Return to the Stars

I’ll end 2012 with this one I captured a month ago in a old cemetery in Terlingua, Texas. I call it “Return to the Stars” because it struck me that all of us will make this journey. It is one that is slow, almost beyond our perception, taking eons… but a journey where time does not matter. Certainly not one year or 100 years. However, it gives us a glimpse of our future, incredibly far away in space and time from NOW.

Happy new year, we have another in our passport to the future.

Tech notes:

Part of the light, the glint on the side of the left cross, and some speckled highlights below it on the left grave were from Terlingua, just up the hill (mostly the Starlight Theatre) but perhaps a brief passing headlight too. The star trails were from three images of 450 seconds each, f/5.0 ISO 640 with a Canon 5D MkIII, 24mm TS-E f/3.5 II, shifted UP a bit for the sky. The painting of the graves was with a Litepanel micro LED movie light with an orange filter, just barely turned on. Same settings at star trails, but as soon as the painting was done I stopped the exposure. So about five images stacked in PS CS6, and masked/blended and flattened.

Connecting to the Stars

With a little help from my friend Scott Martin (previous post) I met with a private star this night in July 2012 between Yosemite and Mono Lake.

Beaming Up Scotty

From the eastern edge of Yosemite, near Mono Lake, the teleportation began late one night in July 2012. It was all over in an instant.

Midnight over Half Dome

I am squeezing in all of my favorites of 2012 before the year is over into this blog. This is an hour and a half of moonlight and stars over Yosemite’s Half Dome from Glacier Point. June 30, 2012. You can even see climber’s lights at the base of the vertical wall of Half Dome. I could have stayed all night. Next time I will.

Sunset over the Bonneville Salt Flats.

As 2012 draws to a close I am adding some of my favorite photos of the year. One very salty car and a beautiful playa of salt in Utah.