Here's another one from my trip to the Oregon Outback: This is the sun setting behind the Steens Mountains, with the Alvord Desert playa in the foreground.

This was only my second visit to this area, and unlike last time (which was in late July), the playa really gleamed in the sunlight. Also, perhaps because it was still spring, much of the desert surface hadn't yet developed the deep cracks that I usually see in photos, so I had to hunt around for them a bit. Luckily I found these little dry rivulets, which made for amazing leading lines.

I've been reworking the galleries in my website recently. My previous galleries could not be viewed on Android mobile devices, and even though my new galleries are still not responsive, they at least can be viewed using all manner of mobile device. At least I think so, anyway. Let me know if I'm wrong.

Thanks for checking out the photo!

Tags:   alvord alvord desert alvord playa ben coffman ben coffman photography cracked cracks crepuscular rays desert lakebed oregon playa steens steens mountains sunset

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Here's another from my Alvord Desert series. And this is another attempt to break up the "blueness" of my Flickr photostream. Thanks for giving it a look!

Tags:   alvord alvord desert alvord playa arroyo ben coffman ben coffman photography dawn red sunrise

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Ah, the Alvord Desert, in southeastern Oregon. You may think you've seen dark skies, but I'm not sure there's anywhere in the continental United States that is darker than the Alvord. It was so dark that long exposures facing a hair east of due south (toward the Milky Way's galactic center at the time) managed to pick up the tiniest bit of light pollution. I'm still trying to figure out if that's from Winnemuca (population 7,000 and over 120 miles away) or the mecca of light pollution, Las Vegas (metro area population 2,000,000 and a whopping 600 miles away). The fact that I could see light pollution at all from either of these places, given their respective sizes and distances, is a testament to how incredibly dark the skies are in that desert.

Notes: There was a surprising amount of moisture in the air (I visited in May), which created the kind of gauzy, undefined look you see in the stars. The green stuff low on the horizon is, of course, airglow. In the sky you're looking at the galactic center of the Milky Way. In the sky on the right side is Rho Ophiuchi (Row O-fee-oochi), a star-forming region.

Photographic notes: Two exposures, one for the land and one for the sky, lovingly and carefully massaged in Lightroom 5 and PS 6.

More night photography, prints, and a "contact me" form for licensing at my website.

Tags:   airglow alvord desert alvord desert playa ben coffman ben coffman photography dark horse nebula galactic center landscape astrophotography milky way oregon oregon outback pipe nebula rho ophiuchi rho ophiuchi complex southeast oregon starry night stars

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I made a trip to the desert Southwest over the holidays and got quite a bit of shooting in. More of this type of imagery to come, including photos from my trip to Joshua Tree National Park.

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Tags:   saguaro saguaro photos night photography desert stars the pleiades ben coffman ben coffman photography long exposure landscape astrophotography

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I made my first (and much long-awaited) trip to Joshua Tree National Park over the holiday break a couple of weeks ago. It didn't disappoint. Even after spending 48 hours with the Seussian park namesakes, the novelty of these weird plants never wore off. And I still insist they're more tree than yucca.

I also managed to capture some zodiacal light over the park on the pre-dawn morning of December 28th. I found this to be really unusual because I was under the impression that zodiacal light could only be seen in the spring and fall. After capturing zodiacal light at Crater Lake National Park during one of my workshops in the late summer, I'm guessing this isn't the case.

Star notes: I believe the big "star" in the upper part of the zodiacal light is actually Saturn. The star lower in the z-light is Antares.

Technical notes: This is a 6-image pano.

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Tags:   #ben coffman photography #california #joshua tree images national park #long exposure night #rocks #saturn #star #starry #stars #sunrise #zodiacal light #josha o fu

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