave up on sunset and switched gears .. it was time to use those rented lenses to photograph the Milky Way. A copious number of streams, rivers, waterfalls, and small patches of wildflowers awaited my every turn and provided countless possibilities for compositions. Using the StarWalk app on my iPhone I was able to roughly predict the path of the Milky Way. I quickly saw that the Milky Way would line up almost parallel to the right side of Mt. Reynolds with the core of the Milky Way in between the mountain and the trees. Perfect! I experimented with a variety of compositions but ultimately settled on 2 waterfalls that I liked. I loved the way the waterfall cascaded down from Mt. Reynolds and provided an interesting foreground. It's almost like there's steps leading us right into the sky! I then waited ... and waited ... and waited ... the sky never seemed to get dark enough for the Milky Way to come out. It had not dawned on us that being so far north would leave the sky so bright for so long into the night. Slightly before 11pm the Milky Way first made its appearance on the back of my camera. By 11:30pm the Milky Way finally moved into position. Just as I had predicted the Milky Way lined up perfectly with Mt. Reynolds and the core filled the right side of the sky! Another photo in my "Milk" series! It was then a race to pack up, get to the car, and try to catch the 2am opening in the road closure so we could catch a couple hours of sleep before waking up and starting all over again. As you'll notice the sky doesn't entirely look as sharp as it could. I rented the lens from BorrowLenses and it quickly became clear that this particular copy of the lens had some serious coma flare issues. I did my best to get rid of some of it but eventually removing it became tedious and I gave up. BorrowLenses customer service was awesome and I was given a coupon for the price of the rental to use another time! Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 24mm f/1.4G ED: Sky: 24mm, f/1.6, 13 seconds, ISO 3200 Foreground: 24mm, f/10, ISO 100

Million Dollar View

Milky Way over Telluride San Juan National Forest, Colorado This fall I spent a week exploring Colorado with my coworker Ana. We started in Denver, drove to Breckenridge (met up with Nick Selway), had our car break down in Crested Butte, and eventually made our way to the San Juan mountains before flying back home. The majority of the trip was spent near the San Juans and we had clear skies every single day. Clear skies are great -- except when you want to photograph grand vistas and need clouds in the sky to make something interesting. I spent most of the time making the best of the light and photographed intimate scenes. There was one reason for shooting grand scenes though -- Milky Way photos. On a clear night, face south and the Milky Way will rise over the mountains. As much as I hated having to lose a day on the trip for our broken-down car, there were some positives: our replacement vehicle was a beast of a Ford Expedition that handled the rough terrain of Last Dollar Road like a champ. The extra clearance proved handy multiple times. Towards the end of the road, as we neared Telluride, we came across this viewpoint of the San Juan mountains with a beautiful patch of aspen trees changing color in front of them. We waited for the sun to sink well below the horizon and for the Milky Way to come out, snapped some photos, and then raced back to the hotel to get some dinner before everything closed down. D850 w/Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8: Foreground: 60mm, f/9, 0.6 sec, ISO 640 Sky: 24mm, f/2.8, 15sec, ISO 6400

SmugMilk

Milky Way over Jenny Lake Grand Teton National Park, Moose, Wyoming In 2014 I left my job of 9 years to start my dream job at SmugMug. Getting to work on a photography product that I'm extremely passionate about, for a company that knows how to treat its employees well, has been nothing short of "amazing". Every year SmugMug takes all of its employees and their families on a company retreat. My favorite part of the trip is the chance to get to know my coworkers better ... or get to know employees that I don't know at all. This year we were in Jackson Hole, Wyoming and it was a perfect chance to do a *lot* of photography! As one of the more serious landscape photographers in the company, I planned a few photo outings for anyone at the company to join. One of the first nights I took about 20 coworkers (and a few family members) to Jenny Lake to photograph the Milky Way. A few people had never seen seen the Milky Way with their bare eyes, so it was pretty fun to see their eyes light up when they looked into the southern sky and saw it sitting there. We photographed the Milky Way for a few hours and it was a lot of fun to play "workshop leader". I setup my camera to do a time-lapse, which meant I could run around making sure everyone else was getting the photos they wanted. Some people had never even taken a photo at night, and others had never even used a tripod before! The most amazing thing was seeing how each person had a different eye for the scene; I don't think anyone had the same exact photo, despite the fact that we were packed on a beach like sardines. Here the Milky Way reflects off Jenny Lake, as the Milky Way looms over Teewinot Mountain. Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8: 15mm, f/2.8, 20 sec, ISO 3200

