Bansai Trip #5 took place over February 18 and 19 and included racing up the 5 and cutting across to Garrapata to shoot the lilies, sneaking onto Coast Guard property to shoot the Bay Bridge in San Francisco, shooting the Golden Gate Bridge as the low clouds moved back in at 1 AM, and a bleary eyed, very cold drive up highway 50 to Lake Tahoe where we shot Emerald Bay and several other spots before driving some 9 hours or so back to Orange County. (It probably would have been closer to 8 hours if Tom hadn't gotten pulled over by the CHP just outside of Bishop.)
As we pulled into Lake Tahoe, I was hoping that we would be able to shoot the Milky Way over Emerald Bay as Stellarium had forecasted 4 AM as the time the Milky Way would rise in the East. When we pulled up at 4:15 and began shooting it took awhile for our eyes to adjust. It was only after we looked at our LCD screens that we realized that there were a few scattered high clouds overhead catching the light of the different towns around the lake in addition to the Milky Way, creating an eerie glow. Rather than being bummed about the clouds, I immediately liked the look the clouds and light created and both Tom and I spent the next four hours or so shooting from different locations around the Bay. The clouds eventually lit up for a very decent sunrise giving way to a gorgeous day at Lake Tahoe. I was more than pleased with what we were able to shoot over 36 hours, but when the alarm went off the next morning at 5:45 AM...it really made me wonder if I could pull that off again. It was definitely worth it, but I need to make sure I don't try the sleep deprivation thing right before a work day if I ever try this again.
(Nikon D800 & Nikkor 14-24. Single exposure shot at ISO 1250, f 2.8 for 44 seconds.)
William McIntosh Photography
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On September 22, 2014, Going To The Sun Highway was due to shut down at 7 AM for the season, with a very good chance that it might not open again until late June or early July. This was one of the reasons that all five of us were up there shooting the Milky Way until all hours of the night. We were definitely one of the last cars to come down from Logan Pass that night as we started shooting behind the Logan Pass Visitor's Center and then worked our way slowly back out of the park, stopping for views of the Southern Sky as we headed back to lake McDonald.
We weren't quite sure what we would find in terms of the Milky Way other than one or two shots that we found online over Hidden Lake. As another long hike out to Hidden Lake was out of the question (some of us could barely move after 4 days of waking up at 4:30 AM, scree scrams, and long hikes) we opted to shoot over Reynolds Mountain, which would still give us a decent view of the Southern sky. When the Milky Way finally showed up, it was truly spectacular. We hadn't realized how strong the air glow effect was that night until we started zooming in on our LCD screens which showed streaks of green and red along the horizon behind Reynolds.
After shooting with the group for a while, I began to wonder if I could find a different foreground. I finally headed back to the parking lot where I noticed that the Milky Way was now halfway between Reynolds and the Visitor's Center. I quickly set up my tripod and took a few more shots before the group came back. (The light on the visitor's center is from cars passing on the road.) When everyone was back, we headed slowly back down, pulling over for more shots of the Milky Way as we drove back to Lake McDonald.
By 7 AM the next morning, the pass was officially closed and work had begun on resurfacing the road before the big Winter storms were due to arrive. (It usually takes until mid June to finally clear out the massive amount of snow and avalanche debris that comes down around the pass each year.)
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Tags: Glacier National Park Logan Pass Milky Way Air Glow
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Sure on this shining night
Of star made shadows round,
Kindness must watch for me
This side the ground.
The late year lies down the north.
All is healed, all is health.
High summer holds the earth.
Hearts all whole.
Sure on this shining night
I weep for wonder wand'ring far alone
Of shadows on the stars.
-James Agee
Another shot from Joshua Tree taken last June when there were only four of us shooting in silence in the White Tank Campground. As I was thinking back on that night, the above text from James Agee came to mind. What an incredible night.
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Tags: Joshua Tree National Park Milky Way White Tank Campground
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For over 5000 years, the bristlecone pine trees of the White Mountains have been reaching towards the stars. It is believed several of these trees are among the oldest living organisms on earth. The shoots of these particular trees were already starting to grow as Stonehenge, the city of Troy, and the tombs of the Pharaohs were being built. It was a truly humbling experience to stand in front of these trees that have been growing in silence in these mountains for hundreds upon hundreds of years.
This particular tree has been photographed by several landscape photographers but I hadn't come across any photos of it until I became interested in Milky Way photography. After finding some amazing photos online, I set off a few weeks ago with hopes of photographing them only to find the entire stretch of the Owens valley covered in clouds and smoke from the area fires. I finally had to give up and ended my day at Olmsted Point in Yosemite instead.
Last Tuesday, I set off again and was pleased to find only partly cloudy skies as I arrived 5 1/2 hours later. There were only a couple of cars left in the parking area as I arrived, but it seemed they were all on their way out. It wasn't long before I was the only one left in the Schulman Grove. I was making all kinds of noise as I set off on the upper trail, but whenever I stopped to take a shot, the silence around me was deafening. Unfortunately, I couldn't remember quite where this particular tree was, and I spent nearly 3 hours hiking to the top of a couple of different ridges looking for it. Finally, as the last of the light was fading, I decided to head further down the lower trail, even though the trail led away from the trees and out into what appeared to be nothing worth shooting. After several minutes of hiking, the trail suddenly ducked around a bend and my tree finally came into view.
I looked at dozens of gnarled and twisted trees that evening, but none of them came close to this one. Special thanks to Ryan Engstrom and Michael Bandy for helping me out by confirming that this Tree was located not far off the trail in the Shulman Grove area of the park. There were several other trees that I wanted to shoot, but those will have to wait until my next trip.
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Following up my last shot from Joshua Tree with a pano that was a bit of an experiment. I was only about 10-12 feet away from the arch and I was fairly confident that there was no way that a pano would work from that range without incredible distortion to the rocks as I was trying to shoot nearly 180 degrees. But what the heck...I shot away just for fun and was shocked to find that it worked when I got home and merged it through photoshop. This is an 8 frame pano taken with the Nikkor 14-24 2.8. (25 second exposures at F2.8, ISO 3200)
I was at a memorial service today and was listening to one of the most beautiful choral pieces written in the last two centuries by Latvian composer Eriks Esenvalds. The text was taken from a poem written by Paulina Barda. As I was listening to the choir, suddenly several lines jumped out at me as I thought back on my time staring up at that incredible sky on Sunday night:
High above the arch of heaven bends
And light so clear is falling.
Like a flow'ring tree the world is blooming.
Overwhelmed, my heart both cries and laughs.
And I mourn for this one thing alone
That to love, our lifetime was so short.
A long road to heaven's shining meadow
And never could I reach its end.
But a longer road leads to your heart
A longer road leads to your heart
My love
Which to me seems distant as a star
A long road.
-From "The Long Road" by Paulina Barda
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Tags: Joshua Tree National Park Milky Way Arch Rock Joshua Tree
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