Nature Eases My Pain
Orion's Belt, Zabriskie Point, Death Valley NP.
Not long ago, while I was pretty much incapacitated, I came across the stunning work of Dan Zafra, a photographer who has a series of online teaching modules on a variety of astrophotography topics, including extensive tutorials on using star trackers. After corresponding with him and his lovely wife Ascen, I learned that we had some things in common, and I was later able to briefly meet both at one of their workshops (Capture the Atlas Photo Tours!) in Death Valley National Park. It was an advanced workshop and for good reason, but I was able to learn a few things and make a few images.
These are not photographs as I know them, as each final image requires dozens of exposures and hours of post-processing. This image is shot with a star tracker, a devise that allows a camera to rotate, matching the Earth’s orbit to allow for long exposures and therefore greater detail. It also involves an astro-modified camera that better captures the different atmospheric gases (which are responsible for the colors that you see). Then it involves a separate series of exposures for the foreground. It is the actual foreground that you would see if it wasn’t pitch black, but it is shot with a separate camera because the camera used for the sky is moving to keep the stars in focus and would thus blur the foreground.
Nature Eases My Pain
It’s been more than six months since I posted a gallery, so I thought I’d share some of my adventures, none of which have produced a prolific portfolio of photographs, but all of which were worth exploration. I’m still hunting arches as I was re-elected as President of the Natural Arch and Bridge Society, am still fascinated by long hikes to waterfalls, am still learning new techniques to photograph the night sky and am still hiking here and there, especially there.
Some people age gracefully and some do not. I retired in time to join those who do not. Details aside, when physically challenged, I try to respond defiantly in kind. The more I'm hurting, the longer and harder the hike. One of my gastroenterologists recently said to me: “At some point you are going to have to put your medical care before your passion.” And I responded, “Or not.”
As I inferred, there is no cohesive theme to this gallery, so I named it, “Nature Eases My Pain.” At the very least, it's a distraction.
I hope you enjoy it and don’t forget to read the captions. Often, they are more interesting than the photographs. Sad, but true.