Milky Mobius

Milky Way Through Mobius Arch Alabama Hills Recreation Park, Lone Pine, California I have an amazing job. My dream job. I get to be an Engineer and work for a photography company. SmugMug isn’t just any photography company though, it’s a family who really loves its customers and its employees. Each year they take the entire company and their families on a retreat and this year we spent a week in Park City, Utah. Superstar photographer Ben Von Wong joined us on our epic week and I enjoyed getting to know him and his girlfriend Anna over the 7 days in town. When they asked me to cancel my flight home and spend 4 days driving to San Francisco with them and Nick, I knew I couldn’t refuse! I shouldn’t have been surprised to learn that Ben, whose photographs always include people, didn’t have the patience to wait for Nick and I to do our landscape photographer thing. As long as the hike or the scene would be epic we might capture his interest long enough not to make us pack up and head somewhere else. We hiked The Narrows. We walked the Vegas strip. We explored eroded landscapes and salt flats in Death Valley. And on the last night we showed him the Milky Way for the first time with his naked eye. The drive from Vegas to the Bay Area is long. 10 hours long. I decided we should break it up by spending the night in Bishop. As soon as Ben saw a photo of Mobius Arch he screamed “we’re going there!” So after Death Valley we made awry to Lone Pine and the Alabama Hills. We arrived at Mobius Arch just after sunset and figured out where it was and what time the Milky Way would line up behind it. Midnight to 3am meant that we grabbed some pizza, a nap, and then waited. Ben and Anna created a selfie-series photo. I snuck in a few photos of them posing under the arch. And when they left, I captured this one. Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8: 15mm, f/2.8, 15 sec, ISO 3200

Sneffels Milk

Milky Way over Mt. Sneffels Uncompahgre National Forest, Colorado Growing up in the east coast I always loved fall. My parents house is surrounded by trees that would make a mess for my brothers and I to have to clean up. Of course that meant we got to rake big piles of leaves for us to jump into too! Yet when I got into photography I somehow never made a trip to Colorado to photograph the fall colors. The finally changed when my coworker Ana invited me to join her in 2019. We flew into Denver, stopped at Breckenridge, had our car break down in Crested Butte and then finally made it to the San Juan mountains. Fall colors were nearly peaking with the Aspen trees lighting up with beautiful yellow and orange. Unfortunately there wasn't a cloud in the sky our entire trip. David had taught me to make due with the conditions we had. Cloudless skies meant that epic grand scenes were off the table, so I looked for more abstract scenes I could zoom in on. Ana and I had spent the afternoon and evening looking for scenes along this particular county road. Just as the sun went down we found ourselves at this particular spot and nearly packed up when the other photographers did, but I had an idea: what if we stayed another hour and let the Milky Way come up. The view faced perfectly south and I knew the Milky Way would rise perfectly over Mt. Sneffels. We had bread and peanut-butter for dinner so of course we waited and this is what unfolded before our eyes. When the moon came out it also provided just a touch of light onto the Aspen trees to make them glow. D850 w/Nikkor 24-70mm: 62mm, f/2.8, 8.0 sec, ISO 800

A Few in 6,800

NEOWISE Comet over Fog Silicon Valley, CA It's said that witnessing comet NEOWISE is a once in 6,800 year event, however, what does it mean if you can see it multiple times over the course of a month? Is it still "once in a..."???? Willie and I went out on multiple occasions to photograph the comet, both when it was visible at sunrise and when it was visible at sunset. The comet NEOWISE was first discovered on March 27, 2020 by the WISE space telescope. It consists of 2 tails, one of which is blue and made of of gas and ions (called the "ion tail") and the second, which is made of dust (the "dust tail"). Apparently a third tail was observed, which is a sodium tail. The first 2 tails (ion and dust) are visible here. We made a few sunset attempts to see the comet but we were flustered by smoky skies from a fire a few hours south. A few friends had taken some amazing photos from Marin and we decided we would shlep up there one evening.... but I had an idea that we might be able to see it from Windy Hill Open Space Preserve in Portola Valley, so the night before our Marin outing, we set off to see if we could skip driving 2 hours north. Sure enough we were in for a treat. At sunset the fog came in and created a beautiful foreground for witnessing the comet descend. The fog also blanketed the Bay Area, reducing some of the light pollution that would have washed out the comet. Instead we got a beautiful view of the sky. I strapped on a new 105mm f/1.4 lens so I could get the most amount of light in, and we were treated to this stunner. This is a combination of an ~85mm foreground photo with the 105mm sky photo. Yes, this is a composite (I'm not a lier or a hider of the truth). Nikon D850 w/Sigma 105mm f/1.4 and Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8: Foreground: 80mm, f/8, 30 sec, ISO 400 Sky: 105mm, f/1.6, 3.0 sec, ISO 3200

