This was the name of a book published in 1961 by Robert A. Heinlein (a very good early sci-fi book), and this is how I felt wandering around the Bisti Badlands of New Mexico at night. It is an extensive area with no marked trails, and a maze of washes, ravines, hills, ridges, etc. It is a broken landscape full of small to moderate sized hoodoos of every shape imaginable. There are also a number of petrified trees. It is incredibly easy to get lost at night because you cannot walk anywhere in a straight line. I used a GPS app and still had trouble getting back to the car because of deep ravines. Anyway it is an amazing place and well worth a trip.
This is a single exposure.
This photo was lit with reflected light from a hand held halogen spotlight/torch. I reflected the light off of a formation to my left, diffusing the light, and also illuminating the scene from the side.
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Tags: badlands bisti bisti badlands new mexico night night sky night photography night landscape sky wayne pinkston lightcrafter nightscape stars starry night milky way galaxy astrophotography landscape astrophotography long exposure light painting
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This is a panorama of Lake Mead between Arizona and Nevada, a man made lake created by the Hoover Dam. This was taken from Stewarts Point near The Valley of Fire State Park, and about a one hour drive from Las Vegas. I had made a trip to photograph the Valley of Fire Park but a Park Ranger stopped me and told me I could not photograph there at night without a permit, so it was on to "plan B". I drove to Lake Mead trying to salvage something from the night. This is a 15 photo panorama combined in Lightroom, taken with a Canon 1Dx and a Nikon 14-24 mm lens at f 2.8, 30 sec, 14 mm and ISO 6400. This is about a 240 degree panorama so the sides of the photo are looking in opposite directions. The light pollution on the right is Las Vegas about 60 miles (100 Km) away, and the light pollution on the left in Moapa Valley about 15 miles (25 Km) away. The streak in the sky is a plane with very bright lights (coming in to land at Las Vegas). It looks a bit like a comet and I thought it was a point of interest. The water level has dropped in recent years due to drought and the bank where I am standing used to be many meters below the water level.
Pierreeau photographie suggested the light was a UFO. This is a very reasonable guess since I am pretty sure there are lots of aliens in Las Vegas disguised as Elvis.
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Tags: lake mead hoover dam lake water colorado river night night sky sky night photography night landscape after midnight landscapes wayne pinkston www.lightcrafter.com stars starry sky milky way galaxy light pollution astrophotography landscape astrophotography canon
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This will take about 3 minutes of your time if you are interested. This is a somewhat frenetic tour of a variety of landscapes at night.
This "Take 2" of this video. The first one did not meet Flickr guidelines and got cut off. Here is an edited version that should confirm to Flickr guidelines. Thanks for you patience.
Locations in this video include Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Park, Goblin Valley State Park, Escalante, Lake Mead, Grand Canyon, Death Valley, Mauna Kea Hawaii, Port Douglas Australia, Shiprock, Bisti Badlands, Bryce Canyon National Park, Joshua Tree National Park, The Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest,, Trona Pennacles, and others.
A big Thanks to Royce Bair! Your photos were the inspiration that got me hooked!
Let me know if the video is to frenetic!
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Tags: night night sky night landscape night photography sky wayne pinkston lightcrafter.com stars starry sky milky way galaxy astrophotography landscape astrophotography canon long exposure light painting video slideshow
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Joshua Tree National Park at night, with the Milky Way above. Canon 1Dx, Nikon 14-24mm lens, f 2.8, 20 sec, 14 mm, ISO 6400. This is an attempt to capture the feel of Joshua Tree National Park at night, with the scattered rock formations and the scattered but exotic looking trees. There are 2 very small dim lights hidden in the rocks, and another on a small tripod about 40 meters off to my right at about 45 degrees. My intent is to light the scene enough to see well without making it "in your face" bright. The lighting does make the colors more interesting than the same non-lighted scene. The yellow-orange color is light pollution probably from the town of 29 Palms.
This is a single exposure.
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Tags: joshua tree joshua tree national park light pollution night night sky sky night photography night landscape nightscape wayne pinkston www.lightcrafter.com stars starry night milky way galaxy astrophotography landscape astrophotography canon
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Does anyone know the name of this "Arch"? This was taken near Hidden Valley in Joshua Tree National Park, Utah. I thought I had scouted the area pretty well in the day, but I never saw this in daylight. Towards the end of the night I was stumbling around in the dark (literally) and stumbled on this structure that looked like an arch, or either 2 large rocks with another one stuck between them. It was around 20-30 feet (6-10 meters) high. Anyway, the sun was about to rise so I set up the photos as fast as I could and was able to get this composition before it got overly light. There was not much time for adjusting lights. There is one constant light behind the "arch" and another on a small tripod about 45 degrees to my right. One problem with Joshua Tree is that there are enough trees and rocks to get in the way and cast shadows, so you have to find a window between the trees for any lighting. Another problem is the light pollution. There is considerable light pollution, but in general you can work around it in processing.
This is a single exposure.
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Tags: arch joshua tree joshua tree national park night night landscape night sky night photography stars milky way galaxy wayne pinkston lightcrafter www.lightcrafter.com astrophotography landscape astrophotography landscape canon
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