PHOTOGRAPHY

this final star trail image consists of 180 separate 30-second photographs (f4.5, 3200 ISO) of the night sky. utilizing a tripod, i set the camera to continuous shooting mode and taped the button down for an hour and a half. i then loaded the pictures into photoshop elements and manually made each picture its own layer, then lightened each one. finally, i adjusted the the flattened image’s levels to bring out the stars’ colors & darken the background.

all of the stars seem to rotate around polaris (the north star) because the earth’s axis is in perfect alignment with it. as the earth spins one way, the rest of the planets & stars seem to spin in the opposite direction. from cold to hot, the stars glow red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo & violet. the straight lines that cut across the image are airplanes passing across the sky.

The Matilija Dam outside of Ojai, CA provides simple instructions that salmon would surely follow if their scaled-down dexterity allowed.

There’s wisdom in Wyoming. There’s wisdom wherever you go. It’s up to us to open up & receive the knowledge of others, regardless of our so-called differences. Click the image to visit the Manuscript Across America website and experience the ideas of hundreds of Americans.

Each stone on this Mani Wall has been hand-carved with Buddhist prayers. It stretches for miles & miles along this trail in the Himalaya of northern Nepal. Where creeks cross the path, prayer wheels have been set up that spin with the water’s flow.

I just completed my second star trail project! The image consists of 200 photos (10 seconds, f 3.5, 6400 ISO) taken over the course of about two hours, all stacked on top of each other. Photographed at Chismahoo Mountain near Carpinteria, CA where I’ve been working and camping. All of the stars appear to spin around Polaris, the North Star, due to the earth’s axis and rotation. Picture a rod going straight through the earth from the South Pole to the North Pole and extending all the way to Polaris. Add the clockwise spin of the earth and you’ve got the recipe for a star trail!