Another World

Another WorldMilky Way Above Tufa's Mono Lake, Lee Vining, CA Willie and I spent a weekend in the Yosemite high country taking photos of the Milky Way, beautiful lakes, and meteor showers. During the day we explored Yosemite while at night we spent most of our time at Mono Lake. One evening, we noticed that the Milky Way was setting directly behind us at the lake, over a couple sets of Tufa's and we just had to turn around and photograph it. There wasn't enough moonlight to light up the Tufa's so Willie grabbed a couple flashlights and light painted the Tufa's. We repeated the light painting several times until we got it right. Tufa's are salt creations left behind as Mono Lake was drained for drinking water for the Southern California region. Conservation efforts are under way and the lake level is rising again, hiding some of the Tufa's that have recently been visible. We wanted to capture as many photos as we could before these are back underwater! I debated whether or not to post this photo as I really wish there had been some of Mono Lake in this shot, but ultimately, I really liked how the Milky Way almost looks like a shooting star above the Tufa's. The following night was the peak of the Perseid Meteor Shower and Willie and I captured a number of meteors streaking through the sky! I also really liked how this photo almost looks like it could be taken from another planet -- perhaps Mars? Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 24mm f/1.4G ED: 24mm, f/1.4, 15 sec, ISO 3200

Jungle Retreat

Jungle RetreatHacienda Concepcion, Amazon Rainforest Madre de Dios River, Peru For years I've wanted to travel to Peru to see 2 things: Machu Picchu and the Amazon Jungle. With my roommate finishing her PhD she decided she wanted to head to Peru for her graduation celebration and she invited me to tag along. We spent 2 weeks doing pretty much everything there was to do in Peru and it started with 4 days in the Amazon Rainforest! We flew into Puerto Maldonado and after a 30 minute boat ride we arrived at our jungle lodge, Hacienda Concepcion. Built within the last year, this retreat was absolutely wonderful. We all had private cabanas, complete with mosquito netting, private bathrooms, hammocks facing out onto the jungle, delicious food and amazing jungle excursions. This was by far the best part of our trip. The first night we arrived we were taken on a river tour by boat where we saw Caymen, birds, and some other animals that only come out at night. To my surprise, we also saw the Milky Way in all of its glory -- and boy was it visible to the naked eye. I got really excited because that meant I could break out the new D800 and give it a whirl! When we were back at the lodge I grabbed the camera and walked down to the area where our cabanas were situated. The cabanas were lit by very dim gas lanterns and gave off just enough light so that I could expose for both the milky way and the cabanas all in 1 exposure! Unfortunately I had left my ultra-wide lens at home, not thinking I'd need it for the trip, so instead I shot 16 images and stitched them together in Photoshop CS6. Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED AF-S: 24mm, f2/.8, 25 sec, ISO 3200 16 images stitched together in Photoshop CS6

Reynolds Milk

Milky Way over Mt. Reynolds Logan Pass, Glacier National Park, Montana Willie, Alan, and I spent a week at Glacier National Park back in August and the trip was everything but what we expected. This particular night was about the only night that went as we intended. The weather forecast seemed great before we arrived but we witnessed poor conditions after poor conditions. For 2 days we couldn't even see our feet the fog was so thick. On our first night the clouds stayed away and we did the one thing we planned on: getting some Milky Way shots from Logan Pass. I had seen this waterfall earlier in the evening and photographed it as the last light hit Mt. Reynolds, disappeared, the stars came out, and eventually the Milky Way moved into position. I knew that Milky Way would eventually move parallel to the right edge of Mt. Reynolds but I didn't realize how long it would take. It wasn't until around midnight that it got dark enough and the Milky Way moved far enough to the right. I used a 4 image focus stack to make sure the entire scene came out in focus. As you'll notice the sky doesn't entirely look as sharp as it could. I rented the lens from BorrowLenses and it quickly became clear that this particular copy of the lens had some serious coma flare issues. I did my best to get rid of some of it but eventually removing it became tedious and I gave up. BorrowLenses customer service was awesome and I was given a coupon for the price of the rental to use another time! Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 24mm f/1.4G ED: Sky: 24mm, f/1.6, 13 seconds, ISO 3200 Foreground: 4 images, 24mm, f/10, ISO 100

T.Msquared

T.MsquaredMilky Way and Meteor over Tufa Formations Mono Lake, California One thing I wanted to photograph this summer was the Milky Way. Willie and I planned an August trip to Yosemite to shoot the high country and it also turned out that we would be there for the height of the Perseid Meteor Shower. Perfect timing on our part! We photographed sunset at Mono Lake and the Milky Way over Tioga Lake on our first evening.The clock read "am" by the time we got to sleep. As soon as I woke up in the morning I knew something was wrong. I had no energy, I was having hot and cold flashes, my cough had gotten worse and my nose started to run like a faucet. I figured a good hearty breakfast of eggs and bacon would help. Nope. As the day progressed I realized I had come down with the flu. After several naps, some DayQuill and a hamburger I started to feel better. Willie and I hiked 9 miles to Upper Cathedral Lakes for sunset. Not so easy when you have the flu. We finally made it over to Mono Lake to photograph the Perseid Meteor Shower and in 45 minutes I managed to captured 14 meteors streak through my composition. Satisfied that we had the photos we wanted we began to walk around Mono Lake trying to find some Tufa's, salt formations created by the lake. The Milky Way positioned itself above these Tufas and we setup and started photographing. Right in the middle of one of my shots I giant fireball streaked through the sky! Tufi's, Milky Way, and Meteors -- what more could I ask for (and thus "T.Msquared": Tufa, Milky Way and Meteors)! Willie painted the Tufa's with 2 flashlights while our cameras exposed for the Milky Way. Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 24mm f/1.4G ED: 24mm, f/1.4, 15 sec, ISO 200

Tufi Meteors

Tufi MeteorsMeteors over Tufa Formations Mono Lake, California As it turns out, neither Willie nor I had spent much time in Yosemite high country and knowing that August would be ideal for milky way, meteor showers, and stormy sunsets, we decided to head to Yosemite for a long weekend. Saturday night/Sunday morning was supposed to be the time when the Perseid Meteor Shower would be most fireballing through the sky. Willie and I decided to head to Mono Lake to witness the meteor shower with the beautiful Tufa formations as a foreground. We had just spent the evening hiking 9 miles to Cathedral Lakes and back and were extremely exhausted when we arrived at the South Tufa's of Mono Lake. We found a nice spot on the beach where we could put some Tufa's in our frame, pointed the camera towards the north-east and exposed shot after shot hoping we would capture some meteors! It was quite the thrill to watch hundreds of meteors flash before our eyes. Of course my camera only caught 14 of them. I've placed all 14 images onto this one image to show you what we witnessed! After about 45 minutes we were too sleepy to stay any longer and we packed it up, and went to bed. I rented the Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 lens for this weekend and boy did it perform well. I found that I had to set the camera to ISO 3200+ at f/1.4 to f/1.8 for 15 seconds to get the meteors to show up. Anything less sensitive and the camera wouldn't capture the meteor. After each exposure I would check for a meteor and if I didn't find one, would immediately delete the image; made things quite a bit easier when I got home and went to blend them all together! Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 24mm f/1.4G ED 24mm, f1.4, 15 sec, ISO 3200 14 images blended together in Photoshop CS6

Peaceful Living

Peaceful LivingHacienda Concepcion, Amazon Rainforest Madre de Dios River, Peru I spent 4 days in the Amazon jungle just outside of Puerto Maldonado, Peru. We flew in, took a boat ride down one of the tributaries to the Amazon river, and lived out of these beautiful wooden cabanas. They had just been built about a year earlier and were absolutely gorgeous. Each cabana had a private bathroom, 2 beds (or 1 king bed), mosquito netting around the beds, mosquito netting on the windows, a fold-down couch, and 2 hammocks that faced out into the jungle. It was an EXTREMELY relaxing way to spend our 4 days in the jungle. One evening I took the camera out at night and decided to photograph the cabanas using the natural light: small gas lanterns that were placed around the cabanas. A small bit of clouds provided a nice extra element in the sky. The slightly long exposure created some nice movement in the stars. I used the path leading to the other cabanas to draw the eye through the photo. Nikon D800 w/Sigma 10-20mm F4-5.6 EX DC HSM: 10mm, f/4, 150 sec, ISO 400 DX mode